…in Evansville, Indiana 1986!
“Another Hetfield crash n’ Burn”
[Mesker Amphitheatre]
By Kinger
Demolish Metal Fanzine [the print version] has a News section, which is where this should go, but I am going to post all the Worldwide Metal News and the hundreds of press releases that I have received over the years after all the main features, photos, reviews. This is a personal “Metal Story” of mine that I would like to share with the masses. N-Joy!
Before we get too far into my heavy metal history (and to put this CANCELLED TOUR DATE headline into perspective), let’s rewind the tape a bit if-you-will to 1983. This is, of course the year that the mighty début of METALLICA‘s excellent “Kill Em’ All” (Megaforce) album surfaced from the underground and this is still one of my favorite METALLICA albums.–
one of Metallica’s BEST albums!
I remember when I first heard the name METALLICA. It had a certain “ring” to it. To me it best represented their crunchy “metallic” guitar sound. Which was something I had never heard before. It was so damn heavy!
Of course, history tells us that other bands such as EXODUS, TROUBLE, RAVEN, MERCYFUL FATE and maybe ANTHRAX had a similar “crunchy” tone. Let’s not get ahead and “Jump In the Fire” yet, but let it be known that out of all Metallica’s albums, this is the one that blew open the doors and when the doors were open, I soon discovered all the above mentioned bands. This album was my “gateway” drug if-you-will (to make a Metal analogy).
I immediately took to the Metallica art and logo as well. I am a sucker for all things minimal.
–
Great job James for the design of this logo!
–
So what was going on in the Metal scene in the “lovely” 80’s?
Well, to put things into better perspective, at that time I was listening to the standard Heavy Metal albums by Heavy Metal bands like: Motley Crue‘s “Shout at The Devil”, DEF LEPPARD‘s “Pyromania”, ACCEPT‘s “Balls to the Wall” and DIO‘s “Holy Diver” (probably my favorite) and last but not least, IRON MAIDEN‘s killer “Piece of Mind”.
Things were looking up for Heavy Metal Music and it seemed as though I was seeking heavier and more aggressive Metal releases to devour — I just didn’t know it yet. I mean, when you jump from the oh-so-radio-friendly chorus in “Photograph” and the cheeky “Ten Seconds to Love”, and then on to more energetic songs like “Stand Up and Shout” from Ronnie James DIO and “Die with Your Boots On” from Bruce and the MAIDEN crew, your blood starts pumping and your fists are clenching VS the sing-along “pop Metal-ish” melodies with a somewhat “heavy” (Metal) guitar.
Let me also just toss in the fact that MTV was very much alive and trying to figure 
out what to do, and so we were starting to see a Heavy Metal Video here and there. The other new metal video show was on USA NETWORK called “Night Flight.”
Looking back, I realize now there were umpteen great Heavy Metal albums out there by bands that I hadn’t even heard of in 83′. There were so many amazing bands releasing great albums, such as:
- MERCYFUL FATE – “Melissa”
- RAVEN – “All for One” and
- SAVATAGE – “Sirens” for an example.
*I should throw a special shout-out to “Screaming for Vengeance” from JUDAS PRIEST, though technically it was released in 82′, I was still jamming to it on a regular basis far into 1983!
While we are on the subject of 1982, let me briefly spotlight some other rather notable releases that were still on heavy vinyl rotation at the King house. IRON MAIDEN released arguable their BEST LP with “Number of the Beast”, MOTORHEAD contributed “Iron Fist” and the SCORPIONS put out the smokin’ “Blackout” LP [and classic artwork — who could forget the crazy dude with forks in his eyes | see below]…good stuff.
–
Self-portrait: artist Gottfried Helnwein
–*I once drew this amazing cover artwork in a High School Art Class. It freaked out the teacher I think but I got a good grade on it and it was better than drawing some boring “still-life” crappola. Will scan one day.
Unbeknownst to me was the new wave of underground molten Metal releases that were steadily bubbling towards the top by the likes of: VENOM (“Black Metal”), another RAVEN (“Wiped Out”), TANK (“Filth Hounds of Hades”) and MANOWAR, who made their “strong-arm” METAL début with “Battle Hymns”.
Wow, looking back – that was some rather choice “new” music just waiting to be had. What a time for Hard Rock and Metal!
OK, let’s get back to the topic at hand…METALLICA‘s “Kill Em’ All”
First Impression:
After plopping the record on the platter, I was instantly blown-away with what I heard come rushing out of my Pioneer, Technics & Teac stereo system. By the time “Hit the Lights”, “The Four Horseman” and “Motorbreath” were over, it felt like a locomotive just blasted through the house and ran over me! When “Jump in the Fire” rolled around, I was in need of a break from the shocked/puzzled, yet excited state I was in.
Back of Kill Em’ All LP
I was thinking to myself, man how are they able to play that fast for so long and there is no way they can continue this madness for the rest of the entire LP. And then the (now classic) “Anesthesia/Pulling Teeth” instrumental came on. What the hell is that? A guitar, no way, it’s a bass guitar loaded up with some nasty efx with killer solo/instrumental chops by the great Cliff Burton (R.I.P). Lars jumps in later and adds what could only be described as “heavy metal/thrash funk” though a bit “stiffer” with METAL bass and not some funky plucking ala’ your typical Funk music. Anticipating what’s coming next…
Wait, what’s that sound I hear, oh boy, it’s the sound of that freight train coming to run us over again, this time with a speed metal masterpiece they simple call “Whiplash.” That’s it, with my eyes bugged outta’ my head, I got up and put the needle back into the groove for a re-start and proceeded to play “Whiplash” a second time, you know, just to confirm what my ears just heard!
Wow…
Now what’s a 16-year old pimply faced kid to do?
Without a doubt, put the record back in its sleeve + case and head on over to your buddies house and let them hear firsthand what you just had the aural pleasure to experience.
My friends basically freaked out as well when I played it over at their house. Especially since they were coming from more of a hard rock background. They probably had just finished listening to AC/DC‘s “Flick of the Switch” album before I stormed the gates with my newly found gem.
After a good 2-3 more spins of Side A (I’m not kidding), we finally braved side B. and were greeted with four more thrashin’ Metal tracks — my favorite being “Seek and Destroy”.
METALLICA swiftly managed to slide their way to the very top of my favorite Metal band list, knocking out the number one spot, which was held by none other than KISS for the longest (well, at least until I progressed into all things Heavy Metal that is).
*I made cassette tapes of this album for all of my friends and I would say about 90% were “converted” and ran out and bought their own copy on vinyl within the first few months of its release.
So there you have it, my first METALLICA experience, perfectly encapsulated in Metal history on this blog for your reading pleasure.
_
Part Two:
For the sake of space let’s fast-forward “the tape” to the following year: 1984.
rad new logo!
METALLICA is back with yet another slice of sonic mayhem, this time with “Ride the Lightning”. With expectations running high for my favorite band, I fell in love with their latest “metallic” effort pretty much instantly and it was at this time their “crunchy” guitar tone was definitely considered “metallic” by most Metal folks.
The record starts with a somewhat (classically inspired) guitar intro and then blasts right into “Fight Fire With Fire”, holy crap! Just when you thought “Whiplash” would be their all-time fastest and or heaviest, these guys are back faster and on-point with a better production (albeit drenched in more reverb), a much heavier guitar sound and boy am I happy!
Next up is the title track “Ride the Lightning”, which displays a more mature band and their song writing skills have grown. They are not just all about speed or how fast they can play.
This is also clear with the great solo Mr. Kirk Hammett plays on this one. It starts off very melodic and majestic and then moves on to what will later be called “anthem-like” and then out of nowhere, right when you think it’s ending, he comes back and rips your head off! Kudos Kirk. As a matter of fact the entire band kicks it down at this point for the rest of the track, along with noteworthy double-bass beats from Lars. Then, they loop back around to the first part of the song. Love it! I could listen to that main riff on repeat and never tire. For me, this release moves them a step closer to their upcoming worldwide dominance.
I am not going to do a track-by-track rundown of this masterpiece as we all know (or you should by now) that every song is great. As a matter of fact, this album was able to knock out my favorite #1 album (i.e. “Kill Em’ All”) with relative ease.
Hetfield performing guitar-less (pic©)
–
Moving forward to the beginning of 1986 (March 3rd to be exact) and we have the highly, highly anticipated third release from the boys: “Master of Puppets”.
I slap the record on and we’re off to the races with yet another “trademark” METALLICA acoustic guitar intro. This time it’s a bit more Spanish-influenced. Then without much pause, the more technical riffage and drumbeat of “Battery” is upon us!
Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwe P-E-R-F-E-C-T.
Album number three is well worth the wait and I am delighted to hear what I will call “state-of-the-art thrash metal” from the title track “Master of Puppets”, as the middle break just oozes with class and musicianship. This is by far the most accomplished METALLICA recording and or track from this era. Totally original (well there is a hint of an EXODUS-ish riff running throughout the track), but if you check the credits for this song, Kirk Hammett’s name is listed and all well-studied Heavy Metal Kiddos know that Kirk was in fact an early member of that GREAT band as well.
This time around Jame’s vocals have also improved and are sounding more authoritative than ever!
–
My fav METALLICA release by far!
–
Up next is the slow-grinder “The Thing That Should Not Be” complete with its low-slung grinding as it just chugs along like a METALLICA “death-train.” I think this is one their best simple arrangements and for such a “catchy” metal song this is just simply HEAVY as hades! Cool drum parts by Lars too and this is one of my favorite METALLICA songs to bang out on thy drums. Oh yeah, Kirk incorporates a unique “whammy-bar” solo that fits like a glove.
“frontman” pic©
“Welcome Home (Sanitarium)” [with its obvious “Fade to Black” nod] is pure epic METALLICA class. It’s songs like this that made all the Metal bands at the time crap their pants. Yes, folks — it’s that good.
It was also at this time they were influencing an entire generation of kids to play guitars, bass and drums just like their new-found Metal idols! And they did this with sheer talent, drive and best of all — no commercial radio airplay, flashy MTV video (or even promo merchandise like KISS resorted too). This album also single-handedly raised the bar several notches higher in terms of over-all quality and playing in the genre of all things Metal.
With such a killer album and a near perfect Metal track-record for their three releases thus far, what was next on the horizon for METALLICA?
OZZY + METALLICA Hit the Road
Thanks to the one and only OZZY OSBOURNE, it was time to take this beast of a band out on the road and straight to the Metal masses. METALLICA did embark on some tour dates before on their own but nothing like the exposure and number of dates that a major concert of this size could bring.
James, Lars, Ozzy, Kirk & Cliff 86′ pic©
–
In 1986 on “The Ultimate Sin” album/tour Sharon, Ozzy and Metallica headed out to rock [and Thrash] their many fans in the U.S.
Included in Ozzy’s camp was guitarist Jake E. Lee, drummer Randy Castillo (R.I.P.), bassist Phil Soussan and ex-Uriah Heep keyboardist John Sinclair.
Pretty damn rare these days (art ©)
1986 turned out to be a pain-in-the-butt year for Osbourne, as he was the target in the first of a series of U.S. lawsuits brought against him about lyrics in the song “Suicide Solution.”
You can probably guess that I was stoked that I was finally going to get to see my favorite band in the world and when I learned they were coming to my hometown (at the time) Evansville, Indiana—I was ecstatic! So I got my ticket, started to count down the days and began my plot as to how I was going to get to maybe meet the guys before or after the show.
The place where they were booked to play was called Mesker, which is an outdoor amphitheater that holds around 8,500 screaming fans.
You can get pretty close to the stage compared to most venues. Better yet, the bands have to load in their equipment to the left of the stage and to get there they have to drive in at the front gates and then they have to proceed down a huge hill to get to stage right. So the “plan” was to do some partying with my fellow Metalhead com padre’s and then head on over to the venue earlier in the day and catch them during their load-in and or sound check.
METALLICA was pretty young so I figured they would get bored rather quickly while having to stomach Ozzy’s road crew and or having to wait for them to set up in the hot sun and very humid July weather in the middle of the day. And there is basically nothing to do around that venue, so the way I looked at it was that we had them “trapped” if-you-will. Haha.
–
official ticket stub (thanks Pat)
–
If you have a look at the ticket above you will see that show time was 8PM, so we thought they would start their set up between like 10am – 4pm probably. By the way, did you see how much the show cost us? Yes, that’s right only $14.50 in-advance for OZZY and METALLICA. Amazing how thing’s change!
Saturday morning rolls around and my buddy and I (Lenny was that you?) head on over to Mesker Park to try to “stumble-upon (har’ har’)” our metal idols and when we get there the usual concert set up was in-progress. Semi trucks were pulling in and out. Several tour buses were parked stage right and of course, it was July so it was hotter than hell outside. All sorts of banging, hammering and stage building was going on but what was odd was the fact that all we could see was Ozzy’s band equipment. No METALLICA amps, no METALLICA road crew running around and what puzzled us the most was no drum-riser for Lars and no drum rig in site?… hmmm. Perhaps we were too early?
early band shot (pic ©)
We hung out for a while, left and then got some breakfast (i.e. “brunch” for metal heads, as we stay up all night and sleep most of the day ya’ know) and then came back to a fully set up Ultimate Sin stage. This time the METALLICA M.O.P. crosses were onstage (thanks Brad -ed) as well as Lar’s “chrome” kit and the usual back line of amps were sitting around waiting to be pounded into Metal oblivion later. What we did hear was Randy Castillo (or someone on his kit) banging the bass drum beat to the intro from “The Ultimate Sin”, you know the boom, boom, boom…boom/boom/boom beat!
Knowing that it was starting to get late in the day, we decided to head on back home to get ready for the show and besides, we had to meet up with some other fellow Metalheads that were going with us for what (in our minds) was going to be the BEST damn show we’d ever have the pleasure of seeing!
Thx Mike J.
It’s finally time to head on out to the show…
With expectations running high and butterflies in our stomach (well at least mine) the countdown to METALLICA‘s set was starting to “tick.” When we arrived the place was the usual madhouse with people hanging out in the parking lots, kid’s running across the main street and lines starting to form around the ticket booth/front entrance, however I detected a weird aura that was in the air. I could not explain it, but something was up and not quite “right.”
Ozzy + Phil (pic ©)
*When we finally made our way up to the gate and got our tickets ready, we were hearing “rumors” that James Hetfield was skating down the large hill beside the stage and broke his arm or wrist earlier and that METALLICA was NOT going to play tonight!!
Arrrrrrrrrrgggggggggghhhhhhhhhh! WHAT? Your kidding me? All sorts of emotions danced over me, but the only thing that we could do was to stay in line and keep moving forward. Eventually, we made it inside and I immediately ran down to the front of the stage (like I always do) to stake my claim of prime front-row real estate.
After what seemed like ages, Lars and Cliff [R.I.P.] came out and they announced that METALLICA were in fact not going to be able to play but OZZY was going to play an extra long set to make up for it. Well, guess what…of course no one told OZZY that or he didn’t care and they didn’t play any more than their regular set.
Yikes, I guess my worst nightmare is now playing out right before my very eyes.
Some fans [rednecks?] were starting to get rowdy and there were definitely A LOT of upset fans. I would say probably 70% or more were there to see Hetfield and Co. As a matter-of-fact, most Metallica fans didn’t even stick around for OZZY’s set. Why they wasted their time setting up the METALLICA stage is beyond me, maybe they didn’t want any rioting. Either way, that was my first and only time seeing Cliff onstage.
Lars before OZZY show 1986: Pic ©Mike J.
Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, OZZY took the stage and they jammed and their performance was great — especially Jake E. Lee as that guy can shred on guitar!
I kinda’ felt sorry for OZZY as it was not their fault but I do recall a lot of “M-ETALLICA”, “ME-TALL-ICA” chants earlier and during their set. I guess the “OZ” was finally able to calm (and or “cool” I should say) everyone down by throwing buckets of cold water on the packed crowd on this “almost-perfect” hot summer night in Evansville, Indiana.
ENTER DISAPPOINTED FAN RANT:
Looking back after all of these years, I am still not quite sure why METALLICA [James] just didn’t suck it up and play with Kirk on guitar and let James just sing? I am not exact on the time-frame of the events leading up to this but I am sure he went to a local hospital (which is only about 10 minutes away from the outdoor venue). Of course he was probably experiencing some major pain, but come on, it was not life-threatening by any means (and I am sure they gave him some strong pain-killers). We’re talkin’ a broken wrist folks! Maybe James or Lars were too pig-headed and or wouldn’t allow the show to go on if one of them was not at the top of their game and or perhaps their ego’s would not allow it at this stage in their careers? Maybe it was too close to showtime and confusion ensued. Who knows…maybe someone close to the band will eventually read this blog post (and maybe even a member of METALLICA themselves — I’m dreaming now) and share their comments!
–
_
_
_
Click on thumbnails above for a larger view
–
After this date on the OZZY tour, I think they were forced to cancel a few dates and they recruited their guitar tech John Marshall (METAL CHURCH). I heard that he was asked to play on the SIDE of the stage on most of the dates he filled in for JH. I guess after he passed the “Live METALLICA test” then he was allowed to actually roam the main stage a bit (albeit in the background with Jame’s white Gibson guitar). I am sure it did not take that long as John is a really good guitar player and later joined METAL CHURCH — a great Power-Metal band in their own right. As a matter of fact, they were even signed to Metallica‘s label at the time [Elektra] for several releases.
–
James with cast pic ©
–
I would love to hear any comments from readers on this interesting topic/historic event.
Type your comments below.
–
METALLICA hanging out one month prior to the (in)famous skateboarding accident in Indiana. Listen to what they say they like to do in their “spare time”. Hilarious!
–
*And a few months earlier on the “The Ultimate Sin” tour with OZZY.
_
*interesting excerpt from: (ilike that)
July 26, 1986
official culprit?
James breaks his wrist skateboarding down a hill in Evansville, Indiana, before a gig, but continues the tour singing. The band’s guitar tech, John Marshall, fills in. (Marshall later becomes a member of Metal Church).
James: “We told the management, ‘Hey, look we’re thinking about taking boards out on tour’…I thought he was going to go, ‘Oh shit, no way, you can’t.’ He just said, ‘Well, you break something, you still play.'”
Kirk: “Yeah, he said, ‘You break a leg on your skateboard, you play on stage with a broken leg.'”—Thrasher Magazine, 1986
–
“John Marshall has been our savior quite a few times. It pays if you’re a roadie to learn the bands songs, you could end up on stage.”—James H, VH1 Behind the Music
–
“James would run around the stage, just singing, with guitar parts mysteriously coming from nowhere. So after the first two songs, James would announce: ‘Obviously, I’m not playing; we’ve got this guy down here who’s playing guitar.’ I’d walk out and wave, then go back to my little hidden corner. [One night] Cliff would look over at me and go, ‘Get the fuck out here! Come out and play!’ Four gigs into the tour I was basically on the stage.”—John Marshall, Metallica Unbound
“The hard part was trying to match the vibe and intensity of James’s guitar playing. I knew how to play the riffs and song arrangements OK, but getting the feel right was difficult. It was also hard because the rest of the band follows his voice and guitar onstage. I think I was more worried about what the rest of the band thought, than what the audience thought.” ~John Marshall, Justice For All. The Truth About Metallica
–
James with a broken wrist (source: Ilikethat).
_
Metallica 1986 “Damage-Inc.” Tour Dates
Date City, State Venue
27/03/86 Wichita, Kansas Kansas Coliseum
29/03/86 Oklahoma City, Oklahoma Fairgrounds Arena
01/04/86 Kansas City, Missouri Kemper Arena
02/04/86 St. Louis, Missouri Keil Auditorium
04/04/86 Detroit, Michigan Joe Louis Arena
05/04/86 Chicago, Illinois Chicago Pavilion
06/04/86 Milwaukee, Wisconsin Mecca Arena
08/04/86 Indianapolis, Indiana Market Square Arena
09/04/86 Cleveland, Ohio Richfield Coliseum
10/04/86 Erie, Pennsylvania Civic Center
12/04/86 Johnstown, Pennsylvania War Memorial
13/04/86 Syracuse, New York War Memorial
14/04/86 Rochester, New York War Memorial
16/04/86 Landover, Maryland Capital Theater
17/04/86 Binghamton, New York Broome County Arena
18/04/86 Bethlehem, Pennsylvania Stabler Arena
20/04/86 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania The Spectrum
21/04/86 East Rutherford, New Jersey Brendan Byrne Arena
23/04/86 Providence, Rhode Island Civic Center
24/04/86 New Haven, Connecticut Coliseum
25/04/86 Worcester, Massachusetts Centrum
27/04/86 Glenns Falls, New York Civic Center
28/04/86 Uniondale, New York Nassau Coliseum
02/05/86 Charlotte, North Carolina Coliseum
03/05/86 Johnson City, Tennessee Freedom Hall
04/05/86 Memphis, Tennessee Mid South Coliseum
06/05/86 New Orleans, Louisiana Lakefront Arena
08/05/86 Austin, Texas Erwin Events Center
09/05/86 Houston, Texas The Summit
10/05/86 Fort Worth, Texas Tarrant County Coliseum
12/05/86 El Paso, Texas Coliseum
13/05/86 Albuquerque, New Mexico Tingley Coliseum
15/05/86 Denver, Colorado McNichols Arena
17/05/86 Salt Lake City, Utah Salt Palace Arena
19/05/86 Tucson, Arizona Community Center Arena
20/05/86 Phoenix, Arizona Coliseum
23/05/86 Tulsa, Oklahoma Cain’s Ballroom
24/05/86 Cape Girardeau, Missouri Arena Building
25/05/86 Chicago, Illinois Aragon Ballroom
26/05/86 Des Moines, Iowa Iowa State Fair
28/05/86 Minneapolis, Minnesota Orpheum Theatre
29/05/86 Eau Clair, Wisconsin Old Mill Expo
30/05/86 Davenport, Iowa Coliseum Ballroom
31/05/86 Decatur, Illinois Civic Arena
01/06/86 Omaha, Nebraska Peony Park
03/06/86 Dallas, Texas Bronco Bowl
04/06/86 Corpus Christi, Texas Coliseum
05/06/86 McAllen, Texas Villa Real
06/06/86 San Antonio, Texas Majestic Theatre
07/06/86 Odessa, Texas Ector County Coliseum
10/06/86 San Diego, California Sports Arena
11/06/86 Las Vegas, Nevada Thomas & Mack Arena
12/06/86 San Francisco, California Spastic Children
13/06/86 Long Beach, California Long Beach Arena
14/06/86 Long Beach, California Long Beach Arena
15/06/86 Long Beach, California Long Beach Arena
16/06/86 San Francisco, California Cow Palace
17/06/86 San Francisco, California Cow Palace
18/06/86 Sacramento, California Californian Expo Amphitheatre
21/06/86 San Francisco, California Ruthie’s (Spastic Children)
22/06/86 Seattle, Washington Coliseum
05/07/86 Pihtipudas, Finland Saapasjalkarock festival
06/07/86 Roskilde, Denmark Roskilde Festival
11/07/86 Green Bay, Wisconsin Brown County Arena
12/07/86 East Troy, Wisconsin Alpine Valley
13/07/86 Hoffmann Estates, Illinois Poplar Creek
15/07/86 Peoria, Illinois Civic Center
16/07/86 Fort Wayne, Indiana Fort Wayne Coliseum
17/07/86 Columbus, Ohio Ohio Center
19/07/86 Battlecreek, Michigan Wendler Arena
20/07/86 Saginaw, Michigan Wendler Arena
21/07/86 Clarkston, Michigan Pineknob Music Theatre
24/07/86 Cincinnati, Ohio Riverbend
25/07/86 Louisville, Kentucky Kentucky Fairgrounds Stadium
–
*26/07/86 Evansville, Indiana Mesker Theatre
(James breaks arm before the show skateboarding. The show is cancelled!)
27/07/86 Nashville, Tennessee Municiple Auditorium
29/07/86 Chattanooga, Tennessee UTC Arena
30/07/86 Knoxville, Tennessee Civic Coliseum
01/08/86 Charleston, West Virginia Civic Center
02/08/86 Columbia, Maryland Merriweather Post Pavilion
03/08/86 Hampton, Virginia Coliseum
29/08/86 San Francisco, California The Rock (Spastic Children)
_
John Marshall Rehearses with METALLICA
–
If you enjoyed this article please pass it along! Copy and past THIS LINK
As of 2016 this article has been read over 40K times. Whoa.
You can also subscribe to our blog via email to get auto-updates when we post new articles and rare old school features (such as this one).
*in order to transport you directly back to 1988 we will continue to keep the language in the posts “present tense” even though this is 2016.
UPDATE 2016:
NEW BOOK: Metallica: Back to the Front, the definitive story of Master of Puppets and the subsequent tour that followed its release, hits bookstores and online sellers on September 13, 2016!
*Hella-cool pictorial coffee table book.
Buy or die!
Demolish Magazine 