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Metallica Promote New Movie and Play Secret Show

07/22/2013
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(Radio.com) On the cusp of the 30-year anniversary of their debut album, Kill 'Em All, Metallica were doing something they probably never imagined would (or really even could) happen three decades prior: The foursome was promoting a 3D motion picture event with jaw-dropping Hollywood effects, with the story centered around lyrics from Metallica's greatest hits.

On the fourth floor of the Hilton Bayfront San Diego, at the end of a seemingly endless hallway straddling the back of the building, far away from peering eyes, stood a line of reporters waiting patiently for their chance to get two minutes with the biggest rock band in the world. Metallica was in town, and everyone knew it. In fact, they had taken over Comic-Con's second day (Friday, July 19).

Looking for posters or signs indicating the legendary metal band's presence would have been futile; Metallica was in stealth mode. Yes, the band was talking to the press about the upcoming feature film Metallica: Through The Never, but word was spreading fast that the metal powerhouse was also playing a secret concert at a small, local venue. Probing for details about the concert produced the same answer for every reporter; "Sorry, I don't have any details."

When it came time to dig into the story behind the movie, drummer Lars Ulrich told Radio.com, "You know what, I've spent three years working on this movie and I don't have any idea what it means." Ulrich laughed, understanding that the answer left to much to be desired so he launched into a description of the film saying that the storyline is largely "ambiguous," much like singer James Hetfield's lyrics.

Immediately following our interview, Lars was whisked away to join his bandmates for a panel discussion in front of 6,000-person audience at Comic-Con's Hall H, a popular venue throughout the convention. All four members of Metallica, along with Antal and DeHaan, took questions from the audience and debuted the film's trailer along with an exclusive four-minute clip, shown in breathtaking 3D.

Hours later, a line wrapped around the historic Spreckels Theatre in downtown San Diego. Ticket scalpers lining the sidewalk were far from shy, with one enthusiastically shouting, "I pay cash money for tickets. Where are you? I know you got 'em!" The in-demand tickets were far less plentiful than the street hustlers would have liked.

Once inside, 20 oversized speaker cabinets hung from ceiling, blasting more sound than a small theater built in 1912 had likely ever been subjected to. The audience's foot stomping tested the balcony sturdiness, while chandeliers shivered as the Bay-area foursome took the stage to deafening applause, launching with crowd-pleaser "Creeping Death." A lot more details

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Copyright Radio.com/CBS Local - Excerpted here with permission.

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