Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich recently spoke about performing and opened up about sharing a stage with his bandmate James Hetfield. During an interview with the Los Angeles Times, the drummer spoke about his time with Metallica and friendship while touching on its emotional aspects. Having lately finished the supporting tour of their latest album, ’72 Seasons,’ the drummer said about aging:
“It’s all mind-boggling. A couple of us in the band just turned 60, and two of us are knocking on the door. As you get older, you open your eyes, you take it in, you’re appreciative. But I’m kind of in disbelief that this is still connecting at the level that it’s connecting.”
The band is back in South California for their closing show at the Power Trip Festival. The drummer said of the festival:
“It’s nice to be back. I’m such a believer in the rock community, and we have relationships with every single one of the other bands, both as music fans and as friends.”
The drummer was asked about their friendship with James Hetfield despite the personal problems and arguments seen in the 2004 documentary, ‘Some Kind Of Monster.’ Ulrich touched on the emotional side of their relationship and said:
“We love each other, and we love being in Metallica more than anything else. Other than my dad and a few family members in Denmark, James is the longest relationship I’ve ever had. So when I look over at him, I get very emotional about the fact that we’re still out here playing and doing this with Kirk and Rob.”
He then shared his experience of having played their largest show recently and expressed disbelief for still being able to connect with this many people:
“We had two incredible shows at SoFi Stadium in L.A. a couple weeks ago, which I think are the biggest shows we’ve ever played in L.A. and are probably only 15 miles from where we started down the road in Norwalk. It’s pretty insane that this is still connecting to fans at this level — and post-pandemic and lockdown, and the uncertainty and devastation of that time.”
Towards the end of the interview, the rocker touched on the feeling of belonging somewhere in the scene and made it clear that not only Hetfield but Metallica helped him have a sense of identity.
Earlier, Ulrich told of Hetfield that he is much sweeter and more vulnerable than people think he is, and that he made up for some of his ‘lack of talent.’ The drummer sees his bandmate and longtime friend as someone as a very gentle soul and a very loving guy.
The band will be going on their next tour after their show at Power Trip Festival. See the dates here.
