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Metallica WorldWired Concert (Indoor Arena Stage)
2,206 pieces* (It's true! See below for the breakdown.)
After years of joking that someone should make a Metallica Concert out of LEGO, I decided I am going to be that someone. You can call me: MetalliBrick.
Because I watched all 23 Metallica Mondays Concerts in 2020, I could see the various stages through the years bricked in my imagination. I immediately had three concert stages in mind, but could not decide which one to build. So, I figured I would make one each winter for three years.
Welcome to year 2: Metallica WorldWired Concert (Indoor Arena Stage)
I thought this would be a fun concert stage to create in LEGO due to the challenges it presented:
- The cubes and how to suspend them?
- Achieving the shape of the stage.
- Lars’ revolving drum riser.
I remembered watching an interview where the cubes were discussed in great detail. Not only were there a lot (52!), but they were also heavy. Some arenas simply could not handle the weight. Looking through the concert photos on Metallica’s site, I found two shows: one in Bologna, Italy, and one in Stockholm, Sweden that had dedicated rigging specifically for the cubes. With those to look at, I made a similar rigging to suspend the cubes. My orientation of the rigging differs from the concerts so that it would not be the focal point of photos.
I thought the stage shape would be difficult to achieve, and my first prototype was rather chunky-looking. After finding the angled piece: facet brick 4x4x1, I felt it was a sign this was going to work because it helped me to achieve the exact shape I needed.
One might think making Lars’ drum riser rotate would be hard. That was the easy part! The challenge was making it round. I wanted it to be big enough to enable all 4 band members to be on at once, like we often see them do during concerts. I could not find round LEGO pieces big enough to make this happen, so I had to find another way. For months some version of a round, or oval, drum riser was on my desk along with a bowl of random parts. I tried many variations and had finally decided I was going to have to accept defeat and use the 6x6 plate with round corners pieces that would result in an oval-shaped riser. Fortunately the next day, I realized that the brick with a bow comes in 1x4 (I had thought 1x3 was the biggest). With this piece in the mix, I made prototype after prototype with renewed hope before finally striking gold and landing on the shape you see here.
Fans who attended this concert may notice that I haven’t replicated all of the gear both on the stage and floor. This is for two reasons. 1) I didn’t want the stage to look cluttered, so I carefully selected what was represented. 2) I wanted the floor gear to be present, but not a focal point of any of the photos. The more items there were around the stage on the floor of the arena, the more they became a distraction. In the end, I went with about half of what was really there.
Everything about this design and build was challenging and fantastically fun, and it was a great way to spend winter weekends.
Similar to the concert stage I made in 2022, my initial desire was to build a full-blown concert with security, crew, and audience (which I have done), but as I built it, I kept the LEGO IDEAS guidelines in mind so that I could submit the version you see here.
Why would this make a good set? Here are two reasons, LEGO and Lars Ulrich. Arguably Denmark's two most famous exports. The better question might be: How has this not happened yet? Both LEGO and Metallica fans are avid collectors, both fans come in all ages, and this is a set that everyone can enjoy.
My hope is that when LEGO fans look at it, the response is a smile and a WOW. I hope that when Metallica fans look at it, the response is I WANT THIS!
The minifigures are:
Lars Ulrich, drums, 1981 founding member
James Hetfield, vocals & rhythm guitar, 1981 founding member
Kirk Hammett, lead guitar, 1983
Robert Trujillo, bass guitar, 2003
*Designed & tracked in Google Sheets! The 2,206 piece count is as follows:
Stage Base: 497
Stage Gear: 108
Drum kit/riser: 153
Cubes: 572
Rigging: 434
Rail: 80
Stairs: 56
Floor Gear: 284
Band: 22
If you would like to one day build this, please take a minute (that’s all it takes!) to set up a LEGO IDEAS account and click the SUPPORT button.10,0000 votes are needed for it to move-on to be reviewed by LEGO for consideration as a potential buy/buildable set.
Sharing to your favorite social media platform will help others to see and support it too.
Thank you for your support!
By
MetalliBrick
Help your fellow builder by leaving your feedback based on these three criteria:
- Originality: How original is this - never seen before?
- Building Techniques: How much skill do you think the creator of this MOC has, in terms of building technique?
- Details: Express how much you like the details of the build.
Your feedback is only shown to the creator as well as yourself. It is not available for other users to see. The creator won't see your user name.