Watch Metallica Rock the National Anthem at a Giants Game
Metallica graced San Francisco’s AT&T park on Friday as the Giants honored the hometown band with “Metallica Night.” James Hetfield and Kirk Hammett opened the game by playing “The Star-Spangled Banner” and drummer Lars Ulrich threw out the first pitch. Hetfield also announced the starting lineup, which you can watch below.
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It was the second year in a row that the Giants have dedicated a game to Metallica, and this year’s event offered all fans an inflatable version of Hetfield’s ESP Snakebyte guitar (emblazoned with a Giants logo, of course) as well as a set of souvenir guitar picks.
Before the game, the band also joined the Giants to take a swing at batting practice. “We like to partake in the local sports, for sure,” Hetfield told MLB.com. “I had a lot of fun. It’s remarkable, being 50 years old, and there’s still really cool stuff to do in life. We’re blessed to come out here and hit some balls on this beautiful day.”
Metallica had started off the week by performing a rare acoustic set at the MusicCares MAP Fund benefit concert honoring Ozzy Osbourne. Their four-song set including the Beatles’ “In My Life,” which Hetfield repeated during a solo set at the Acoustic-4-a-Cure benefit in San Francisco on Thursday night.
Fittingly enough, Ulrich recently told Rolling Stone that Metallica are in the “fourth inning” of songwriting for a new album. The band released a new song, “Lords of Summer,” in March, marking their first new track since 2012.