METALLICA's ROBERT TRUJILLO Says 'There Was A Certain Feeling Of Confidence' Before First 40th-Anniversary Concert

METALLICA bassist Robert Trujillo discussed the band's two 40th-anniversary concerts, which were held in at San Francisco's Chase Center on December 17 and December 19, during a recent SiriusXM Mandatory Metallica and Liquid Metal live call-in roundtable, hosted by Jose Mangin, Steffan Chirazi and Spider Dan. Speaking about what it was like to go up on stage for the first of the two shows, Robert said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Here's something that's very helpful, and a lot of people may not know this. But James [Hetfield, METALLICA frontman] and I actually, before the show, a couple of hours before, we went up in the nosebleed seats and we watched all of the film content that was transitional into the songs for the evening. So we saw all the film content — it was like a half hour of content — and we were so excited by what we saw that when we got on the floor preceding the show, there was a certain feeling of confidence, I think, and a bit more of the right kind of relaxation. And what I usually do is all the fans that are kind of behind me in my area, I [give them] fistbumps and all that kind of stuff, so I'm getting their energy already and we're already communicating with the crowd in that way. It's kind of like an athletic event — you're getting ready to take the pitch, getting ready to take the field — so you get that nervousness, but it's a good nervousness. And fueled with the idea that we had seen the transitions on film and we knew what we were gonna celebrate was really, really cool, and that helped James and I immensely. We talked about it a little bit. We were kind of, like, 'Oh, this is cool.' 'Cause you see how it was put together and how well the edits are and the flow and the celebratory aspect of it was really, really cool. Now you're excited, now you're, like, 'Yeah! Let's do this.' I think that helped us a lot. And then once we got up there, we were pretty confident in at least having a great time."

Robert admitted that one of the most "challenging" parts of the event was "the sound." He explained: "At least from where we are on stage, you get to certain pockets, like on the outer edges of the stage, some of those mics in the corner, the sound is bouncing around, so if you're going to sing a backup part, you don't hear your voice very well. So that was a little weird. There's not time to find the sweet spots, so you've gotta kind of roll with it and just do the best you can and try and have a great time. And we did."

METALLICA's two 40th-anniversary shows featured different setlists. They were part of METALLICA's "San Francisco Takeover", a four-day citywide celebration of the band's 40th anniversary that also included a film festival, photo exhibit and curated lineup of smaller venue shows featuring other acts.

The 40th-anniversary shows marked METALLICA's return to Chase Center for the first time since the September 2019 "S&M²" concerts that also served as the venue's grand opening. Those two shows grossed more than $4.1 million over the course of its two nights, according to reports submitted to Pollstar's Boxoffice, and the band ranked at No. 4 on Pollstar's worldwide touring chart that same year with a global gross of $175 million.

Fans who missed METALLICA's pair of 40th-anniversary concerts this past weekend can enjoy rebroadcasts of both shows on-demand exclusively on The Coda Collection this Christmas weekend in the U.S. and on Amazon Prime internationally.

The shows will be available to stream from Friday, December 24 at 9 a.m. PT / 12 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. GMT / 2 a.m. JST through Monday, December 27 at 8:59 p.m. PT / 11:59 p.m. ET / 4:59 a.m. GMT / 1:59 p.m. JST.

For information on how to stream both shows, click here.

Following the initial viewing period, both concerts will return to the The Coda Collection and Prime Video with enhanced bonus footage and additional exclusives as part of an extensive partnership between The Coda Collection and METALLICA, which will include a full slate of concert films, documentaries, and additional content spanning the band's career arriving on the channel exclusively throughout 2022.

Formed in 1981 by Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich, METALLICA has become one of the most influential and successful rock bands in history, having sold nearly 120 million albums worldwide and generating more than 2.5 billion streams while playing to millions of fans on literally all seven continents. The band's several multi-platinum albums include "Kill 'Em All", "Ride The Lightning", "Master Of Puppets", "… And Justice For All", "Metallica" (commonly referred to as The Black Album),"Load", "Reload", "St. Anger", "Death Magnetic" and "Hardwired... To Self-Destruct", released in November 2016 and charting at No. 1 in 32 countries.

METALLICA's awards and accolades include nine Grammy Awards, two American Music Awards, multiple MTV Video Music Awards, and its 2009 induction into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame. In June of 2018, the band was awarded one of the most prestigious musical honors in the world: Sweden's Polar Music Prize.

On December 16, San Francisco mayor London Breed presented Ulrich and Trujillo with a special declaration marking the day as "Metallica Day" in the city.

"When you talk about San Francisco," Breed said at the news conference, "you talk about cable cars and then you talk about METALLICA."