Pantera bassist Rex Brown recently recalled the band’s experience performing on Metallica’s “weird” stage configuration during their lengthy run as a support act on the “M72” tour, sharing his thoughts during an appearance on The Bass Nerds podcast.
Brown discussed the honor of being part of the tour for several years and how the band adapted to the unique stage setup.
“The ‘M72’ tour is just an honor to be on for a whole three and a half years now,” Brown said. “And those guys are just the tops.”
He then described the physical layout of the stage, which features a circular design in the center of the stadium.
“The stage is a weird configuration, but once you just get up and start playing, it just comes naturally,” Brown continued. “You just have a lot of people to cover… It’s like a doughnut in the middle of a stadium.”
Brown also reflected on the massive scale of the venues they played during their initial run with Metallica.
“So we were playing — I think the first run we were doing, we did MetLife in New York, and we did SoFi in L.A., and Soldier Field — so many places you just dream of playing,” Brown added. “And they were all sold to the gills. Metallica’s huge, man.”
Brown’s comments reflect the scale of a production designed to place both the band and its support acts in the middle of stadium audiences rather than at one end of the field.
Metallica performs on a ring-shaped stage with the Snake Pit positioned in the center. The setup allows the band to perform in the round and gives fans a 360-degree view.
The stage measures approximately 120 feet in diameter. Its circular design replaces the traditional end-stage arrangement and helps reduce the number of obstructed sightlines in large stadiums.
Pantera joined Metallica and Suicidal Tendencies for select dates on the 2025 U.S. leg of the M72 tour. The dates announced by Pantera’s official website included stadium shows in cities such as Syracuse, Toronto, Nashville, Blacksburg, Philadelphia, Landover and Charlotte.
That run brought Pantera to several of the venues Brown mentioned, including MetLife Stadium, SoFi Stadium and Soldier Field. The combination of the circular stage, multiple production towers and packed stadium dates helped create the unusual touring environment he recalled.
