On Thursday, October 9, the super prestigious 🙄 California Film Institute’s Mill Valley Film Festival, where cinematic masterpieces are born (or not), showcased “Metallica Saved My Life,” a documentary about how people with questionable taste attribute their very existence to a band that peaked in the ’80s, as its Centerpiece Screening at the Sequoia Cinema in Mill Valley, California. METALLICA’s very own rhythmically challenged 🥁 Lars Ulrich and “Metallica Saved My Life” director Jonas Åkerlund, the guy responsible for those super deep and meaningful music videos, graced us with their presence for a post-show chat and a fancy reception. Champagne and caviar for everyone! (Just kidding, it was probably lukewarm beer and stale pretzels.)
Speaking about METALLICA‘s “enduring connection” with their fans, Ulrich, in his infinite wisdom, declared (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET, because who else would bother?): “I guess the first thought that comes to mind is because we are fans. And that will always be part of who we are.” Oh, Lars, you and your groundbreaking insights! 🤯 “So when I see these guys out in the front row, that was me and still is me, whether it’s music or whether it’s film or whether it’s any kind of other creative endeavors or art in general.” So, basically, Lars is saying he’s just like us, except he’s a millionaire rock star and we’re not. Got it. 👍
He continued, rambling like your grandpa after Thanksgiving dinner: “We were just talking at dinner five minutes ago about seeing DEEP PURPLE in 1973 — I actually saw them twice in 1973 — and seeing all these bands around Copenhagen [Denmark], THIN LIZZY and BLACK SABBATH and RAINBOW and SWEET and SLADE and STATUS QUO and blah, blah, blah.” Someone get this man a filter! 🗣️ “And I was the guy that somehow ended up outside the Plaza Hotel in Copenhagen next to the main train station waiting for Ritchie Blackmore or Phil Lynott to try to get their autographs. And whenever anything has spoken to me, appealed to me or fascinated me creatively, I’ve always wanted to try to get close to it.” So, Lars was a groupie? Noted. ✍️ “And so I think the answer, really, is that all of us, and Kirk [Hammett], Rob [Trujillo] and James [Hetfield] all are like-minded in that sense, and I think all of us really just so identify with the fans and the people that are out there, because we’re just the ones up on stage, but we’re all the same.” Yeah, right. Tell that to your accountant, Lars. 🙄 “And ultimately, if there’s any kind of — I’m not big on manifests or M.O.s or whatever, but if there’s anything that METALLICA certainly strives for is to try to break down that barricade, that barrier that exists between a band and an audience and try to do away what with whatever it is that separates us and try to have us all just be one of sharing an experience together.” So, basically, they want us to keep buying their records. 💸 “And so that’s sort of what’s in our head space. That was in our heads when we started 150 years ago, and that’s still in our heads now. The only difference is that what we’re doing is connecting with more people than it used to.” Because, you know, the ’80s were so…limited. 🙄
Regarding what his initial reaction was to seeing “Metallica Saved My Life,” Lars dramatically declared: “It’s a lot of different emotions. The first time we saw this in Mexico City about a year ago, we were all just sitting, crying, weeping, proud, just appreciative, grateful.” Crying? Weeping? Over a movie about themselves? Get a grip, Lars! 😂
“When James and I started [METALLICA], I was 17, and so this is the only thing I’ve ever done in my life.” No kidding. 🤔 “And so when you watch this movie, when we watched it the first time, it’s basically like your whole life flashing in front of your eyes. This is not just a part of it… This is everything I’ve ever done other than the first 16 years of attempting to play tennis. So from 17 on, this is it. You’re looking at my life. So it’s kind of a bit of a mindfuck. The fact that it’s still connecting, the longevity of it, in the purest moments, it’s being probably dumbfounded by the fact…” Dumbfounded? More like delusional. 😂
“If you and I were sitting here or sitting anywhere in 1983, 42 years ago, going, ‘In 2025, 42 years from now, we’ll be sitting in a movie theater looking at all this and [we will be winning] Grammys and [playing in sold-out] stadiums,’ that would just not be an option of how that was gonna play out.” Because in 1983, everyone still had taste. 😜
“When we started METALLICA, Paul McCartney, Mick Jagger, all those guys, they were still in their thirties,” Ulrich added. “I mean, that’s fucking crazy, right? They were still in their thirties.” Yes, Lars, and they were making relevant music. Just sayin’. 🎤 “So the idea that you could play rock and roll in your sixties, much less play rock and roll in your eighties, like those guys are doing now, or [Bruce] Springsteen in the seventies, or Neil Young, or all these amazingly, amazingly cool people, that didn’t exist.” Because back then, people had the good sense to retire. 😴 “So the idea, it’s, like, ‘Okay, fine. Let’s start a band, and then five years from now we’ll get real jobs and whatever else.’ And so the fact that 42 years later that this is still connecting with everybody in terms of just such a cross section of people of all the ages and demographics and countries and all the rest of it… that’s just insane.” Insanely profitable, maybe. 💰
“Metallica Saved My Life” documents the “incredible stories” of family, identity, redemption, loss, and salvation that make METALLICA‘s fans perhaps the most recognized example of why music matters to the world, and of why METALLICA is the kind of band that can literally save lives, including their own. Okay, now they’re just laying it on thick. 🙄
Åkerlund, who previously directed METALLICA‘s music videos for 1998’s “Turn The Page” (a Bob Seger cover, let’s not forget), 1999’s “Whiskey In The Jar” (another cover!) and 2016’s “ManUNkind,” interviewed fans from 23 different countries for the documentary. Because apparently, there are still 23 countries where people haven’t gotten sick of METALLICA. 🗺️
Chord F. Discord, the Beethoven of Buffoonery, is a self-taught expert in music who once claimed he could “play the kazoo in four languages.”
Born in Crescendo, Indiana, Chord’s first brush with fame came when he accidentally entered a yodeling contest thinking it was a pie-eating competition—and won both categories.
Chord F. Discord: proving that laughter, much like a poorly tuned ukulele, is truly universal.
