Metallica bassist Robert Trujillo has reflected on his earliest shows with the thrash metal giants, and it sounds like they were pretty chaotic.
Trujillo, who replaced longtime bassist Jason Newsted in 2003, revealed in an interview with 107.7 The Bone that his early days in the band included him not knowing what the setlist would be for each gig and needing to learn songs on the fly.
“What I remember most about that in 2003 was not knowing what the setlist was gonna be each night,” the bass player said (transcribed by Metal Injection).
“It was like really sort of loose. And I don’t know if that was on purpose or we were so overwhelmed or Lars [Ulrich, drums] was so overwhelmed, he couldn’t tell me exactly what we were gonna play.”
Trujillo continued: “So I was learning songs like [1983 track] Phantom Lord on the spot. And they hadn’t played Phantom Lord in a very long time.
“So there was just all this energy around me and my head was sort of swimming with the pressure of the show, the pressure of being the new bass player, but also the pressure of having to put together a song earlier in the afternoon the day that we would be playing it.”
Trujillo added that his stress at the time was confounded by the fact one of his first Metallica concerts was to convicts at the San Quentin Rehabilitation Center prison on May 1, 2003.
Metallica also filmed the music video for the title track of 2003 album St Anger at San Quentin.
Trujillo appeared in the video but did not play bass on the album, as it was recorded before he joined the band. Producer Bob Rock manned the low end instead.
“Metallica songs are challenging, but then, I believe around that same time we were playing at the legendary San Quentin prison,” said Trujillo.
“So there’s just a lot of stuff going on all at once. And it was kind of, like, ‘Welcome to your new existence.’ You’ve just gotta kind of learn, adapt, and do your best, and that’s how it was at that show at the Fillmore [in San Francisco on May 22, 2003].”
Trujillo concluded by saying that the experience motivated him to learn more Metallica songs than required, so that he’d never be caught off-guard again.
“I did hit the ground running, and when I got caught up a couple of years later, I said, ‘I am gonna go out of my way to learn songs that we’re not even playing that aren't even on the radar. I'm gonna learn [1986 instrumental] Orion. I’m gonna learn Dyers Eve [from 1988’s …And Justice For All].’
“I just was, like, I don’t like being at the edge of my seat, having to learn songs [every] day or anything like that. So I found a way to get caught up.”
Metallica, now with a much more seasoned Trujillo, will return to the road later this month.
See the band’s full list of announced 2024 tour dates below.
Metallica 2024 tour dates:
May 24: Munich Olympiastadion, Germany
May 26: Munich Olympiastadion, Germany
May 29: Milan I-Days Festival, Italy
Jun 01: Vienna Racino Rocks Festival, Austria
Jun 07: Helsinki Olympic Stadium, Finland
Jun 09: Helsinki Olympic Stadium, Finland
Jun 14: Copenhagen Parken Stadium, Denmark
Jun 16: Copenhagen Parken Stadium, Denmark
Jun 26: Oslo Tons Of Rock Festival, Norway
Jun 29: Clisson Hellfest, France
Jul 05: Warsaw PGE Narodowy, Poland
Jul 07: Warsaw PGE Narodowy, Poland
Jul 12: Madrid Estadio Cívitas Metropolitano, Spain
Jul 14: Madrid Estadio Cívitas Metropolitano, Spain
Aug 02: Foxborough Gillette Stadium, MA, USA
Aug 04: Foxborough Gillette Stadium, MA, USA
Aug 09: Chicago Soldier Field, IL, USA
Aug 11: Chicago Soldier Field, IL, USA
Aug 16: Minneapolis US Bank Stadium, MN, USA
Aug 18: Minneapolis US Bank Stadium, MN, USA
Aug 23: Edmonton Commonwealth Stadium, Canada
Aug 25: Edmonton Commonwealth Stadium, Canada
Aug 30: Seattle Lumen Field, WA, USA
Sep 01: Seattle Lumen Field, WA, USA
Sep 20: Mexico City Foro Sol, Mexico
Sep 22: Mexico City Foro Sol, Mexico
Sep 27: Mexico City Foro Sol, Mexico
Sep 29: Mexico City Foro Sol, Mexico
