Amy Lee Reflects on Opening for Metallica’s 2025 Australia-New Zealand Tour

In November 2025 Evanescence and Suicidal Tendencies served as the special guests for Metallica’s six-date stadium leg in Australia and New Zealand. The shows were part of Metallica’s three-year “M72” world tour and drew crowds of up to 80,000 fans per night. Amy Lee’s band performed hour-long sets from the iconic “Snake Pit” area, even placing a grand piano in the centre of the stage.

??They Let Me Put a Grand Piano on the Snake Pit! ” – Amy Lee Reveals What It’s Really Like Touring with Metallica ??

Metallica’s M72 tour, launched in 2023, has been billed as one of the longest stadium runs in heavy-metal history. Prior to the 2025 leg, Metallica had a reputation for treating support acts as afterthoughts, but recent statements from the band and its crew suggest a shift toward more collaborative production. For Evanescence, the November shows marked their first appearances in stadium venues and their inaugural experience supporting a band of Metallica’s stature.

??They Let Me Put a Grand Piano on the Snake Pit! ” – Amy Lee Reveals What It’s Really Like Touring with Metallica ??

• Amy Lee – frontwoman and pianist of Evanescence.

What It’s Like Opening For Metallica (Ft. Evanescence’s Amy Lee)

• Metallica – headlining metal trio (James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich, Kirk Hammett).

??They Let Me Put a Grand Piano on the Snake Pit! ” – Amy Lee Reveals What It’s Really Like Touring with Metallica ??

• Suicidal Tendencies – co-opening act on the same dates.

What It’s Like Opening For Metallica (Ft. Evanescence’s Amy Lee)

• Wolfgang Van Halen – Mammoth singer/multi-instrumentalist who commented on Metallica’s support-act treatment.

“They let me put a grand piano on the snake pit”: What’s it like supporting Metallica in stadiums? Evanescence’s Amy Lee calls it “so fun”

• Lee’s son – 11-year-old who attended the shows with his mother.

“They let me put a grand piano on the snake pit”: What’s it like supporting Metallica in stadiums? Evanescence’s Amy Lee calls it “so fun”

• Dates: Five Australian shows and one New Zealand show, all in November 2025.

“They let me put a grand piano on the snake pit”: What’s it like supporting Metallica in stadiums? Evanescence’s Amy Lee calls it “so fun”

• Attendance: Venues held crowds of up to 80,000 spectators.

??They Let Me Put a Grand Piano on the Snake Pit! ” – Amy Lee Reveals What It’s Really Like Touring with Metallica ??

• Stage setup: Evanescence’s grand piano occupied the Snake Pit for the entirety of their set, a space normally reserved for fan viewing.

??They Let Me Put a Grand Piano on the Snake Pit! ” – Amy Lee Reveals What It’s Really Like Touring with Metallica ??

Lee’s description of the experience underscores how Metallica’s willingness to accommodate a piano in the Snake Pit created a unique visual and sonic moment, exposing Evanescence’s dramatic style to a massive metal audience. The gesture signals a broader industry trend where legacy acts provide platform space for newer or genre-adjacent artists, potentially expanding fan bases and fostering cross-genre appreciation.

??They Let Me Put a Grand Piano on the Snake Pit! ” – Amy Lee Reveals What It’s Really Like Touring with Metallica ??

Metallica publicly thanked Evanescence on Instagram with a photo carousel and presented the band with an M72-themed cake before the November 1 Australian show. Lee emphasized the importance of “full-on respect” when entering another band’s world, noting that Metallica “let me put our grand piano out on the Snake Pit” and made time for the support act to “hang out a little bit.” Wolfgang Van Halen, reflecting on his own opening stint, said, “Opening for Metallica was unlike anything I’ve ever been a part of.”

??They Let Me Put a Grand Piano on the Snake Pit! ” – Amy Lee Reveals What It’s Really Like Touring with Metallica ??

The available sources contain no explicit criticism of the partnership or of Metallica’s handling of support acts.

??They Let Me Put a Grand Piano on the Snake Pit! ” – Amy Lee Reveals What It’s Really Like Touring with Metallica ??

All cited reports agree on the dates, venue capacities, and Lee’s experiences; no discrepancies were identified.

??They Let Me Put a Grand Piano on the Snake Pit! ” – Amy Lee Reveals What It’s Really Like Touring with Metallica ??

• “It was so fun,” — Amy Lee, Evanescence frontwoman

What It’s Like Opening For Metallica (Ft. Evanescence’s Amy Lee)

• “They were so great. They were so gracious,” — Amy Lee

What It’s Like Opening For Metallica (Ft. Evanescence’s Amy Lee)

• “You never know how it's going to be coming into somebody else's world. It's their show and you have full-on respect. It's Metallica, we'll back off,” — Amy Lee

What It’s Like Opening For Metallica (Ft. Evanescence’s Amy Lee)

• “But, also, can we have some good production? What exactly can we get away with and how nice will you be about it? And they ended up being so cool. They let me put our grand piano out on the Snake Pit so it could just live there and I could go for the couple of moments that I spend at the piano just surrounded by the crowd.” — Amy Lee

What It’s Like Opening For Metallica (Ft. Evanescence’s Amy Lee)

• “I got to bring my son who's 11 now — the perfect age to fall in love with metal,” — Amy Lee

What It’s Like Opening For Metallica (Ft. Evanescence’s Amy Lee)

• “Opening for Metallica was unlike anything I’ve ever been a part of,” — Wolfgang Van Halen, Mammoth singer/multi-instrumentalist

“They let me put a grand piano on the snake pit”: What’s it like supporting Metallica in stadiums? Evanescence’s Amy Lee calls it “so fun”

Metallica will break from the M72 grind with a historic residency at the Las Vegas Sphere in fall 2026, becoming the first metal band to headline the multi-billion-dollar venue. Evanescence’s new album Sanctuary was released the month prior, and the band continues its 2026 world tour across the United States, the United Kingdom, and Europe.

What It’s Like Opening For Metallica (Ft. Evanescence’s Amy Lee)