Sick James Hetfield Asks Copenhagan Crowd if They Want Metallica to Stop, Admits ‘We Don’t Sound Good’
One of the most difficult aspects of life on the road is what to do when you become sick. We've all seen band members go through heroic efforts to suck it up for the set and give the crowd the show they came to see. It's easier to tough it out if you're not the singer and unfortunately for Metallica, James Hetfield was the one who became ill last night (Feb. 3) in Copenhagan, Denmark.
Addressing the crowd at the Royal Arena (video above), Hetfield said, "It's not fair to you guys, man. You paid a lot of money to come see your favorite band and we don't sound good. I want to leave it up to you, man. Would you rather hear us sound better another time?"
After a low roar from the crowd, the frontman went on, "I love you too, I appreciate that. I want to stop, what do you say?" The arena responded with a loud cheers of, "No!" Hetfield said, "Okay, you asked for it. I'll keep doing my best, all right? I appreciate you guys so much man, thank you for supporting."
Hetfield managed to power through the 16 song set, which included five cuts off Hardwired... To Self-Destruct: "Hardwired," "Atlas, Rise!," "Now That We're Dead," "Moth Into Flame" and "Confusion." Metallica have two more shows at the Royal Arena lined up for Feb. 5 and 7, so with an off night tonight (Feb. 4), the frontman will hopefully be able to rest up and get back to delivering the band's typical high-level performances.
To hear what Hetfield's voice sounded like during the show, check out the fan-filmed footage of "Battery" below.
Metallica are just over one week away from their scheduled performance at the 59th Annual Grammy Awards, which airs Feb. 12 on CBS at 8PM ET. The thrash legends will follow it up with a show immediately following the conclusion of the awards, heading straight to the Hollywood Palladium.
Metallica, "Battery" in Copenhagan
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