Metallica’s massive ‘M72’ tour features an enormous ring-shaped stage – and Lars Ulrich says it’s something the band has been planning for a long time.

He told the New York Times they spent years trying to figure out how to do a 360-degree stage in a stadium: “All of a sudden it was, like, ‘Well, hang on, why does the band have to be in the center?’ And then it was, like, ‘What’s the opposite of the band being in the center?’ And that would be the fans being in the center. And that’s when we came up with the doughnut concept, where you play on the doughnut itself and then the fans are in the doughnut hole.”

The ‘doughnut’ involves four different drum sets for Lars to play, so that he and the rest of the band can get up close and personal with the fans.

The M72 tour visits Arlington, Texas on August 18th and 20th and Los Angeles on August 25th and 27th.