Metallica fans around the world are excited as hell for the band’s upcoming new album 72 Seasons, and it’s safe to assume the band is just as excited for everyone to hear it.
The band-fan relationship can be one hell of a dynamic and Metallica’s relationship with their own fanbase is intensely complicated. With equal passion, fans love clowning on Lars as much as they do spending thousands of dollars on ultra-luxe tickets.
One of the funniest Metallica-fan interactions happened in 2018 when singer and guitarist James Hetfield got into it with an 11-year-old fan at a show. Things “escalated” to James giving the finger to the 11-year-old, eliciting a lot of laughs from the crowd and band.
Strangely, James flipping off the small child was a very lighthearted moment, and not due to James getting mad about anything. At some point during the band’s performance, James asks if he could talk to the little kid. He looks down at the child and begins talking to them; he asks for their name, which is Jacob.
For some reason, James makes a big deal of Jacob, telling the rest of the audience, “Hey everybody, Jacob’s here!” Hetfield then proceeds to ask Jacob how old he is, and the Metallica guitarist responds by giving the kid the bird.
After the audience erupts with laughter, Hetfield says to the kid, “You’re 11, and you have some attitude.”
You can check out this moment for yourself via the video player below. Again, all of this seems to be done in the name of fun, but have to wonder what this kid did to inspire James Hetfield to flip him off.
If your dream in life is to have James Hetfield possibly flip you off at a show, good news, Metallica is heading on a huge world tour next year. Check out the dates here.
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