Marty Gordon
The rumor has been circulating on social media for months. Thursday, Virginia Tech made it official.
The musical group, Metallica, is coming to Blacksburg’s Lane Stadium on May 7, 2025.
The band’s announcement said, “In a new twist, M72 2025 will also include several single shows with the full production, including the in-the-round stage and Snake Pit. Among them are two college football stadiums: JMA Wireless Dome in Syracuse, New York, and our first-ever visit to Blacksburg, Virginia, home of the Virginia Tech Hokies. The show at Lane Stadium will mark the culmination of 20-plus years of ‘Enter Sandman’ playing as the Hokies take the field.”
Lane Stadium will be one of six stadium concerts slated for 2025. One of those will be in Charlotte, N.C.
Each stadium show will a variety of Enhanced Experiences, ranging from access to a meet and greet, production and stage tour, food and beverage in the “Black Box” lounge to early entry into the venue and the aforementioned Snake Pit.
The famed snake pit will be located in the center of the stage on this tour. Being in the snake pit makes you a part of the show and is the closest place to the stage to see the band.
For the last three decades, Metallica has included a “snake pit” section at every show they play. The snake pit in a standing-room only section literally in the middle of the stage, giving fans a 360-degree view of the band as they play.
Tickets will be available starting Monday, Sept. 23 through a series of special presale windows. A limited number of tickets are available within each pre-sale so fans are encouraged to participate at their earliest eligible opportunity. Tickets are expected to sell out fast.
There will be a four-ticket limit per person. Virginia Tech students have a two-ticket limit per person. The price of tickets has not been announced, but on the current tour, tickets are running $64 to $450.
Of course, fans should expect the band to play the song, which has become the entrance of the Virginia Tech football team, “Enter Sandman.”
Players begin filing into the narrow tunnel. Anticipation is building among the thousands of excited fans packed in the stands. Cheerleaders hold up “LET’S GO” and “HOKIES” signs as the crowd chants.
Then, the first note of heavy metal band Metallica’s ‘Enter Sandman’ plays, and the crowd erupts with excitement as the entire stadium jumps in unison. The Hokies’ head coach takes a deep breath, reaches up to touch the legendary Hokie Stone above the tunnel’s exit, and finally – it’s time.
The team bursts out of the tunnel and onto the field while fireworks and pyrotechnics ignite, electrifying the crowd and sending waves of exhilaration and goosebumps through every person in the stadium.
“It’s just a different type of feeling,” wide receiver Ali Jennings explained when describing the experience. “I get chills every time I think about it – the stadium actually shakes.”
This past month, the university announced a major merchandise agreement with the band, hinting something else was in the works.
The initial lineup of merchandise co-branded with Metallica features designs inspired by the band’s logo and original sketches by Virginia Tech doodle artist Steven White.
“This partnership makes a dream of nearly 24 years come true,” said Heather Ducote, senior director of marketing and brand management. “We’re excited to formalize our partnership with Metallica, since one of their most popular hits is already embraced at Virginia Tech athletics events as a beloved Hokie tradition. And it’s a partnership that mobilized many university departments; the Virginia Tech Athletics Department, the marketing team, the Office of Licensing and Trademarks, and artist and doodle expert Steven White are all involved in formalizing the partnership and creating the merchandise. I can’t wait to see what else this partnership can achieve.”
The T-shirts made an appearance on Aug. 12 during the “Today” show’s birthday celebration for co-anchor Hoda Kotb ’86, when the HokieBird and other Hokies visited the set and presented Kotb with the co-branded T-shirts and other Virginia Tech goodies.
Renee Alarid, director of the Office of Licensing and Trademarks at Virginia Tech, said collaboration with partner and brand management organization College Licensing Company (CLC), Virginia Tech’s agent, facilitated the partnership.
“It was a very effective collaboration,” Alarid said at the time of the merchandise agreement. “It was quite an effort, taking about a year to hammer out and finalize, and we had to keep it top secret.
“It took a community and the right team,” she said. “Without CLC, the Original Retro Brand, athletics, and the trust of our local retailers, Licensing and Trademarks would not have been able to make this dream a reality. Thank you everyone who helped us in the process.”
Regarded as college football’s greatest entrance, ’Enter Sandman’ dates back to Aug. 27, 2000, when Virginia Tech installed the first videoboard in Lane Stadium. A new videoboard means a new walkout song, and ‘Enter Sandman’ won out over ‘Welcome to the Jungle’ by Guns N’ Roses and ‘Sirius’ by The Alan Parsons Project.
However, the first time the team actually used it in a game was against Georgia Tech, and the game itself was delayed then canceled due to thunderstorms. In fact, ESPN analyst Lee Corso’s rental car was struck by lightning as the announcer was preparing for the game.
‘Enter Sandman’ eventually carried over to both the men’s and women’s Virginia Tech basketball teams, and even some graduations. The excitement behind the movement took a turn when the Hokies hosted the first round of the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament at Cassell Coliseum in 2023.
The concert, which is part of Metallica’s M72 World Tour, will include the sale of alcohol and will feature special guests, Pantera and Suicidal Tendencies.
Merchandise is on sale now at the Hokie Shop, the Hokie Sports Shop, and the Metallica website.
