METALLICA's JAMES HETFIELD Says IRON MAIDEN's STEVE HARRIS Is 'A Super-Down-To-Earth, Really Cool Guy'

August 7, 2017

In a brand new interview with METALLICA's fan club magazine So What!, James Hetfield spoke about catching a concert by IRON MAIDEN while his band was basing itself in Toronto, Ontario, Canada during a recent leg of its "WorldWired" North American tour.

He said (see video below): "Well, obviously hanging out with the MAIDEN guys always brings back great memories. I mean, it's just weird to remember, you know, 1981 possibly? Hanging out in Hollywood, California, driving around with Ron McGovney [original METALLICA bassist], me and Lars [Ulrich, METALLICA drummer] in the backseat, and seeing Steve Harris [IRON MAIDEN bassist] walk down the street and us, you know, dorky, shy metalheads [shouting], 'Hey, Steve!' And he actually turns around and starts walking towards us with a ['okay, who said that? kind of] thing. That was, like, our first brush with somebody kinda cool and famous, so that always stuck with me. Yeah, Steve Harris, a super-down-to-earth, really cool guy. And nothing has changed. I mean, he showed up at the show that we did [in Québec City]."

He continued: "It's really cool when other musicians are hanging out, watching you do what you do. It takes to another level. You've gotta kind of go to Olympic mode — you step it up. Our setlist was at least five minutes faster, the set time. Lars was so nervous: 'Oh, my God! Steve Harris is watching me!' [I was even a bit], 'Does this part sound too much like IRON MAIDEN?'

"Usually halfway through the show, you figure, 'Okay, he's gone and he's moved on to the next thing,' but no — for the whole show [Steve] was standing there; the whole show, to the very end. And not only was he there the whole time, he got in the vehicles with us [laughs], came to the hotel with us. [Just a] super-cool guy. And then we got to go see them a couple of days later. And likewise, [MAIDEN was] super hospitable there."

The North American leg of METALLICA's "WorldWired" trek will hit stadiums in four more cities before ending in mid-August.

The next stop on the tour is Seattle, Washington on August 9.

The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame band is touring in support of its tenth studio album, "Hardwired... To Self-Destruct", which came out last November.

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