Tune in to Liquid Metal on Sirius XM Channel 40 on Thursday, March 1st @ 5pm ET / 2pm PT for an exclusive interview with METALLICA's James Hetfield who talks to host Jose Mangin about Metallica's 30th anniversary celebrations, the Orion Music + More festival, progress on the follow up to Death Magnetic, and more. In addition, the entire hour's playlist was handpicked by Hetfield himself.

After rocking almost every festival on the planet over the past 30 years, Metallica recently has announced the unprecedented event happening June 23rd/24th at Bader Field in Atlantic City, New Jersey. For Orion Music + More, Metallica has invited 22-plus of their favorite artists from across the music and comedy spectrum to the inaugural event. More than just music, the festival will also feature a lifestyle element showcasing the band's individual interests - and allowing fans to interact directly with each of the band members. Orion was named in tribute to late Metallica bassist Cliff Burton's signature instrumental called 'Orion'.

For Orion Music + More is being produced in conjunction with Austin-based promoter C3 Presents that has experience with producing large-scale music festivals like Chicago's Lollapalooza and Austin City Limits in Texas.

C3 partner Charlie Walker says festival-goers are looking for musical diversity in a lineup.

"Whenever I see kids at Lollapalooza or ACL, they always tell me that one of their favorite parts of the festival is going out and seeing something might not have ordinarily seen or bought a ticket to, because they didn't know enough about the band," Walker tells Billboard.biz . "It's really about being wide open across everything from punk to country and having people exploring multiple genres and multiple types of bands."

The promoter understands, however, how some Metallica fans might be confused about the festival's indie-centric lineup. "I'm sure some people have a vision of what they think it is because it's Metallica, but I think they'll have a different understanding of what it is after they come and see it," he says.

So will more metal-leaning acts be added to Orion Music + More? "I think we'll try and stick with diversity. You'll see some more hard rock bands, you'll see some more alternative bands," Walker says. "We're certainly not consciously trying to lean it hard rock or indie - we're trying to make it balanced."

Metallica will headline both nights of Orion Music + More and play The Black Album in its entirety one night Ride The Lightning in its entirety the other. This will be the only time the band will perform these albums in North America in 2012.

Confirmed acts include: ARCTIC MONKEYS, AVENGED SEVENFOLD, MODEST MOUSE, THE GASLIGHT ANTHEM, CAGE THE ELEPHANT, FUCKED UP, BEST COAST, HOT SNAKES, TITUS ANDRONICUS, GARY CLARK JR., LUCERO, ROKY ERICKSON, THE BLACK ANGELS, THE SWORD, A PLACE TO BURY STRANGERS, LITURGY.

Stay tuned for the full lineup.

For more details visit Orionmusicandmore.com. Check out ticket details below: