Orion Music + More 2012 came to Atlantic City this past weekend with such stellar performances by headliner Metallica, Artic Monkeys, ?Avenged Sevenfold, Modest Mouse, ?The Gaslight Anthem, Eric Church, Cage the Elephant, ?Fucked Up, The Jim Breuer Heavy Metal Comedy Tour, Volbeat, Best Coast, Hot Snakes, Titus Andronicus, ?Gary Clark Jr., Lucero, Roky Erickson, The Black Angels, Baroness, Soul Rebels, ?The Sword, ?Don Jamieson, Jim Florentine, Wooden Shjips, ?A Place to Bury Strangers, Liturgy, Ghost, Charred Walls of the Damned, Suicidal Tendencies?, Sepultura, The Black Dahlia, Murder, Torche, Letlive, Red Fang, Kyng, ?Landmine Marathon, ?Black Tusk and Thy Will Be Done.

Rob Trujillo was all over the place. The Metallica bassist had surfed in the morning with his bandmate Kirk Hammett, and he was preparing to skateboard in the afternoon. At eight o' clock, he'd take the stage for Metallica's headlining set at Orion Music + More, but he wouldn't be hiding backstage until then. With the sun at its hottest on the second day of the festival, he took to the one stage under a tent to introduce the Soul Rebels. He even joked about them, calling them a metal band. The gag, see, is that the New Orleans-base Soul Rebels are a brass combo. Trujillo lingered onstage as the group broke into an instrumental version of Stevie Wonder's "Living for the City." Two songs later, the Soul Rebels would pay tribute to the Orion co-curators with a jazz-soul version of "Enter Sandman" that worked surprisingly well. Metallica fans who'd gathered under the tent sung along gleefully. Some even danced.

Day one of Metallica‘s Orion Music + More festival is in the books, and there is no doubt that 32,000 people left Bader Field in Atlantic City, N.J. with smiles on their faces Saturday night.

It's day one of the two day Metallica Orion Music and More festival and crowds poured in Saturday, where officials are expecting more than 30,000 attendees.

After 10 hours at Bader Field in Atlantic City on Saturday for the first day of Metallica's inaugural Orion Music + More festival, I headed back for more on Sunday, for a lineup that, for my money, was stronger and more varied, and turned out to be thoroughly satisfying.

It was Metallica's turn to transform Bader Field and Atlantic City into a music festival venue this weekend, following last summer's Dave Matthews Band Caravan and last weekend's Phish takeover. Once again, good old Bader - an old municipal airport located just a short walk over the now-iconic Albany Avenue bridge from the Boardwalk - proved to be a fetching and roomy backdrop.

Band reveals why they chose Atlantic City for festival and which groups they're excited to see

This weekend, Metallica is bringing their first Orion Festival to Atlantic City, New Jersey. The two-day event will feature over twenty bands, a monster car show, a display of horror film memorabilia, comedians, a film festival and more.

This weekend, Metallica is bringing their first Orion Festival to Atlantic City, New Jersey. The two-day event will feature over twenty bands, a monster car show, a display of horror film memorabilia, comedians, a film festival and more.

On stage at Bader Field in Atlantic City on Saturday night, James Hetfield seemed the happiest of men.