On This Day: Metallica Concert Devolves Into a Riot After James Hetfield Is Injured by Pyrotechnics
We all know how the old saying goes: “If you play with fire, you’re gonna get burned.” However, the members of Metallica apparently missed that lesson. Thirty-two years ago today (Aug. 8, 1992,) the band’s set at Montreal’s Olympic Stadium came to a screeching halt when James Hetfield was burned by pyrotechnics. Here’s how the subsequent chain of events led to a $600,000 damage bill.
In May 1992, Metallica and Guns N’ Roses announced they would join forces for what promised to be one epic tour. Metallica sought to promote their self-titled fifth album, while Guns N’ Roses focused on Use Your Illusion 1 and II.
On Aug. 8, 1992, the members of Metallica were gearing up for “Fade to Black” when disaster struck. Perrin Wolfson remembered the ill-fated incident in an August 2020 article for The Metal Voice. “[The] sound of a guitar going way out of tune and then the band disappears… and a whole lotta nothing for a good ten minutes,” Wolfson wrote.
As it turned out, that “out of tune sound” was James Hetfield’s guitar strings melting when the guitarist accidentally ended up in the direct path of the set’s pyrotechnics. Hetfield was rushed to the hospital, with Kirk Hammett, Jason Newsted, and Lars Ulrich promising a makeup concert.
Leave a Reply