By the way, went to see Metallica last night at the pretty new Mandalay Convention Centre at the end of the strip, on the site of the hotel I stayed in the last time I came here which was blown up 3 weeks after I left - hence I got the presidential suite for about $75 a night.
Tom didn't come.
Will and James were going to go and see them, but when we asked Tom who he wanted to stay home at the RV with he said Will.
They are such a tight, professional unit. That's what 25 years of touring does for you.
They don't have the egoes of a rolling stone or a u2, not on stage anyway. there's this attitude and yet this deference to their fans which I find completely respect-worthy - it's late, my vocab left me some time ago. still the set is sharp and focussed and they sound great live. I'm not really that into Metallica, I'm a Chicago House Bob Dylan Smiths plus cheese type person, but they are an incredible band to see live. I kept thinking about the time I saw Babyshambles live. And laughing to myself. Pete Doherty v James Hetfield in Celebrity Death Match.
Knowing how much Lars has 'reached out' to us, as the yanks say, I watched him at work with his pots and pans with a renewed interest. He's given this Mission his blessing, I know that because I have spoken with his staff and they clearly don't really get why the fuck they are having to help us, but help us they are. To the point where I asked today if we could park our RV with the crew backstage in the car park at the Sacramento gig, thinking this would get Tom that little bit closer to the place he needs to be (he ain't playing ball right now, biggy big time), and they said, quite possibly.
We are getting extraordinary access and priviledge and Tom's just no no no no no all the way.
Dude. We're fucked. Tom's Mission to Lars has become Tom's Mission to Avoid Having to Meet Lars.
I know why this is. He's unsettled, unsure and a lost. Will and I asked all Tom's major care givers to give us lists of dos and don'ts.
So far we've done all the donts and none of the dos. we're totally fucking useless.
The thing is, if Tom doesn't come and meet Lars soon we're going to look like those star fucking munchausens by proxy type parents, who use their sicky kids to get to meet famous people. As seen on Little Britain, and described by Steev Toth when we went to see him. he talked about parents getting hook ups with bands because their kiddy was dying or suchlike, even though the kid didn't give a damn about meeting megadeth or the orb.
got to go to bed.
devil horn salute and all that.
x
ps, never looked so shit in my wholelife. RV living is rough. nice when you're at a festival. nasty when you actually have to drive
5 comments:
Sorry if this sounds like a stupid idea, but if you are getting this unwarranted access and they think it's ok to park your RV near theirs backstage, maybe you could even be so bold as to ask Lars to come and visit Tom? He's just a bloke, and like you've observed maybe doesn't have the huge ego people think, so he'd understand if you explained your predicament, and it would be good PR if anything for him to be seen to be doing something 'extraordinary' for one of his special fans. It would pay in kind for him. Just look at what they were willing to allow the public to see in Some Kind of Monster. I think I read somewhere once that the one song Lars said he wished he'd written was 'Creep' by Radiohead. If ever a sensitive soul then. Anyhoo, just my initial thoughts. Get some sleep!
- A scottish fan
PS he was also back in the day(wouldn't know if he still is) a chum and admirer of sensitive singer-songwriter Evan Dando of the Lemonheads. Evan Dando covered a Metallica song acoustically once. You can find it on You Tube, can't remember which song it was.
x
Still me, anonymous person. I'm not that into Metallica either, but know people who are, so as I showed an interest in their interests, I learnt the above trivia that way. Thought it might come in handy someday. The only song I really know of theirs is Enter Sandman, as I would suppose is the case for any non Metallica fan. Everyone who is aware of Metallica but not a follower knows that song. It's universal, like The Final Countdown by Europe is, or Living On A Prayer by Bon Jovi is. There are great elements of comedy in any heavy metal band, love them or loathe them, and Spinal Tap pointed that out very well. As did Wayne's World. Rockers are generally cool people as they don't take themselves too seriously. Lars stands out to me too as he is really the unofficial face and spokesperson of Metallica, in that he is always the character to express himself to the mass media. I've rarely ever seen an interview with the frontman James Hetfield from my satelllite view, it is always Lars. I think the only time I caught a glimpse of private James Hetfield was an interview he once did promoting the song Nothing Else Matters. Regular blokes, hard on the outside but with soft-centres. That is their universal appeal I think.
...so what is very unusual about a world famous rock band is how the drummer becomes the spokesperson and frontman. Drummers are generally very quiet and in the background, there's many a joke about the drummer in a band, that they are dumb or something, unfairly so. Keith Moon of The Who stood out for his drug-taking and alcoholic, nay psychogenic behaviour, Charlie Watts of the Rolling Stones you never hear about or from, just this calm sedate distinguished elderly gentleman content in the knowledge that he just hits things for a living, and Larry Mullen Jr of U2 founded the band but doesn't shout about that ever and is rarely willing to do interviews like the man with the big ego frontman Bono is. So Lars is a whole different kettle of fish and class of drummer from the norm. I wish you luck.
...Dave Grohl the former drummer of Nirvana stands out too as he went on to form and front, as a guitar player and lead singer, The Foo Fighters and more recently formed Them Crooked Vultures, there stepping back into his natural born role as a drummer. He's made his quiet drummer voice heard now and he's gotten huge respect for what he's done. Maybe that is true of all drummers, that there is a secret Robert Plant, Mick Jagger, Kurt Cobain, Josh Homme, James Hetfield, lurking within all of them. Drummer psychology dude.
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