As Big Fans, Metallica Once Asked The Mars Volta To Play A Favorite Song Of Theirs – But They Said No

Alberto Cabello from Vitoria Gasteiz, CC BY 2.0 , via Wikimedia Commons
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During an interview with Zane Lowe of Apple Music 1, The Mars Volta members Omar Rodríguez-López and Cedric Bixler-Zavala shared that they once denied playing a particular song of theirs for Metallica.

Per both members, they shared that Metallica once attended one of their shows and asked if the band would play their song “Inertiatic ESP.” However, The Mars Volta weren’t feeling it and ultimately said no to the band. This is what Bixler-Zavala had to say about what took place at that show:

“We met them in New Zealand. They came to our show and they were like, ‘Are you going to play this song?’ We’re like, ‘No, we don’t play that anymore. Sorry.’ And he’s there [referring to someone associated with Metallica]. I’m like, ‘God, we should play it for him at least.'”

When Zane asks if the band ultimately played the song, Bixler-Zavala said, “No, we didn’t play it. We were very stubborn about where we were. It was something from the first records. We were like, we’re here now. We understand people really love that, but we’re very selfish like that. But it was cool to meet them. It was like, wow.”

Rodríguez-López then adds that he caught Metallica in their rehearsal space playing that Mars Volta song, “Inertiatic ESP.”

“Yeah. You know how they rehearse or just jam before going on stage? They played at the stadium in walking distance from my house when I lived in Mexico. […] But so I walked up there [the band’s rehearsal space], got it in and stuff and they invited me back there, and then I could just see them whispering something. And then they played ‘Inertiatic.’ Yeah. It was really cool.

“It was really cool. I felt honored just to be back there because that’s their private time before they go on stage. And the fact that they invited me to be in their space felt really beautiful. And we all grew up with that. We all grew up with that stuff.”

Damn, who knew that Metallica were such fans of The Mars Volta? You can check out the full interview featuring the band members below.