Metallica comes to Baltimore’s M&T Bank Stadium on Wednesday to launch its 2017 summer tour (Photo via Facebook).
Metallica’s music has always been aggressive, even angry. The songs on the latest album, Hardwired… To Self-Destruct, harken back to the band’s earlier work from the 1980s when Metallica was among a handful of groups that pioneered heavy metal’s thrash sub-genre. Maybe it was appropriate that Metallica put out its most brutal and in-your-face album in decades during the divisive and acrimonious run-up to the 2016 presidential election.
That’s not how lead guitarist Kirk Hammett views Metallica in the broader cultural context. The band strives to be apolitical, which Hammett believes is becoming more of a struggle for some members. He also believes a Metallica recording or concert serves as more than a societal comment. Metallica’s music is a release, even a “celebration of life.”
“My attitude is that if things are going to get harder for people, and I know that things are going to get a lot harder for a lot of people,” he says. “I’m hoping our music can provide some sort of outlet for all their frustration and anger. Maybe they can find answers through our music in a cathartic way.”
DCist chatted with Hammett as Metallica was gearing up to launch its WorldWired Tour Wednesday night at Baltimore’s M&T Bank Stadium, which pleases Hammett because of his personal appreciation for John Waters and Edgar Allen Poe, two influential artists with strong ties to Charm City.
“I have to throw in there that Metallica, we’re not big on rehearsal. We rehearse at a maximum, maybe three or four days before a big tour.” Hammett says of the quartet’s preparation. “I make sure I’m in good physical shape, I make sure I’m in good mental health, and I make sure that my guitar playing is up to snuff and my chops are good.”
While Metallica has played some U.S. festival dates in recent years, this will be the band’s first major tour of the United States since 2009. The hard rockers played concerts in Latin America and Asia earlier this year, which served as warm-ups to hone the production. Hammett didn’t want to divulge too much about the show other than to say that audiences can expect a handful of songs from Hardwired each night and that the stage would feature the “world’s biggest Metallica logo.”
Hammett also believes that the band is more confident than it has ever been, partly because of improved musicianship and partly because of a change in attitude. He credits the latter to bassist Robert Trujillo, who joined the band in 2003.
“We’re much more flexible now than we used to be,” Hammett explains. “Since Rob has been in the band, I don’t think we’ve played the same set two shows in a row.”
Nearly 35 years have passed since Metallica released its debut album. That kind of staying power takes more than luck. In Metallica’s case, the longevity is the result of music that evolves, has been at times groundbreaking, and always authentic.
“Our music is real. Our music is a fact. I think people really strive for finding things that are real these days, that are happening in the moment,” Hammett says. “There’s less and less of that in the world these days, and I think people are needing that more and more.”
Metallica plays M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore on Wednesday, May 10, with openers Avenged Sevenfold and Volbeat. 6 p.m. $55.50-$155.50 + fees.
