Metallica Announce First-Ever Orion Music Fest

They've headlined stadiums around the world and made an incredibly polarizing album with punk grandfather Lou Reed. So what's left for Metallica to do to cap off a stellar year? How about launch their own summer festival with a lineup that includes some of their favorite bands?

On Tuesday (February 7), the group announced the debut of the Orion Music + More fest, described as an annual "music, arts and lifestyle" gathering that will feature multiple stages and take place June 23-24 at Bader Field in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

In addition to headlining sets from Metallica each day — during which they will play The Black Album one night and Ride the Lightning the other in their only North American performances of those classic releases in 2012 — the festival will also feature sets from: Arctic Monkeys, Avenged Sevenfold, Modest Mouse, the Gaslight Anthem, Cage the Elephant, F---ed Up, Best Coast, Hot Snakes, Titus Andronicus, Gary Clark Jr., Lucero, Roky Erickson, the Black Angels, the Sword and Liturgy. More bands will be announced in the coming weeks.

"We've had the idea of doing our own lifestyle festival with lots of diverse music and fun and games for years," drummer Lars Ulrich said in a press release announcing the event. "Finally this year all the practical ducks lined up in a row, and we are beyond psyched to bring Orion to our fans, friends and the curious. After the most incredible of weeks ever in December 2011 celebrating our 30th anniversary at the Fillmore in San Francisco, CA, bringing the spirit of that week, the looseness of that week, the possibilities of that week, the fan interactive elements of that week, and the (fill in your own blank here) of that week to a festival setting is so exciting we can hardly contain ourselves."

Pre-sale tickets for the Metallica fan club start Wednesday at 10 a.m. ET, with the public on-sale slated to begin Saturday. Tickets are $150 for two-day passes for the public and $125 for fan-club members. Head to OrionMusicAndMore.com for details.

Will you check out the first Orion fest? Let us know in the comments!