photo: Melinda Male Oswandel

While we were at Metallica’s inaugural Orion Music & More festival earlier this summer, the band said several times while performing that this was indeed an annual event. Following the festival, the band said that they’d be making an announcement over the next few weeks as to whether they would do it again, and it appears that they did that yesterday, confirming to Rolling Stone that there would be another festival in 2013. “We had a great experience in New Jersey, and as we look to 2013, we’re definitely looking to keep it in New Jersey or to keep it on the East Coast,” drummer Lars Ulrich told the magazine. The decision to keep it on the east coast is due to the large number of fans that  traveled to the festival from Europe, as having it in their native Bay Area would tack another 6 hours of flight time onto the journey.

However, Metallica fans will get a chance to see the band play a festival, as they’ll be headlining this year’s Outside Lands festival, which will take place from August 10-12. And even if they weren’t playing, Lars would be there as a fan. ”Last year, I took my kids to see Muse and Arctic Monkeys and the rest of the bands that were playing,” he says. “The year before that was Kings of Leon; the year before that I think it was Black Eyed Peas. As a Bay Area resident and as a music fan, going to see Outside Lands every year is a huge thing. Not only for me but also my family. Getting a chance to play it and to headline is obviously a huge thing for us. If I’m not going to play it, I’m going to go and I’m going to take my kids. It’s sort of the concert highlight of their year . . . So it works on all fronts.”

Sounds like it might be where he got the inspiration to have the Arctic Monkeys play Orion. So it might not hurt to take a look at who’s playing the festival this year – as they might wind up in New Jersey playing with Metallica. Hey, as long as it’s not the Black Eyed Peas. Some acts playing this year include Neil Young and Crazy Horse, Stevie Wonder, Jack White, Foo Fighters, Explosions in the Sky and Skrillex.