Metallica Orion Festival 2013: Metal Rockers Hope Detroit Becomes Permanent Home for Music + More Fest

The Orion Music + More Festival will open up Saturday in Detroit. Metallica, the metal band that founded and organized Orion, hopes that it will stay in Detroit for years to come.

Last year's event, the first Orion Festival, took place in Atlantic City, NJ and vocalist/guitarist James Hetfield said the location didn't help bring the crowds. He suggested in an interview with Rolling Stone that hotels in the "gambling town" engaged in price gouging during the festival's stay in town. That and the city's location on the East coast resulted in disappointing attendance numbers. Last year's numbers were around 20,000 attendees (compared to 85,000 yearly for Bonnaroo). Hetfield admitted that the festival didn't break even, but also said at a press conference that it wasn't about the money.

"At the end of the day, it's not about us making money," Hetfield said later at a press conference. "It's really about creating some kind of mark in history, and after, eight, 10 years, if this thing starts breaking even, then that will put a little more of a smile on our faces and it won't be as much of a personal investment."

The group has higher expectations for this year's turnout however. The Belle Isle in the middle of the Detroit River offers more space than last year, and Metallica and organizers are expecting around 40,000 attendees.

Being that Metallica is a pretty heavy band with pretty heavy tastes, Orion focuses on fairly heavy music. Fellow headliner the Red Hot Chili Peppers are among the least aggressive acts. Nearly all performers fall under the "rock categorization," but there are a few outliers, such as dubstep producers Bassnectar and Borgore.

Taking a cue from Bonnaroo, Orion features plenty of activities completely unrelated to music. This year's highlights include a museum of Metallica memorabilia, film screenings and a vintage car show.

If all goes according to plan, fans can expect a similar production year. Same place, same time.

Check out Metallica perform its hit "One" at Orion last year: