Danny Wimmer Launches ‘Offstage With DWP’ Digital Series With 2017 Metallica Stream

Metallica
(Jason Squires / Getty Images – Metallica
playing what was then known as Rock On The Range at MAPRE Stadium in Columbus, Ohio, 2017.

Festival producer Danny Wimmer Presents is launching a new digital series, “Offstage With DWP,” debuting Friday with a full stream of the band’s 2017 headlining set from MAPRE Stadium in Columbus, Ohio.

“With the pandemic canceling most major music events this year, DWP is filling the gap and giving fans something to look forward to with this regularly-updated online portal,” the announcement states. “To start, Friday will offer a full headlining set from Metallica pulled from the archives, filmed from their 2017 appearance at MAPFRE Stadium in Columbus, OH.”
In the coming weeks, additional “Offstage With DWP” content will include songs from the Foo Fighters’ headline set at Sonic Temple 2019, interviews with Jacoby Shaddix of Papa Roach, Brent Smith of Shinedown, Randy Blythe of Lamb of God, Taylor Momsen of The Pretty Reckless, as well as brand new acoustic performances from Tim McIlrath of Rise Against, Lzzy Hale & Joe Hottinger of Halestorm, and more.
Metallica was to headline five Danny Wimmer Presents rock festivals this year before it was announced that frontman James Hetfield would miss some of the events due to continuing rehab treatment. That was before the COVID-19 pandemic, which saw DWP’s “Louisville Trifesta” in Kentucky of Hometown Rising, Bourbon and Beyond and Rock On The Range, which takes place in September, called off early.
Metallica was to do two sets per fest  — headlining Friday and Sunday — and is still scheduled to play Aftershock festival in Sacramento in October, which is also headlined by My Chemical Romance. The Metallica bookings were a coup for the independent festival promoter, which in March announced it had received a “substantial investment” from Ron Burkle’s Yucaipa Companies, putting it into acquisition mode.
“We want to use the capital to buy independent promoters who have one or two or three festivals but don’t have the resources to grow, rather than try to start a whole bunch of new festivals – we’ll always start one or two here or there,” DWP CEO Danny Hayes told Pollstar in March. “The market is obviously overcrowded but, now, it’s about who can do it better and where can you find your margins. We’re very focused on the right independent promoters who need support. It’s getting harder and harder for indies and that’s why putting them together makes a lot of sense. We’re looking for all the young Danny Wimmers.”