Mike Shinoda discussed pranking Metallica with Linkin Park in a new Howard Stern Show interview, as recapped by HowardStern.com. “Hybrid Theory” came big opportunities for Linkin Park including the opportunity to open for Metallica on their Summer Sanitarium Tour. “I mean, dream come true,” Mike admitted of the honor.
At some point during the tour, Linkin Park decided to go for another achievement – being the first band to prank Metallica onstage. In doing so, Shinoda and company decided to go in the opposite direction of their hosts’ metal reputation. “Everything was like tough and dark, and so we were like, ‘What would be the least tough, least dark thing to do?’” Mike remembered. “We ended up going out with a picnic basket and like little sandwiches and drinks, and Chester had a skateboard and he skated out on stage … We got the go-ahead from their head of security to do it – he promised he wouldn’t like take us out.”
Despite Metallica’s hard image, they couldn’t have been better sports about the episode. “They were playing ‘Master of Puppets’ but turning around laughing at us,” Mike noted. “We knew them just well enough to know that James [Hetfield] wasn’t going to knock my teeth out.”
.@mikeshinoda tells Howard about the time @LinkinPark pranked @Metallica by setting up a picnic on stage while the band was playing “Master of Puppets.” pic.twitter.com/0Jj8sFbuiK
— Stern Show (@sternshow) February 15, 2023
