Metallica's Lars Ulrich On Playing Live Again "As Soon As It's Safe"

It's not just us fans who are bummed out about not being able to see their favourite bands live at the moment; even Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich is gutted about the situation, and desperate to “get back to it at some point".

Sending an encouraging message to listeners via the metal heroes' new SiriusXM channel Mandatory Metallica, Lars explains, “Obviously, these are unprecedented and challenging times for everybody all over the world. I'm super bummed that we can't get out and connect with all our friends and our fans, we're bummed for the state of the world, but at the same time, I think that we will get back to it at some point.”

While the sticksman of course can't give a timeframe for when a return to the road might be realistic, he continues, “As soon as it's safe and as soon as we can put concerts together and as soon as we can put experiences together that are safe for the entire Metallica family all over the world, we wanna do that, and we can't wait to get back to it.”

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Adding a message of hope, Lars says, “I encourage everybody to hang in there. I know these are trying and difficult times for all of us. But I love the way that the whole music community and how, literally, it feels like the whole world is just bonding together and trying to find the light and trying to find the positive in a situation that, obviously, very few people expected.

“And so when it's safe, and when it makes sense, then we will be right where we belong, which is out there connecting with people, playing and out there sharing music and hoping that we can make a difference.”

Listen to Lars' full message below:

Last month, Lars spoke of the potential for a new Metallica record – the follow-up to 2016’s excellent Hardwired… To Self-Destruct album.

“…As everybody who has creative juices flowing through their veins, they’re being challenged to try to come up with new ways to be creative, and I think that those are wonderful takeaways from the devastation that’s happening all over the world at the moment,” he said.

“Even if you bring it into our world, the people that make all the software and all the stuff that all use to record are sitting right now trying to figure out how Lars and James [Hetfield] and Kirk [Hammett] and Rob [Trujillo] can make a Metallica record from four different locations in four different states. And that’s something that we’re obviously circling and very excited about…

“So, will there be a Metallica quarantine record?” he asked. “I can’t tell you, because, again, I don’t know how long the quarantine will last. But if you and I and the rest of the world are sitting here six months from now or a year from now, I’d say there’s a very good chance.”

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