James Hetfield asked Metallica fans at a show in Copenhagen last night if the band should end the concert because ‘we don’t sound good.’ Alternative Nation transcribed his comments.
Hetfield said, “It’s not fair to you guys man, you paid a lot of money to come hear your favorite band, and we don’t sound good. I’m going to leave it up to you man. Would you rather hear us sound better another time?”
Fans cheered, encouraging the band to keep going.
Hetfield responded, “I love you too, I appreciate that. I want to stop, what do you say?”
Fans cheered again.
Hetfield said, “Okay. You asked for it, alright. I’ll keep doing my best, alright. I appreciate you guys so much, thank you for supporting us.”
Fans who attended the show stated that Hetfield had the flu.
Lars Ulrich discussed how Metallica have changed their touring schedule for their health and families in a new Drum Magazine interview.
“We got into this thing about touring sporadically, and that was something we really liked because every time we left the house we knew we were coming back in two weeks. And that’s a different psychological undertaking. And you can always see the end, rather than, ‘Now I’m leaving the house for a year and a half and I don’t even know what the hell is going to happen.’ We adopted that model for the Death Magnetic record, which was almost 200 shows around the world in two-week increments.” Ulrich is quick to add, however, that this touring practice isn’t the most economical, but that leads to a better experience for concertgoers.
“Ultimately, you’re going to have a better version of Metallica, because we’ll still keep wanting to do it. We understand it’s more expensive to tour the world in two-week increments, but we feel that it’s an investment in the health of the band and the sustainability.”
Within this newer workflow system, the band has plenty of downtime, and Ulrich uses this time to take a practical approach to his craft. “If we’re not playing, I try to get behind the kit a couple times a week just to sustain the callouses,” he says. And when they’re in heavy work mode, “We have a couple guys that basically work with us full time on working out, stretching, massaging, keeping the physical elements as relevant and as working as possible. When we go on the road we have a guy that makes us healthy meals.” As for the partying that typically accompanies the touring lifestyle? “I still drink, but I don’t drink very often. Maybe twice a week. A couple glasses of wine, a couple glasses of champagne. But the days of waking up in gutters and all that kind of stuff doesn’t quite happen anymore, especially with being a parent.”
