The Tomorrowland dance festival managed to go off in Boom, Belgium this weekend despite the event’s iconic main stage getting destroyed by a massive fire just two days before Friday’s (July 18) kick-off. In a miracle from the beat gods, workers on site were able to clear out the piles of debris and construct a new stage to host the fest’s headliners overnight, giving Nervo, Axwell, Martin Garrix, Alok and others a place to perform on night one.
How’d they do it? With a little help from Metallica, believe it or not.
According to Belgian news outlet HLN, after devastated organizers scrambled for a replacement of the 147 foot-tall 524 foot-wide main stage — which was reduced to a pile of charred metal and soot after Wednesday’s still unexplained blaze — they got a hand from an unexpected musical peer. Determined to open gates on time and give the people what they came for, organizers worked with regular festival partners Pixel Screen, Stageco and Prismax to rebuild the stage with help from Metallica, who offered up some elements from their M72 world tour stage that were being stored in Austria.
The pieces were airlifted to Belgium overnight and fashioned into a new main stage to replace the massive one technicians had been toiling on for two weeks before Wednesday’s fire. While at press time spokespeople for Metallica and Tomorrowland had not returned Billboard‘s request for comment, one of Friday’s headliners, Garrix, weighed in on the kind gesture.
“I can not believe I’m actually typing this… but my set at Tomorrowland is still happening! 🙏
massive love and a big shoutout to the incredible @tomorrowland team for pulling off miracles — and to @Metallica for coming through with the new stage parts 🤘❤️,” he wrote alongside a picture of himself with Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich. “beyond excited to close the mainstage tonight. & this will hands down be the most unique Tomorrowland ever — and yes, I’ll be streaming it too.” Metallica commented on the post with a black heart emoji.
At press time Metallica did not appear to have commented on being Tomorrowland’s stage saviors.
According to HLN, while the temporary replacement stage was significantly smaller than the original — “it’s a third of the original stage, but certainly not less,” said the former CEO of Zillion, the company that pressed 200 people into action to rebuild the stage — it brought the artists closer to the audience, though local officials blocked the use of fireworks on it.