MetalliHistory;

back to the main page

TIMELINE

Important dates & Occurances in the History of Metallica
This is by no means a complete history just a few of the more interesting/unusual/important bits

??/??/61; David S Mustaine is born
10/02/62; Clifford Lee Burton is born
18/01/62; Kirk Lee Hammett is born
04/03/63; Jason Newsted is born
03/08/63; James Alan Hetfield is born
26/12/63; Lars Ulrich is born
??/??/76; lars gets his first drumkit
??/??/78; cliff meets jim martin, over the next few years they form several bands including; "easy street", "agents of misfortune" & "vicious hatred". jim martin ends up forming Faith No More
??/08/80; lars` family relocate to l.a. from denmark so lars can play tennis
??/??/80; james forms "obsession" with jim arnold, ron velez & rich velez
??/??/80; splitting "obsession", james forms "phantom lord" with hugh tanner, jim mulligan & assorted bass players
??/??/80; splitting/renaming "phantom lord", james forms "leather charm" with ron mcgovney joing as the bassist
"leather charm" later disband
spring/81; lars places an advert in the musicians wanted section of "the recycler" (a free local paper) about forming a rock group
on the same page is an advert from james
??/05/81; lars & james meet for the first time (along with hugh tanner), nothing comes of the meeting but lars decides that james will be useful and keeps in touch
??/07/81; lars flys to england and ends up hanging out with diamond head for a month, on his return to l.a. he is more determined to form a band
fall /81; brian slagel tells lars about his up-coming "metal massacre" compilation album, he tells larrs that there is one space left and is he interested?
28/10/81; lars calls james again and tells him about the compilation album, the duo decide to record an old leather charm song "hit the lights" for the album. not having a full line up yet james fills in on bass, rhythm guitar and vocals (despite having a cold), with lars on drums they only need a lead guitar. dave mustaine (ex panic) filled in and ended up getting the job, at the last minute lars & james decide an extra guitar solo is needed and get lloyd grant to provide one (allegedly in one take). the only thing missing now is a name, ron quintana mentioned a list of proposed names for his metal fanzine including METALLICA, lars persuades him to choose "metal mania" and stole Metallica
??/12/81; metallica search for a full line up. a guy known as mike joins for about a week

??/02/82; ron mcgovney joins finalising the first metallica line up, ron used to be daves flatmate. metallica now have a full line up, they start rehersing and looking for gigs
??/03/82; metallica record there first music as a full band, the rehersal tape comprises of 6 cover versions and 3 original songs, 2 of these covers are never re-recorded or released officially
some sources claim that metallica played covers of "buried alive" by budgie at some early shows, this is untrue although they may have played it during rehersals
114/03/82; metallica play their debut concert at radio city, anaheim, los angeles, ca. halfway through the first song dave breaks a guitar string, the set contains 2 original & 7 covers
27/03/82; whiskey a-go-go, ca. metallica support Saxon, allegedly Ozzy Osbourne is in the audience
29/03/82; metallica get their first ever review in the l.a. times;
"Saxon need a great guitarist of the Eddie Van Halen ilk, support act Metallica had one but little else, the local group needs considerable development to overcome a persuasive awkwardness", terry atkinson
??/04/82; the band record their first demo, untitled it soon becomes known as the "power metal" demo due to the bands early power metal calling cards, the version of hit the lights on this demo appears on all subsequent versions of the "metal massacre" album
25/05/82; metallica play their firrst show as a five piece, brad parker plays guitar and james is only singing
the only other times metallica play as a five piece are in `86 when james breaks his arm & in `92 when james burns the same arm
when james is only singing (i.e. no guitar) he copies glenn danzig`s distinctive singing style
mid /82; metallica are scheduled to play a concert supporting "krokus", the headliners cancel and metallica headline with a great show-stealing performance. this story appeared in Kerrang in august `83
great story, shame it never actually happened!
14/06/82; metal masssacre is released, metallica are credited as metTallica, 4500 copies pressed
??/06/82; kenny kane, owner of high velocity records, offers to finance the recording of another demo
??/07/82; taking up his offer, metallica record "no life `til leather"
??/07/82; kenny is horrified to hear metallica playing longer metal songs in the studio, the material he had heard was the shorter cover versions. he thought the band were more punk than metal and planned to release an e.p.
(2 flyers from around this time advertise the proposed e.p.)
18/09/82; metallica play the stone in san francisco, their first show in the bay area
the show is promoting the metal massacre album
??/10/82; metallica write a new song "whiplash" for a friend of theirs who kept injuring himself in the mosh pit. the guys name is rich burch who also came up with the phrase; "bang that head that doesn`t bang"
28/10/82; trauma play the troubadour in l.a., brian slagel sees the show and is impressed with their bass player, cliff burton. brian later speaks to lars, upon hearing that ron is not working out he recommends cliff
??/11/82; trauma play the whiskey a-go-go in l.a., bearing in mind brians praise lars & james check out the show. both are very impressed and set out to persuade cliff to join metallica
29/11/82; metallica play the old waldorf in san francisco, supporting act is exodus
30/11/82; metallica play mabuhay gardens in san francisco, this turns out to be rons last show
??/12/82; lars & james finally persuade cliff to join metallica on the condition that the band relocate to san francisco. rons girlfriend hears about this and ron quits before he can be fired
28/12/82; first rehersal with cliff

??/01/83; johnny z calls metallica about recording an album
??/??/83; cliff turns up at rehersals sporting a misfits "crimson ghost" tattoo, it is fifteen years until another member of metallica gets tattooed
05/03/83; metallica play the stone in san francisco, the first show with cliff
16/03/83; metallica record the demos of "no remorse" & "whiplash", this is the first proper recording with cliff and will turn out to be the last with dave
??/03/83; johnny z forms "Megaforce records" as no one else is interested in releasing "kill `em all", one of the early releases in a 7" by close metallifriends "Anthrax"
01/04/83; metallica meet with johhny z in new york, along the way dave nearly crashes whilst drinking several times
11/04/83; 2 days after playing their last show with dave at l`amours in new york, james fires dave. dave goes on to form "megadeth" and re-records "the mechanix" on his first album
16/04/83; metallica play at the showplace in new jersey, the first show with kirk
10/05 - 27/05/83; metallica record "kill `em all" at barrett alley studios in rochester
mid /83; megaforce`s distributers are unhappy at releasing an album called "metal up your ass" (kill `em all`s proposed title), cliff says; "lets just kill `em all and be done with it"
25/07/83; kill `em all is released on megaforce records in america
27/07/83; in a co-headline tour with fellow megaforce artists "raven", metallica head off on a six week tour
the tour is called "kill `em all for one" ("all for one" being the title of the latest raven album)
??/08/83; kill `em all is released in europe on assorted labels
fall /83; even after the release of kill `em all metallica were searching for a different vocalist, the only vocalist they like is john bush from armoured saint, he declines. ten years later he leaves armoured saint and joins anthrax
fall /83; metallica start work on new material
24/10/83; metallica record "live" versions of seek & destroy & phantom lord for b-sides

14/01/84; metallica arrive in boston for a concert, the venue is snowed in and the concert is cancelled. overnight the tour van is broken into and most of their equipment is stolen, it is never recovered
03/02/84; metallica play their first concert on european soil at volkhaus in switzerland supprting venom
13/02/84; metallica fly to denmark to begin work recording "ride the lightning", recording is done at sweet silence stidio with flemming rasmussen
20/02/84; metallica release "jump in the fire" as their first single, the single is to promote the tour
14/03/84; the recordings for "ride the lightning" are finished
27/07/84; ride the lightning is released in europe on assorted labels
the main group photo on the inner sleeve was taken in the backstage room at the volkhaus in switzerland when metallica supported venom
??/08/84; ride the lighting is released in america on the megaforce label
fall /84; in an interview with "metal forces" in `88 lars mentioned that "we came real close to doing a video for `for whom the bell tolls` but decided `who`s gonna see it?`"
also in an interview with sounds in `84 lars mentioned that `ride the lightning` was considered for a 12" single release
12/08/84; metallica sign with elektra records having decided that johnny z has gotten the band as far as he is able
16/11/84; ride the lightning is re-released on elektra records
18/11/84; metallica start the ride the lightning tour with `tank` supporting, the tour will last six weeks
23/11/84; `creeping death` is released as a 12" single in europe, the b-sides are studio versions of songs metallica covered in their early days (`am i evil?` & `blitzkrieg`), the title for these two songs is `garage days revisited`

spring/85; continuing with the `ride the lightning`tour, metallica spend the first three months of `85 in a co-headline tour with `wasp` until blackie lawless gets fed up with metallica getting a better reception and `wasp` leave the tour
spring/85; metallica play in phoenix, arizona. in the ausience is jason newsted, bass player for `flotsam & jetson`
17/08/85; metallica play near the bottom of the bill at england`s donnington festivel, 10 years later they will headline it
24/08/85; metallica play a surprise show at ruthies in the bay area a week before the day on the green show. starting after midnight they mess around a lot and play a few odd covers including; `london dungeon` by the misfits & `the money rolls right in` by fang. neither of these songs have been commercially released although a version of `london dungeon` exists on bootlegs with glenn danzig on vocals
31/08/85; metallica play the day on the green festival in front of 90,000 people
??/09/85; lars flys to copenhagen to begin preperations for the recording of `master of puppets`
during an interview with `metal hammer` in `99 lars states that they recorded covers of `the money rolls right in` by fang & `the prince` by diamond head for b-sides, these songs were not used because `they didn`t work`. three years later they re-record `the prince`
14/09/85; metallica play the roskilde festival in denmark and debut `disposable heroes` six months before it`s eventual release
27/12/85; work on `master of puppets` is finished, mixing starts

??/01/86; `master of puppets` is mixed in l.a.
??/01/86; lars travels around europe giving press conferences about `master of puppets`
31/01/86; `spastic children` play their first show at ruthies in san francisco, the band has james on drums, cliff on bass, fred cotton on vocals & james `flunkey` mcdaniel on guitar. despite many calls for metallica music the band play (very) bad punk rock
20/02/86; spastic children play the rock in san francisco
21/02/86; `master of puppets` is released in america
07/03/86; `master of puppets` is released in europe
spring/86; in an interview with `metal forcess` in `88 lars states; "we came real close to doing a video for `welcome home (sanitarium`"
27/03/86; metallica head off on their longest tour to date supporting ozzy ozbourne, the tour lasts 4 and a half months. metallica play old sabbath records whilst backstage initially ozzy is annoyed until he realises that the band are fans and not (as he thought) taking the piss. early on in the tour a fan falls from the seating area of a venue and is killed, the newspapersall report about ozzy being a bad influence (again) but the accident happened during metallica`s set. in `86 metallica play more shows than in 1982, `83, `84 & `85 combined
??/06/86; pusheads band `septic death` plays it`s farewell show, james is a guest guitarist for the encore
12/06/86; spastic children play in san francisco
21/06/86; spastic children play at ruthies
26/07/86; evansville, indianna. whilst skateboarding, james breaks his arm, that nights show is cancelled. kirks guitar tech/roadie john marshall spends all night learning james guitar part (he only knew kirk`s) & plays the remaining 6 shows in james place while james is on vocals only
03/08/86; the coliseum, hampton, virginia. last night of the tour, metallcia appear during ozzy`s encore dressed in giant nappies before jamming on `paranoid`, this is cliff`s last us show
29/08/86; spastic children play the rock in san francisco. as james can`t drum he sings instead
fall /86; on several occasions during samhain rehersals both james & kirk fill in on guitar as samhain don`t have a guitarist for several months
10/09/86; cardiff, wales. metallica start the european leg of the puppets tour, john marsahll is still filling in on guitar for james and does so for the next 12 shows
21/09/86; birmingham, england. brian tatler sings guest vocals on `am i evil?`
26/09/86; stockholm, sweden. james plays a full show on guitar for the first time in 2 months
27/09/86; at approximately 6:30 in the morning on the way to the next show in copenhagen the tour bus crashes and rolls over into a ditch. cliff is thrown through a window and is killed. lars breaks his foot and several of the roadcrew are injured
29/09/86; the rest of the european tour is cancelled, lars, james & kirk return to san francisco
07/10/86; castro valley, california. cliff`s funeral, cliff is cremated & his ashes spread at a favorate ranch of his
??/10/86; metallica are booked to play 5 shows in japan in november, instead of cancelling these shows the band make it their goal to audition a new basssist in time to play the shows
??/10/86; many people audition for the job including;
mike dean from c.o.c.
willy lange from laaz rockit
les claypool from primus
jason newsted from flotsam & jetson
troy gregory (who ended up replacing jason in flotsam)
Doug Keyser from Watchtower (who was in the final five)
and the bassist from heathen
five people were called back for the second audition, most people learnt a few metallica songs but jason learnt all of them and gets the job
on his first audition he plays; for whom the bell tolls, whiplash, welcome home (sanitarium), master of puppets & fade to black
on the second audition he plays the same plus; ride the lightning, seek & destroy & several others
28/10/86; jason is formally offered the position
31/10/86; jason plays his farewell show with flotsam & jetson
08/11/86; the county club, ca. secret worm up show to break in jason
09/11/86; jezeball`s, anaheim, ca. secret warm up show to break in jason further
12/11/86; metallica leave for the five shows in japan, this is the first time they have visited japan

02/01/87; spastic children play the rock in san francisco. jason on guitar, kirk on bass
08/02/87; holland. metallica are joined onstage by various members of `anthrox`, `crimson glory` & `laaz rockit` for a jam on `blitzkrieg`
13/02/87; gothenburg, sweden. the last song of the last show on the puppets tour is a cover of `the misfits` song `last caress`, for some reason james does not mentin that it is a cover or even the song title, six months later the song will appear on `garage days re-revisited`
??/05/87; james breaks his arm for the second time skateboarding, on this occasion he ends up with 2 metal plates & 85 stitches in his arm. he ceases skating after this
09/07/87; recording begins on `garage days re-revisited`, metallica could only find one studio that they liked (conway studios) but it was booked up by ted nugent, metallica`s management manage to persuede ted to take 2 weeks off giving metallica the time to record the covers
??/08/86; `garage days re-revisited` is released, a mini album of cover versions. in the next 10 years a dozen different bands copy metallica`s idea (slayer, anthrax, megadeth etc), the e.p. is certified gold (500,000) less than 2 months later
20/08/87; the 100 club, england. metallica play a secret show under the alias `damage, inc.` to warm up for their 2nd donington appearance, at this show they play nearly the entire `garage days` ep (with the exeption of grren hell), several of these songs are not played live for 10 years. in the review in kerrang! it is stated that jason faints due to the extreme heat in the tiny club, jason denies this happened
31/10/87; spastic children play at the secret studios in san francisco
04/12/87; the home video `cliff `em all` is released, the video contains bootleg footage shot by metallica fans, the video sells over 3,000,000 copies and cost less than $10,000 to make

??/??/88; at some point early in `88 elektra are granted liscense to release `kill `em all`, they add the 2 cover versions from the `creeping death` single to boost sales
??/87 or 88; during the recording of the first album from `danzig` james sings backing vocals on the tracks `possession` & `twist of cain`
??/??/88; spastic children play at the stone in san francisco
29/01/88; recording begins on `...and justice for all` in l.a. at one on one studios with mike clink producing, after 2 months metallica revert to using their old producer flemming rasmussen to finish the album. only 2 cover versions & a few drum tracks are salvaged from 2 months of work
??/05/88; recording is finally finished
23/05/88; metallica play the troubadour in l.a. billed as `the frayed ends`, this is the debut of `harvester of sorrow`
24/05/88; metallica play the troubadour again as a warm up
27/05/88; first night of the usa `monsters of rock` tour, van halen headline while metallica arre on early in the day, 29 shows in all
30/07/88; last night of the `monsters of rock` tour
??/07/88; `master of puppets` certified platinum (1,000,000 sales)
28/08/88; `harvester of sorrow` is released in europe as the first new original material in 2 and a half years
05/09/88; after a few delays due to the length of the album, `...and justice for all` is released as a double album
??/??/88; phoenix, arizona. sacred reich are celebrating the release of their debut album `ignorance`, their singer phil has a bad asthma attack and is unable to sing that night so the band get a few friends to guest. jason plays bass on `am i evil?` with the singer from a local group on vocals, jason then sings on `for whom the bell tolls` before kerry king plays on `black magic`, several members of `flotsam & jetson` then jam on some old `f&j` tracks with jason. this is the only time a member of metallica and a member of slayer ever share a stage
11/09/88; budapest, hungary. start of the european justice tour with supprt from `queensryche`, the stage set up has a large statue of lady justice that collapses during the title track of the album. sometimes it collapses too soon, sometimes it doesn`t collapse at all
04/10/88; dublin, ireland. during metallica`s encore they are joined by glenn danzig on vocals for the song `halloween II`
10/10/88; london, england. during metallica`s encore they are joined by glenn danzig on vocals for the song `last caress`
05/11/88; leiden, holland. last night of the european tour
??/11/88; the `..and justice for all` album certified gold & platinum
15/11/88; the usa `..and justice for all` tour starrts
06/12/88; los angeles, ca. metallica film the video for `one`, this is the first promotional video

??/??/98; at some point during `89 the $5:98 e.p. is discontinued, this was never meant to be a full album just a fan thing
03/01/89; spastic children play the omni in oakland. jason newsted on bass & jim martin on bass
05/01/89; the stone, san francisco. james & kirk make a special guest appearance during the danzig show and play guitar & sing backing vocals on the old samhain song `halloween II`
10/01/89; `one` is released as a single in the states
22/02/89; metallica play `one` live at the grammy awards, they are also nominated for a grammy. in a surprise move jethro tull are awarded the grammy
spring/89; the video for `one` is getting heavy rotation on mtv after becoming video of the week
21/04/89; minneapolis, minnesota. last date of the usa leg of the justice tour, support band queensryche have a troup of male strippers performing behind them during the end of their set
01/05/89; justice world tour starts in new zealand
18/08/89; the video `two of one` is certified platinum
08/10/89; sao paulo, brazil. last night of the justice tour, 245 shows in 17 months
09/10/89; well deserved break
fall /89; lars starts work on a compilation lp titled; `new wave of heavy metal; `79 revisited`, due to problems the album is delayed and fails to be released during the n.w.o.b.h.m. tenth anniversary year

??/01/90; metallica record a cover of queen`s `stone cold crazy` for the `rubiyat - elektra`s 40th birthday` album
08/01/90; spastic children play thier final show at the omni in oakland, jim martin guestss
??/02/90; metallica are awarded a grammy for thier version of `stone cold crazy`, they do not turn up to recieve it
11/05/90; metallica play a secret show at the marquee in london billed as `vertigo` supporting metal church. the support should have been pantera making their uk debut
16/05/90 - 26/05/90; metallica play a few shows to promote the release of the six and a half year anniversary box set with warrior soul as support
13/08/90; metallica record three new demos in lars` basement
04/10/90; metallica record the demo for `the unfirgiven` at bayview studios
06/10/90; recording begins on the `metallica` album at one on one studios with bob rock producing, bob rock wass at this time best known for his work with motley crue & bon jovi, many people are worried about `metallica selling out`, yawn
10/90+; for 9 or 10 months `rip` magazine dedicates a page a month in the magazine to the progress of `metallica`

??/06/91; recordings for the black album are finished
01/08/91; petaluma, ca. first show of the black album tour. 281 to go
03/08/91; at a special free album playback party, metallica`s fifth album is played to a packed out madison square garden, this is almost certainly a first
07/08/91; at a similar free playback, metallica`s fifth album is played to a packed out hammersmith odeon, tickets were again free
12/08/91; `metallica` is released and reaches number 1 in the us billboard charts in it`s first week, the next 4 albums do the same. tony smith, the bands tour manager, predicts sales of 10,000,000 copies of the album, the band promise to buy him a porche should this happen. the lalbum goes on to sell 18,000,000 albums & tony gets his porche in january `97. METALLICA is one of the top 20 best selling albums of all time
17/08/91; metallica play second on the bill at donington
28/09/91; metallica play to their largest audience aver, 500,000 people in moscow, russia
12/10/91; metallica start their usa tour, they will play in a merica for the next 12 months and perforrm 164 shows

25/02/92; metallica recieve another grammy award, this time for `best heavy metal performance`
20/04/92; metallica arre the first band onstage at the freddy mercury tribute at london`s wembley arena, the band had already planned to release the three tracks as a cd single the following monday, this meant they had a limited amount of time and had to keep the onstage talking to a minimum. in a review in kerrang magazine the following week the band were slated for `missing the point`. all profits from the single were donated to the aids awareness program.
later on james sings `stone cold crazy` with the three surviving members of queen & tony iommi on guitar, he is also the only person to swear on stage during the event
mid/ 92; metallica recieve an award from mtv for `best metal video for `enter sandman`
17/07/92; the `guns `n` roses / metallica` tour begins, this was originally planned to be 24 shows, several dates are cancelled
08/08/92; montreal, canada. james accidentaly walks into a flashpot and recieves second degreeburns to hos hands, arms, face & legs. footage of this accident is included on the `a year and a half` video, the explosion is visible & you can hear the guitar strings snapping from the heat. later on axl walks offstage and a riot ensues. for the remaining dates james is on vocals only, john marshall fills in on guitar again (see 26/07/86). also considered for the replacement guitarist were phil from canadian metallica tribute band `battery` & pepper keenan from `corrosion of conformity`
17/08/92; the gnr/metallica show at bc place stadium is cancelled
27/08/92; mexico. the track `nothing else matters` from this show is released on the uk picture disc cd single of `sad but true`, this is the only official appearance of metallica as a five piece
06/10/92; metallica play the last date of the us tour
22/10/92; belgium. first date of the european tour
25/10/92; london, england. metallica perform `so what` for the first time, `animal` from the band `the anti-nowhere league` sings guest vocals
05/11/92; birmingham, england. all four original members of `diamond head` join metallica onstage for covers of `am i evil?` & `breadfan`
18/12/92; holland. final date fo the european tour, 36 shows in total

22/01/93; michigan. first date of the second leg of the us tour
21/02/93; florida. last date of the second leg of the us tour, 20 shows in all
25/02/93; mexico city. first date of the world tour, later released as part of the `live shit` box set
04/07/93; belgium. last of 62 dates of the world tour, the entire tour had 282 dates in total
??/07/93; metallica announce that they will be taking a year long break, shortly after they start work on a live album. instead of releaseing 2 or 3 seperate shows they decide to release 3 entire shows in a box set, this ends up being titled; `live shit: binge & purge`, the most expensive mass produced album ever
fall /93; while on a hunting trip james goes to the aid of a guy who crashes his a.t.v., james gets hit in the head and recieves 40 stiches 23/11/93; `live shit: binge & purge` is released, it goes on to sell 10,000,000 copies, apparently the box contains 109 uses of the word `fuck` (some people have got nothing better to do!)

spring/94; kirk gets dreadlocks & a pierced lip, the dreadlocks don`t last very long
30/05/94; new york. despite having said they were to take a year off metallica head off on a 51 date tour across america in support of `live shit`. the tour is titled `the shit hits the sheds` tour
03/07/94; illinois. metallica play an encore of `last caress / green hell / london dungeon` with glenn danzig on vocals
13/08/94; metallica play at the 25th anniversary of woodstock in new york, imaginativly titled `woodstock 2`
21/08/94; florida. final date of the tour, metallica play `rapid fire` with rob halford of judas priest on vocals during the encore
28/11/94; metallica start work on the follow up to `metallica`, they will eventually record 27 songs and release them as two albums

spring/95; metallica are sued by elektra records for `pre-emptory breach of contract` as they claim they are no longer under contract to elektra, the law suit was for $100,000,000. eventually this is sorted out without anyone losing millions (or face)
spring/95; the first four metallica albums are remastered & re-issued in america & canada
spring/95; the future of donington is in doubt as the venue can`t find a suitable headliner, metallica are approached and after some thought (they are in the middle of writing & recording a new album), they decide to go ahead with the show
also around this time 2 shows in brazil were proposed, these were later cancelled (19/01/96 - sao paulo & 26/01/96 - rio de janero)
17/08/95; san rafael, ca. a few fan club members attend a rehersal where metallica debut some new material
23/08/95; london, england. metallica play the 1000 capacity astoria II venue as a members only pre-donington warm up show, they play `2x4` & `devils dance`, these are the first new tracks in just over four years
26/08/95; donington, england. metallica headline donington, it is the fourth time they have appeared. the event is dubbed `escape from the studio `95` and much of the show is broadcast on radio 1
03/09/95; tuktoyaktuk. metallica headline a special `molson ice beer` show aproximately 1500 miles from the north pole to an audience of competition winners
08/12/95; metallica finish the demo recordings for the new album
14/12/95; whiskey a-go-go, ca. motorhead are playing celebrating lemmy`s 50th birthday, metallica are asked to jam with the band but instead decide to play homage to the man by playing a set of motorhead covers. 4 of the 6 songs are released commercially, these 4 tracks were recorded on a two track recorder!!

spring/96; james sings backing vocals on the track `man or ash` on the new corrosion of conformity album `wiseblood`
03/05/96; the recordings for `load` are finished
04/06/96; `load` is released. it enters the charts at #1. metallica play two shows in two seperate branches of tower records, both shows are played on the back of a lorry
09/06/96; slims, california. metallica play a warm up/fan club show, debut performance of `king nothing`, `ain`t my bitch` & `until it sleeps`, jim martin sings guest vocals on `last caress` 10/06/96; slims, california. second night of warm up shows, jim martin sings guest vocals on `last caress` again
23/06/96; the phoenix, toronto. third and final warm up show
27/06/96; metallica play the fist noght headlining the `lollapalooza` tour
23/07/96; metallica play the last of 15 shows headling the `lollapalooza` tour
04/09/96; mtv awards, new york. metallica perform `until it sleeps`
06/09/96; austria. first date of the european tour; `poor touring me`
14/11/96; mtv awards, london. metallica perform `last caress / so what` as a last minute decision, lasr proceeds to kick his drums over towards the end of `so what`. the band were supposed to perform `king nothing`, the show was live
27/11/96; denmark. last of 49 dates in the european tour
22/12/96; salt lake city. metallica film the video for `king nothing`

02/01/97; utah. first night of the us `poor REtouuring me` tour
27/01/97; lars gets married at approximately 4:15 in the morning
08/02/97; chicago; james appears onstage with support act `corrosion of conformity` and jams on the track `seven days`
23/02/97; detroit; james appears onstage with support act `corrosion of conformity` and jams on the track `seven days`
later that night ted nugent joins metallica onstage for a jam session, it transpires that ted does not want to leave the stage
??/03/97; metallica are awarded four `bammies`
spring/97; metallica are awarded an `ama award` for `best hard rock`
spring/97; `..and justice for all` is certified 6 times platinum (6,000,000 sales)
at this pouint in time metallica become only the 3rd artist in history to have sold 4,000,000 copies of four consecutive albums, the other two artists are `the beatles` (6) & `garth brooks` (5)
27/05/97; canada. last night of the `poor retouring me` tour
22/08/97; metallica play three european festivals, belgium, the bizarre festival in germany & the reading festival in england
18/10/97; san francisco, ca. metallica play the first of 2 nights at the `bridge benefit`, a charity set up by neil young. the band perform 8 acoustic tracks including the debut of `low mans lyric` and a cover of lynyrd skynyrd`s `tuesdays gone` with jerry cantrell on guitar. john popper from blues traveller plays harmonica on `last caress`
19/10/97; san francisco, ca. metallica play the second night at the bridge benefit with the same setlist & guests
13/11/97; metallica play 4 shows (london, hamburg, paris & sweden) in 6 days to promote the release of `re load`, they also do several tv appearances
18/11/97; `re load` enters the charts at #1
06/12/97; metallica perform on `saturday night live`, they play `fuel` & later on they play `the memory remains` with marrianne faithful singing backing vocals
08/12/97; billboard awards. metallica perform `the unforgiven II` and get an award forr `artist of the year`
12/12/97; metallica film the video for `the unforgiven II`
18/12/97; ksjo studios, san francisco. metallica play an acoustic set titled; `don`t call us, we`ll call you` live on the radio. the version of `tuesdays gone` from this session is the version that appears on `garag inc.`, special guests for this session include; jim martin, john popper, pepper keenan (vocals), jerry cantrell, les claypool & gary rossington from lynyrd skynyrd

21/03/98; hamilton square, san francisco. metallica play a show for 200 fans, the show is broadcast live on mtv with the band having to pause mid-show for commercials
27/03/98; new zealand. first night of australasin tour
11/04/98; australia. last show of 8 concerts in australia / new zealand
11/06/98; james` wife gives birth to a baby daughter, Cal Tee, from this point on metallica start doing shorter tours so james (and later lars) can spend more time with their metalli-kids
24/06/98; florida. first night of the second leg of `poor retouring me`
05/08/98; lars` wife gives birth to a baby boy, Myles
11/09/98; arizona. last night of the 30 shows of the `poor retouring me` tour
14/10/98; recordings/mixings completed for `garage inc.`, the album narrowly avoided being titled `shitload`
18/10/98; metallica play a show at hugh hefners playboy ranch in l.a.
??/11/98; as of november 1998 metallica are the 5th highest selling rock act having sold 36,000,000 albums in america, the other four better selling artists are;
1. Led Zeppelin - 64,500,000
2. Aerosmith - 53,900,000
3. Van halen - 49,500,000
4. AC/DC - 45,600,000
01/11/98; london, england. while on a press tour kirk is rushed to hospital for an emergency appendectomy
17/11/98; metallica head out to play five shows to promote the `garage in.` album in toronto, detroit, chicago, philadelphia & new york, their set is comprised entirely of covers. canadian metallica tribute band `battery` support and play a set comprised entirely of metallica covers
kirk plays these five shows seated having had his appendix removed earlier that month
22/11/98; brooklyn, new york. metallica shoot the video for `whiskey in the jar` with jonas akerlund producing, jonas also produced the `turn the page` video
23/11/98; `garage inc.` is released, it enters the charts at #1
??/12/98; `cunning stunts` is released on dvd, this is the first visual concert ever released with multi-angle choice of viewing

spring/99; james plays guitar on the track `eclectic electric` on the primus album `antipop`
21/04/99; berkeley, ca. metallica perform the first of two shows with the san francisco symphony orchestra
22/04/99; berkeley, ca. metallica perform the second of two shows with the san francisco symphony orchestra, these shows will be later released as the album `S&M`
09/05/99; rio, brazil. jason joins `sepultura` on stage for a jam session
05/06/99; milan, italy. henk sherman from `mercyful fate` joins metallica onstage
16/07/99; portugal. lars joins support act `monster magnet` on stage and switches place with the drummer during one song about 5 times
later on during metallica`s set the entire band sing backing vocals during `battery` (i think)
24/07/99; new york. metallica play the 30th anniversary of woodstock, this time the event is imaginativly titled `woodstock III`, this is also the last of the 30 date tour
19/11/99; berlin. metallica perform `S&M` with the berlin orchestra
fall /99; a proposed london `S&M` show with the london philharmonic orchestra is cancelled
23/11/99; `S&M` is released and becomes the 4th metallica album tp ente the billboard charts at #1
23/11/99; metallica play madison square gardens with the orchestra of st. lukes
08/12/99; billboard awards. metallica perform `until it sleeps` with micheal kamen & a small (!) orchestra of 50 musicians
28/12/99; miami. first night of the 10 date mini `millenium` tour
31/12/99; detroit. metallica play a millenium party / concert with `kid rock`, `ted nugent` & `sevendust` supporting, shortly after midnight they all jam on the kiss track `detroit rock city`

10/01/00; minneapolis. lasy date of the mini `millenium` tour
??/02/00; the grammy`s, l.a.. metallica get a grammy awarrd for `best hard rock performance` for `whiskey in the jar`
??/03/00; california music awards. metallica are awarded the `arthur m. sohcot` award for excellence for the `S&M` project
13/04/00; metallica sue `napster` over copyright infringement
??/05/00; metallica shoot the video for `i disappear`. the video is shot in arizona, palm springs, los angeles & san francisco and costs $1,000,000
22/06/00; chicago. metallica play at `the rockfest`, part of an event run by the hard rock cafe
23/06/00; seattle, wa. metallica play at the opening of `E.M.P.` a rock & roll museum
27/06/00; `S&M` dvd is released
30/06/00; foxboro. first night of the 11 date `summer sanitarium` tour, `kid rock`, `korn`, `pm5k` & `system of a down` support
07/07/00; atlanta. james severely strains his back and is unable to play, rather than cancel the show at such shirt notice the band decide that jason & kid rock can handle most of the vocals & they have several people filling in on guitar
08/07/00; kentucky. james is still out of action
09/07/00; dallas. james is still out of action, these last three shows are the ONLY shows james has ever missed 16/07/00; phoenix. last night of the `summer sanitarium` tour
03/12/00; slims clu, ca. james joins corrosion of conformity onstage for a jam session

17/01/01; jason newsted leaves metallica due to `personal reasons & severe exhaustion`

11/02/01; san jose. james joins corrosion of conformity onstage for a jam session (again)
??/04/01; metallica start demoing material for the new album, both james & bob rock fill in on bass in the studio
speculation is rife that `mike inez` ex-alice in chains, ex-ozzy osbourne bass player will be the new bassist in metallica
17/05/01; lars` wife gives birth to a baby boy, Layne
23/05/01; radio 92ksjo let lars dj for an afternoon, they must be mad

back to the main page

END