Former Metallica bassist Ron McGovney recently disproved Saxon singer Biff Byford’s narration about the first show the two bands played together nearly four decades ago and called it a “total fiction.” It was recently noted that Metallica got a huge bill after getting drunk in studio.
Ron McGovney opens up on the matter
During a new appearance on “The Chuck Shute Podcast”, Byford recalled a funny incident that allegedly happened when Metallica was the support act for Saxon at the Whisky A Go Go in West Hollywood, California in March 1982.
“I think we were out having dinner or something before the gig or doing something,” he recalled. “And Metallica was setting up on stage. And I wasn’t there. I was there later for their show, but I wasn’t there [when they were setting up]. And I had a huge electric fan there in front of me, and I think Metallica asked if they could use it, and our tour manager said ‘No.’ So they didn’t use it. They didn’t talk to us for a long, long time because of that. [Laughs]”
He continued: “I wrote a book, an autobiography, a few years ago, and in the book, I said, ‘Look, if you wanna use the fan anytime in the future, it’s no problem. You can use it guys.’ And they got in touch with me after that. They must have realized that it was a bit stupid. And we got on [and became] big friends after that. So, that was pretty cool.”
Byford’s comments, McGovney — who was Metallica’s bassist at the time of the Whisky show took to his Twitter to share the article and he included the following message: “Wow. What a story. Total fiction.”
Wow. What a story. Total fiction. What do you think @DAVIDMARRS_ ?
— Ron McGovney (@RonMcGovney) December 15, 2021
