Shocker: Lars Ulrich ‘Never Rehearsed’ Until Recently
In a bit of news that won’t surprise all the Lars Ulrich haters out there, it turns out that the diminutive Dane only started really rehearsing ahead of shows in the last few years. That little tidbit came to light during the latest edition of The Metallica Report.
During the latest episode of Metallica’s official podcast, James Hetfield, Kirk Hammett, and Robert Trujillo reflected on what it was like to get to watch the other bands perform at this past weekend’s Power Trip festival while still getting to rehearse their set in an on-site compound. And while the subject of rehearsal was on everyone’s mind, Hetfield let slip that his long-time buddy used to skip practice ahead of a major show or festival.
“An interesting fact: Lars [Ulrich, Metallica drummer] never rehearsed ever until — I don’t know — I’d say maybe four or five years ago, he started really getting into rehearsing. And now he’ll — I mean, he’ll rehearse four days for a two-hour set, which is what he needs to do, which is awesome..”
You may have seen video of their pre-show rehearsals on YouTube, but those are only relatively new. As for their performance at Power Trip, Hetfield revealed that the band was able to set up a remote “compound” for rehearsals. That allowed the band to get out to the various shows they wanted to attend at night while still getting ready for their set during the day.
“So there was gonna be rehearsals [for Power Trip] down at HQ [Metallica’s headquarters in San Rafael, California] for a couple days beforehand,” he continued. “And I said, ‘I’m not gonna show up guys. I would love it if we could find a rehearsal place here [closer to the Power Trip festival], ’cause I’d love to see all these other bands.’ And Robert got on board, and then we found a place over here in the polo grounds [at the Empire Polo Club] to rehearse. And I’m grateful that Lars was up for it. So they did their rehearsals down there and then we came up and we have rehearsals and get to watch these bands. It’s so frickin’ cool to have your own compound at a festival for all the days of the festival… We show up, go rehearse and then go out there and watch Iron Maiden. I mean, how cool is that?
“So for me, there’s a lot of inspiration in every single band that’s played here. Just looking up ages — I know age is bullshit. I mean, there’s plenty of the guys in these bands that are [in their] early 70s, late 60s, and it’s inspiring. And the fact that they’re up there still kicking ass in this kind of heat was fantastic. But every single one of those bands have been a part of our childhood and our upbringing in our Metallica adventure. So it’s really cool to be a part of this. And we used to hang out a bunch together in the early days, like at all the festivals we would go to and hang out. Yeah, we would play early on and then get to watch all the other bands after. We would hang out. It kind of felt like that again. Obviously, it was a different day, but we’re all here hanging out and it’s really fun. It’s really fun to see. I just kind of realized that we’re down in the very front looking up, Rob Halford riding out on a motorcycle and there’s fans behind us, looking at us, like they’re watching us enjoy that. How cool? I guess that’s pretty cool. But we’re fans at the end of the day. We wanted to be in the mix and see it. So it’s been a fantastic weekend.”
It’s a good thing Lars has taken rehearsing more seriously in recent years. They’ve still got a lot of shows to go on their M72 World Tour, the dates of which you can check out below.
METALLICA
M72 WORLD TOUR 2023-2024
Friday, November 3, 2023 – St. Louis, MO – The Dome at America’s Center [Tickets]
Sunday, November 5, 2023 – St. Louis, MO – The Dome at America’s Center [Tickets]
Friday, November 10, 2023 – Detroit, MI – Ford Field [Tickets]
Sunday, November 12, 2023 – Detroit, MI – Ford Field [Tickets]
Friday, May 24 2024 – Munich DE – Olympiastadion [Tickets]
Sunday, May 26 2024 – Munich DE – Olympiastadion [Tickets]
Friday, June 7 2024 – Helsinki FI – Olympic Stadium [Tickets]
Sunday, June 9 2024 – Helsinki FI – Olympic Stadium [Tickets]
Friday, June 14 2024 – Copenhagen DK – Parken Stadium [Tickets]
Sunday, June 16 2024 – Copenhagen DK – Parken Stadium [Tickets]
Friday, July 5 2024 – Warsaw PL – PGE Narodowy [Tickets]
Sunday, July 7 2024 – Warsaw PL – PGE Narodowy [Tickets]
Friday, July 12 2024 – Madrid ES – Estadio Cívitas Metropolitano [Tickets]
Sunday, July 14 2024 – Madrid ES – Estadio Cívitas Metropolitano [Tickets]
Friday, August 2 2024 – Foxborough, MA – Gillette Stadium [Tickets]
Sunday, August 4 2024 – Foxborough, MA – Gillette Stadium [Tickets]
Friday, August 9 2024 – Chicago, IL – Soldier Field [Tickets]
Sunday, August 11 2024 – Chicago, IL – Soldier Field [Tickets]
Friday, August 16 2024 – Minneapolis, MN – US Bank Stadium [Tickets]
Sunday, August 18 2024 – Minneapolis, MN – US Bank Stadium [Tickets]
Friday, August 23 2024 – Edmonton, AB – Commonwealth Stadium [Tickets]
Sunday, August 25 2024 – Edmonton, AB – Commonwealth Stadium [Tickets]
Friday, August 30 2024 – Seattle, WA – Lumen Field [Tickets]
Sunday, September 1 2024 – Seattle, WA – Lumen Field [Tickets]
Friday, September 20 2024 – Mexico City MX – Foro Sol*** [Tickets]
Sunday, September 22 2024 – Mexico City MX – Foro Sol [Tickets]
Friday, September 27 2024 – Mexico City MX – Foro Sol*** [Tickets]
Sunday, September 29 2024 – Mexico City MX – Foro Sol [Tickets]
Show 1 Support Europe: Architects & Mammoth WVH**
Show 2 Support Europe: Five Finger Death Punch & Ice Nine Kills
*Five Finger Death Punch/Ice Nine Kills play show 1 in Paris, Architects & Mammoth WVH play show 2 in Paris
**Volbeat replaces Architects on show 1 in Gothenburg
Show 1 Support North America: Pantera & Mammoth WVH***
Show 2 Support North America: Five Finger Death Punch & Ice Nine Kills
***Greta Van Fleet replaces Pantera on show 1 both weekends in Mexico City
