Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich recently spoke with The Ringer about the band's highly anticipated WorldWired 2017 tour and what Metallica means to him at this point of his career. Following is an excerpt from the interview

Q: This is decade four. What is Metallica to you now?

Ulrich: "(Laughs) That’s a great question. Metallica is … what I know. Metallica is what I do. Metallica is really the only consistent thing in my life other than my family. I’ve been doing this since I was 17. It’s the only band I’ve ever been in. It’s my creative outlet. It’s where I go and seek refuge from all the rest of the nuttiness in my life. Metallica used to be the main thing in my life. Now, Metallica is sort of the place that I go from 8:30 in the morning to 3 in the afternoon when we’re making a record down in the studio between school drop-offs and school pickups. Metallica is two weeks on the road to run away with a rock ’n’ roll circus and sweat and play music and meet the fans over some sort of civilized dinner. So it’s almost like—I’ve joked about it—Metallica is that giant man cave down in the basement where you get a chance to run away and still fulfill what’s left of your rock ’n’ roll dreams."

Q: When you talk about that big man cave that Metallica’s become, I’d say it’s no secret that there have been times when that wasn’t necessarily the case, where it wasn’t a refuge as much as it was something else to be worked on. When did that change, that it became that place to get away again?

Ulrich: "I think that the saving grace for this band is that we all four more or less had kids at the same time. All four of us started changing our worldview in terms of prioritizing family, prioritizing kids, putting the band secondary, more or at less at the same time. Call it ’98 to 2003, give or take a couple years. It wasn’t like two guys become parents and two other guys were still sitting doing blow for fucking three days in a row or whatever in hotel rooms around the world. We all sort of shifted our lifestyle choices at the same time. I’m pretty sure that has a lot to do with the fact that we’re still a functioning band. It all gave us something additional to talk about, and it all gave us kind of another unified vision of how to look at the world."

Read the complete interview here.

Metallica have announced their WorldWired 2017 North American tour in support of their new album Hardwired… To Self-Destruct. The WorldWired 2017 tour is produced by Live Nation and kicks off on May 10th in Baltimore, MD at M&T Bank Stadium. The tour will crisscross its way across North America into the summer, marking the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees and Grammy Award winning band’s first proper North American tour since 2009. Avenged Sevenfold and Volbeat will be the main support acts for the tour run. See below for a list of all confirmed dates.

Tickets went sale to the general public beginning this Friday, February 17th at 10 AM, local time. Each ticket purchased will come with a copy of the Hardwired...To Self-Destruct album, available as a physical CD or a digital download. Visit metallica.com  for complete ticket info.

Every ticket purchased through official outlets includes your choice of a standard physical or standard digital copy of Hardwired…To Self-Destruct. Fans should expect to receive information from Warner Music Artist Services on how to redeem their albums within 14 business days after their purchase. Full details of how you can gift the album, should you have already purchased, will be given on the redemption page.

Metallica has partnered with CID Entertainment to offer four options of special enhanced experiences on this tour, including premium tickets and amenities, including: early access to the venue, a visit to the 'Memory Remains' exhibit of memorabilia, and meet and greets. For full package details, visit this location.

Additionally, Metallica has announced the formation of their All Within My Hands Foundation, which will raise funds to support a cross-section of national, local and Bay Area charities that the individual band members support, along with continuing to donate to music education programs and local food banks. Through a collaboration with Crowdrise, the band encourages fans to make a donation when purchasing tickets to the upcoming shows. For more information, head to crowdrise.com/metallica.

Tour dates:

May
10 - Baltimore, MD - M&T Bank Stadium*^
12 - Philadelphia, PA - Lincoln Financial Field*^
14 - East Rutherford, NJ - MetLife Stadium*^
17 - Uniondale, NY - New Coliseum^
19 - Boston, MA - Gillette Stadium ^
21 - Columbus, OH - Rock On The Range Festival (Sold Out)

June
4 - St. Louis, MO - Busch Stadium^
7 - Denver, CO - Sports Authority Field*^
11 - Houston, TX - NRG Stadium*^
14 - San Antonio, TX - Alamodome*
16 - Dallas, TX - AT&T Stadium*
18 - Chicago, IL - Soldier Field*

July
5 - Orlando, FL - Camping World Stadium*^
7 - Miami, FL - Hard Rock Stadium*^
9 - Atlanta, GA - SunTrust Park*^
12 - Detroit, MI - Comercia Park*^
14 - Quebec City, QC- Festival D’Ete
16 - Toronto, ON - Rogers Centre*^
19 - Montreal, QB - Parc Jean-Drapeau*^
29 - Los Angeles, CA - Rose Bowl*+

August
4 - Phoenix, AZ - University of Phoenix Stadium*+
6 - San Diego, CA - Petco Park*+
9 - Seattle, WA - CenturyLink Field*+
14 - Vancouver, BC - BC Place*+
16 - Edmonton, AB - Commonwealth Stadium*+

* With Avenged Sevenfold
^ With Volbeat
+ With Gojira