When Metallica opened for the Rolling Stones in 2005, they got absolutely no satisfaction.
In fact, when the metal gods thought they were living the dream as the supporting act for the Stones at SBC Park (now Oracle Park) in their native San Francisco, they were told not to even make eye contact with the Stones’ now-79-year-old frontman, Mick Jagger.
Initially, the first time that Metallica opened for anyone since 1992 was deemed “an honor and a privilege,” the band’s drummer, Lars Ulrich, said on this week’s episode of the podcast “Club Random With Bill Maher.”
“At that time, we had played shows over our career with Deep Purple and AC/DC, with a few other bands, all the bands that I had posters of on my wall when I was a kid. And so the last one of those boxes to check was the Stones,” Ulrich told Maher.
“So we’re sitting backstage, and — and this is in no way a judgment on the Stones, this is really more about us — at one point a a personal assistant or whatever comes and says, ‘Mick Jagger’s gonna walk through here in a couple minutes, he’s going over to his private gym in his truck and he’s going to warm up before the show. When he walks through here, please don’t make eye contact with him or talk to him.’ ”
But for Metallica, the more boggling aspect of it all was the fact that the ageless legend was working out in his own private gym right before the show.
“So we’re sitting there going, ‘What? He has a truck with a portable gym in it? He goes and warms up for 30 to 45 minutes before he goes onstage?’ ”
Since then, though, Metallica has also been pumping it on the road.
“Now guess who’s got a truck with a gym in it? Guess who’s got a Peloton bike on the road with us? Guess who’s got a chef who walks around and makes us protein drinks and all kinds of other nasty stuff?”
But Metallica — which released a new album, “72 Seasons,” on Friday — did get to have some contact with the Stones when they took a photo with the “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” rockers right before they hit the stage.
Still, it wasn’t exactly the stuff of Ulrich’s rock ’n’ roll dreams.
“I thought … ‘I’m gonna spend my whole time in Keith Richards’ hotel room, sitting at one of those legendary parties ’til 9 o’clock in the morning. I’ll be the last one to leave!’ It wasn’t exactly like that.”