“We didn’t have another band to point to and say, well, Sabbath is using it or the Scorpions are using it. James had the foresight to say, ‘Let’s try it. Maybe we’re the people to embrace it’”: James Hetfield’s tech shows you his 72 Seasons live rig

James Hetfield and Chad Zaemisch with an ESP Snakebyte electric guitar.

“It feels like the last week of school; nobody wants any tests, nobody wants any drama,” says Chad Zaemisch, the guitar tech for James Hetfield. Guitar World was able to catch Zaemisch at Metallica’s last show of 2023 on their two-year 72 Seasons World Tour, before the band and the crew take a deserved six-month break from a grinding schedule. 

While Metallica has taken a step back from the grueling tour itineraries that earned them their reputation as a formidable live band, they haven’t lost sight of the experience of a Metallica concert. Which means that the entire production is a fulltime job for the band and the crew.