Metallica’s Stage Designer Talks About Use of Drones on Band’s Current Tour

I cannot even imagine the amount of time, effort, money and manpower that goes into conceptualizing and creating a stage show as big as Metallica’s, let alone everything it takes to set up, run and tear the thing down every night. With all those huge video screens, lights, rigging, props, pyro, etc… Hundreds of people? Thousands of hours? The mind boggles.

Dan Braun has been Metallica’s set designer and show director since 1994, and he recently took some time to speak with Milwaukee’s OnMilwaukee before the band’s show there about the elaborate stage setup for the current WorldWired tour, including the use of drones. James Hetfield had wanted to use drones in the band’s show for several years, but Braun had concerns about their safety in the live setting until recently. He explains:

“I used to say they weren’t safe, so we sort of got away from the idea, but kept it on the back burner. Then I spoke with Adam Davis at TAIT, and he told us about their relationship with Verity and about the potential possibilities, and that’s how we got into using drones on this tour. As the show’s designer and director, I thought we should put them in ‘Moth Into Flame’, as it’s been a very successful song for the band for a long time. And after the first night of the tour in Copenhagen, James said the drones were great, so we were happy, and we always want to keep the band happy.”

Pretty neat. I definitely recommend reading the full feature about Braun; there’s lot of good information about everything that goes into bringing Metallica’s show to life.

Take a look at a recent performance of “Moth Into Flame” — featuring the drone display Braun is referencing — below.

[via Ghost Cult Mag]