Metallibash 2002

"Contrary to what you may have seen in the Year and a Half videos, I did more than just deliver porn to the studio during the Black album studio sessions..."

Lonn Friend was onstage with Steffan Chirazi for an intimate question and answer session with clubbers from around the world. Metallibash 2002 had finally arrived, just 10 short months after the original Bash had taken place last September.

"Come again mate?" (Photo: Kim)

After the event-filled weekend prior, spent preparing and cleaning up after the band's Relaunch party, I flew home for a couple days of rest. But it wasn't long before I was back on a plane bound for the Bay area. I arrived Thursday morning at band HQ, and spent the afternoon helping out with small things around the office. Everyone was still taking in the events of the previous Saturday night, so it was tough to focus on the upcoming fan party at San Francisco's Great American Music Hall.

Eventually Friday evening arrived, and it was time to head south to the city to pick up my good friend Kim at her hotel and meet up with the bash folks at Tommy's Joynt, the spot famous for being the hangout where Jason Newsted was asked to join the band some 16 years ago. Despite a flat tire on my rental truck on the Golden Gate Bridge (an interesting little adventure in itself), I made it to the city by 7. There was an incredible turnout as Metallifans filled the entire top floor, the middle floor, as well as half the main room downstairs - I'm guessing there were at least 100 bash-goer's in attendance, gathered from all corners of the globe. Lots of familiar faces, and lots of new ones, which is always good. Everyone ate and drank merrily for a good 4 hours before people decided to call it an evening. Lonn Friend made it out, as well as Met Club celebs Toby and Danna. A keen eye would have also spotted Niclas and Lars' man-slave Wiiglet along with their better halves.

My souvenir from the famous restroom at Tommy's

Soon enough, Saturday afternoon rolled around, and I piled the Fuel gear into the truck and headed over to HQ, where I met up with Toby, Danna, and Jeff Yeager. We filled the trucks to the brim with Club merchandise for the Met Store's first-ever appearance out of cyberspace, and jumped on 101 towards San Fran.

The venue the Bash folks had picked out this year was infinitely more hospitable than last year's Maritime Hall high-school cafeteria. This year, we were all at the Great American Music Hall, a medium-sized club in the heart of downtown. Soon enough, the venue was decked out with booths featuring the Met Club, local chapters, and folks interested in swapping their live shows and memorabilia they had brought along. Doors opened, and about 350-400 Clubbers and guests piled in for an evening full of fun.

For the first couple of hours, people milled about, just getting to meet all of the other fans and take in all of the displays people had set up. The Met Store, staffed by Toby, Danna, Jeff, and Vickie, did plenty of business, well exceeding their expectations. Bash-goers were able to purchase a new Tallica long-sleeve, similar to the older Made in SF shirt from several years ago.

Before long, Toby, Steffan, and Lonn Friend were herded up onto the stage, where they were met with an onslaught of questions, ranging from Metallihistory to when to expect Fan Can 5. Club issues eventually gave way to storytelling, and Steffan and Lonn did a great job reliving old memories for a good hour.

Kim with a slightly intoxicated Mark Devito (Photo: Kim)

As 10:30 rolled around, the cover band Creeping Death hit the stage, rocking the house with Tallica songs old and new. They're a lot of fun to watch, especially Bill at the mic, who could easily pass for a Justice-era Hetfield. As Toby and I made it in from pulling our trucks up front for load-out, the band was just finishing their set with the oft-requested, but never-played Dyer's Eve. I'd say they did pretty well with it, but I think the drummer could have used some fluids afterwards.

As we were piling out of the venue at 1:30 in the morning, we got word that Lars was "getting his second wind", and wanted to come casually meet some of the Metallibashers at their hotel downtown. Easier said than done. We doubled back to the hotel to see if there was a discreet way in, but no dice. The man was going to have to make his way across a lobby full of excited Metallifans.

Several vague phone calls later from a bar buried somewhere in the city, it was 4 am, and Lars was nowhere to be seen. Toby, Danna, Jeff, and I decided to hang it up and head back north. Lo and behold as we're walking out the front door of the hotel, in walks the little drummer boy, with Swiig in tow. The 15-20 fans still up rocking away in the lobby immediately recognize who's shown up, and before a minute or two can pass, half of the hotel's guests are in the lobby packed around a smiling Dane.

Lars wanted to move the party to someone's room, so Jim Keller's was "volunteered". I'm a little blurry on how it went down, but within the next couple minutes, Lars had led the crowd down a flight of stairs and let himself into Jim's room. Much to their surprise, 4 Clubbers were already fast asleep in bed, when they were awoken by a loud mob of their new "friends". Lars proceeded to seat himself at the head of one of the beds, right next to one of the unconscious females who had been asleep. As she propped herself up to see the room rapidly filling up around her, the strange man seated next to her just held out his hand and declared, "Hi, I'm Lars." Guess you had to be there...

4 am: "Hi, I'm Lars..." (Photo: Kim)

By 5:30 am, the hotel's fire alarm had been set off, and Lars was wanting to hit the road. Toby and Danna took off, only to call me 5 minutes later, advising me to go outside and check my truck - when they reached Danna's Blazer, they found the windows smashed out, and Toby's truck had a little souvenir from the SFPD slipped under the windshield wiper. I went outside to find a similar gift, evidently for blocking the night's street cleaning activities. Lars' little excursion that night ended up costing a small fortune...

Northern California coast (Photo: Kim)