Yes, it’s true: One of the reasons Metallica is taking a night off between its two mega-sized concerts in Minneapolis this weekend is to provide a little breathing room to its members, who now range in age from 59 to 61.
“For two of the guys in the band, the shows take a lot more of a physical toll on their bodies,” lead guitarist Kirk Hammett said. “The age thing is definitely a bit of a factor.”
The guitar hero didn’t name names — presumably frontman James Hetfield’s voice and drummer Lars Ulrich’s arms are where the physical challenges lie — but he did say all four members of metal’s biggest act of all time intend to keep playing Metallica gigs together as long as they can.
Thus, this night-off approach and other factors surrounding Friday’s and Sunday’s concerts at U.S. Bank Stadium are intended to help carry Metallica well past its current 43rd year as a band — like a certain other stadium-sized rock group has done.
“The Stones are setting another precedent playing into their 80s,” Hammett said. “That inspiring to us, man. That’s our goal.”
“We wanted to turn the weekend into more of an experience, like festivals are in Europe,” Hammett explained.
“A lot of European fans go out for festivals, and it becomes a weekend event. They’ll camp on the grounds and basically don’t leave the area for three days.”
There are different opening acts on each of the tour’s two-night stops, with the reformed Pantera and Wolfgang Van Halen’s Mammoth WVH on Friday (see Hammett’s comments on each band below), and then Five Finger Death Punch and Ice Nine Kills on Sunday.
“Another way we’re making it more of a weekend event is by not playing the same set list each night,” Hammett added.
For the first time in more than three decades, songs like “Master of Puppets,” “Creeping Death” and “Enter Sandman” — which have been performed at literally every single Metallica concert for more than three decades — will not be performed each night this time around. Just one night apiece.
“I look at it as one long, continuous set list, with Part 1 on Friday and Part 2 on Sunday,” Hammett said. “I don’t see it as us not playing those songs.”
As for other selections in the extended, two-night set list, the guitarist explained, “It’s always changing.
“There are certain songs our fans just expect us to play. They come to hear those songs, and we know what those songs are. They’re always in the set. Then it’s all a matter of balancing out newer songs with deeper cuts and whatever else we might have in mind.”
The newest of those new songs are off last year’s “72 Seasons,” Metallica’s 11th studio album, which was started during the pandemic.
A rather typical-sounding collection in a good way, the record has been described by band members as their most “friction-free” in recording-studio terms. That’s saying a lot for a rock group whose bouts with infighting, sobriety and even group therapy were famously caught on film in the tense documentary “Some Kind of Monster.”
Asked about the drama-free recording process this time around, Hammett said, “I think that was partly because of the social-distancing involved.” But then he laughingly insisted, “That’s a joke.”
More seriously, he added, “We also had a lot of leeway in being able to record certain parts while we were still at home. That kind of made the process flow a little more smoothly.”
On opening band Mammoth WVH’s leader Wolfgang Van Halen, whose late father, Eddie, was a mentor to Hammett: “Wow, what a guitar player. He just lives and breathes that guitar-playing legacy that his dad created. I’m so, so, so stoked to see that happening.”
On Friday’s other opener, Pantera, now featuring singer Phil Anselmo and bassist Rex Brown with Ozzy Osbourne guitarist Zakk Wylde and Anthrax drummer Charlie Benante following the deaths of co-founding brothers Vinnie and Darrell Abbott: “I think it’s a great thing. It’s a tribute to the brothers keeping their legacy alive. And it’s a great thing for Pantera fans. Even though it’s not the original Pantera, you still get to see Phil and Rex, and Zakk and Charlie are doing a damn good job.”
On the bands Bastardane and Ottto, featuring Castor Hetfield and Tye Trujillo, respectively, sons of Metallica members James Hetfield and Rob Trujillo (each performing Saturday at the Varsity Theater): “They’re great, but I really love any kid who’s keeping live music going… to see the younger generation picking up the tools and making real music in analog is really a wonderful thing. It’s so easy to just go to a computer these days and just be a one-man band. That’s fine, too, but you lose the chemistry and dynamic that real bands like these thrive on.”
On his day-off plans between the two Minneapolis shows: “We usually keep a low-profile those nights. The fans kind of keep the momentum going those nights. I am a big Prince fan, so I will take that into consideration. I’m a big Hüsker Dü fan, too. I love Bob Mould so much. So maybe I’ll drive around Minneapolis playing Hüsker Dü and Prince.”
