A North American leg, their first since the
Madly in Anger with the World Tour in 2004, began in Phoenix, Arizona, and wrapped up in late December in
Oakland, California. The leg continued in early January 2009, starting in
Milwaukee and finishing up in
Newark, New Jersey, in early February. In February 2009, the band commenced a European tour. The group played three rounds of dates, resuming in late March and then returning again in May. In between the first and second legs, the band performed a small promotional show in
Austin, Texas, U.S. to support the video game release
Guitar Hero: Metallica. The European legs began in
Nottingham, England, and eventually culminated in
Cologne, Germany. In June 2009, the group played three dates in
Mexico City. The shows reached a total capacity of 158,349 and were the band's first shows in
Mexico in ten years. Later in the month, the group returned to Europe, performing a mixture of indoor and outdoor shows, and festival appearances. The leg featured headline slots at the first iterations of the
Sonisphere Festival, a new festival event which took place in Finland, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and the UK. The leg began in
Helsinki and finished in early August in
Knebworth, England. In September 2009, the band kicked off a third North American leg, beginning in
Nashville, Tennessee, and finishing in mid-November in New York City. The act resumed touring duties in December, performing five dates in the Western U.S. , Peru In January 2010, the band headed to South America, playing mostly outdoor shows. The leg kicked off in
Lima and finished in
São Paulo, Brazil. In March, the group returned to Mexico, performing in
Guadalajara and
Monterrey. The leg continued on with additional dates in South America, as well as shows in Central America. The band also performed for the first time in countries such as Puerto Rico, Costa Rica and Guatemala. In April 2010, the act once again returned to Europe, beginning with two dates in
Oslo. The leg included appearances at the 2010 editions of the
Sonisphere Festival, which featured exclusive billings of the "Big Four" of
thrash metal:
Slayer,
Megadeth and
Anthrax, as well as Metallica. The events took place in Poland, Switzerland, Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Greece, Romania and Turkey. The band also returned to Israel in May, for the third time in their career. In September 2010, the band kicked off one of three legs in Oceania, followed by two dates in Tokyo. In mid-October and late November 2010, the group returned for additional concerts in Oceania. The group also played a show in the United States in early November for the
Call of Duty: Black Ops launch party. The entire tour culminated with three dates in Melbourne, Australia. The dates in Mexico City were recorded and later released on CD, DVD and Blu-ray with the title,
Orgullo, Pasión y Gloria ("Pride, Passion and Glory"). Additionally, the show in
Nîmes, France, was filmed and subsequently released on DVD and Blu-ray entitled,
Français Pour Une Nuit ("French for One Night"). Both titles were released to retail in November 2009 only in their respective markets (South America and France) and through the band's official website. The band's performance at the Sonisphere Festival in
Sofia was beamed to more than 450 movie theatres in more than 140 markets in the U.S. and select cities in Europe, Canada and South America on June 22, 2010. The live video was later released on DVD and Blu-ray in October 2010, entitled
The Big 4 Live from Sofia, Bulgaria. According to concert magazine
Pollstar, the tour was the tenth highest-grossing for 2009 with revenue of US$89.1 million from 78 shows, and ranked fifth in 2010 with revenue of $110.1 million. Overall, the tour grossed $219.9 million from 164 reported shows across two years with an attendance of over 2.74 million people. This was the first time Metallica ever played in Puerto Rico. They were originally going to play on April 28, 1993, at Hiram Bithorn Stadium on the
Nowhere Else to Roam Tour, but the rains that day reached a level of over two feet, which would have been a hazardous situation if the band had played. ==Support acts==