“It was maybe the fourth time we ever stopped a show,” the band’s former bassist says. “I look over at James, like, ‘Dude!’”
When Jason Newsted was in Metallica, he says he can remember only a handful of times when the band ever stopped a show. One was in Canada, during a period where the thrash-metal titans were still building the massive fan base they maintain today.
During an appearance on Rolling Stone’s Nashville Now podcast, the bassist recalls one specific gig in remote Canada where he and singer James Heftfield found themselves under fire — from darts.
In those days, Newsted says, the band wasn’t always selling out hockey arenas north of the border, and the promoter would split the venue in half with a rubber curtain. That pushed fans close to the stage, and also up alongside the band in the seats.
“The kids are up above you,” Newsted says. “So, we’re playing, playing, playing, all of a sudden … a dart! I look over at James, like, ‘Dude!’ The no-words communication thing.” Soon, another dart hit the stage, not far from Hetfield’s tennis shoe, and Metallica halted the gig.
