If you think tickets to see Metallica live are expensive, you’re probably not ready for the Apple Vision Pro experience. But what an experience it should be. All the awesomeness of one of the biggest names in metal without any of the sweatiness that accompanies it.
At least, that’s what Apple is promising when it drops its new Metallica “Apple Immersive concert experience” on 14 March. The presentation was filmed in Mexico City during the band’s two-year-long M72 World Tour and promises “ultra-high-resolution 180-degree video and Spatial Audio to give viewers unprecedented access to James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich, Kirk Hammett, and Robert Trujillo”.
Enter Vision Pro
But in order to experience it, you’ll have to be packing your very own Apple Vision Pro. That’s somewhere north of R100,000 to indulge your love of heavy metal but it should be worth trying out if you somehow have access to Apple’s advanced headset.
Apple filmed the band with a custom-built stage setup that used fourteen Apple Immersive cameras in a variety of arrangements. Stabilised, remote-controlled, and cable-mounted cameras recorded the action on-stage and from the 65,000-attendee-strong audience. A brief demo of the experience will be available to Vision Pro owners, while music fans will also get access to Metallica’s new M72 World Tour: Mexico City EP on Apple Music (recording in Spatial Audio, naturally) from 14 March.
Metallica’s Lars Ulrich said, “Seeing our concert like that, along with the energy of the Mexico City fans — it’s very immersive, and it’s super fun. We’ve always been interested in pushing the boundaries, and Metallica on Apple Vision Pro is exactly that.”
The dad-rock version of heavy metal (we still love you, James, Lars, Kirk, and Rob) isn’t where the Vision Pro’s immersive utility ends. Other experiences include free climbing in Spain, surfing in Norway (an outing that isn’t for the faint), a tour of Yankee Stadium, and something with U2’s Bono. Again.
