LARS ULRICH TALKS SMACK ABOUT THE ROLLING STONES
We’re a few days late on this one, but it’s too funny not to talk about: Blabbermouth reports that Metallica skinsman Lars Ulrich called into the “Opie and Anthony” show last week to discuss, amongst other things, Metallica’s stint opening for The Rolling Stones last year. Needless to say, Ulrich talks lots and lots of shit. Read the transcript after the jump.
“Yeah, it was last year — it was about a year and a half ago out here in San Francisco. We were in the middle of some chill time after the ‘St. Anger’ tour and one day it was like, ‘The STONES wanna know if you wanna open for them in San Francisco,’ and it was like, ‘Duh, of course, we will. Just name the day and place and we’ll be there.’ We obviously hadn’t opened for anybody for a few years but if you’re gonna open for anybody, open for the STONES. I mean, c’mon!
“It’s the second show — [we played] two shows [with THE ROLLING STONES] in a row — and some assistant with, like, five walkie-talkies and a water-bottle holder, whatever, comes in before the show and says, ‘Do you want your picture taken with THE ROLLING STONES?’ We were like, ‘You know what? Sure. Why not?’ So after our show and then they’re getting ready to go on, this assistant comes in and says, ‘OK, be ready in five minutes’ or whatever. So she comes in, she escorts us into this place in the tunnel leading into the stadium and she says, ‘Wait here.’ As we’re standing in this tunnel, literally, and this band EVERCLEAR — who were playing also — they were kind of like over there on their ‘X’. So we’re standing there and we go over and say ‘Hello’ to the guys in EVERCLEAR, ‘Hey, how was your show?’ And this assistant comes back and says, ‘No. The guys in METALLICA stay here, and the guys in EVERCLEAR stay over here.’ We were like, ‘Whoaaah.’ So then about five minutes later the STONES come in, and I swear they didn’t stop — they slowed down their pace, or their walk, just slow enough to get, like, two or three pictures taken, two or three frames shot with EVERCLEAR, and then they came over to where we were standing waiting, and they all looked at us… No, actually, Charlie Watts said ‘Hello’ and I think Keith [Richards] nodded or something, and Mick [Jagger] looked like we were all gonna give him pneumonia or something — he had this disgusting look on his face. And then they slowed down long enough while the photographer took two or three frames, and then they walked off. And then the assistant came over and said, ‘If the band approves the photo, we’ll send you a copy.’ That kind of sums up THE ROLLING STONES experience. [Laughs] But being up on stage, that was awesome and the legacy and the whole thing, but that kind of left me with a little bit of a strange taste in my mouth . . . If we ever pulled that, would you come and find me and shoot me? I mean, seriously? But it was a great night and getting a chance to just be part of… If you can sit there and tell your kids, ‘I opened for IRON MAIDEN, I opened for DEEP PURPLE, and I opened for THE ROLLING STONES,’ then you’re pretty much good to go, you know what I mean?”
I just gotta say, Ulrich ain’t exactly a humble, man of the people himself; still, inviting Trivium up on stage during last summer’s festival circuit to help sing backing vocals shows that he at least knows how to treat his support act.
-AR
