LARS ULRICH Looks Back On METALLICA's First-Ever Concert

METALLICA drummer Lars Ulrich celebrated the 37th anniversary of the band’s first-ever concert by sharing the only photo he could find of the drum kit he used at the show, plus the setlist and his diary entry from that day.

The concert took place on March 14, 1982 at Radio City in Anaheim, California — just months before METALLICA made its recording debut on the first “Metal Massacre” compilation (on which they were credited as METTALLICA) — and featured METALLICA‘s then-lineup of James Hetfield on vocals, Dave Mustaine on guitar, Ron McGovney on bass and Ulrich on drums. The band played mostly covers, charged $15 for people to see the show and drew 75 people.

METALLICA‘s set included only two original tunes — “Hit The Lights” and “Jump In The Fire” — and was filled out by cover versions of SAVAGE‘s “Let It Loose”, BLITZKRIEG‘s “Blitzkrieg”, SWEET SAVAGE‘s “Killing Time” and four DIAMOND HEAD songs. At the time of the gig, Hetfield had not yet started playing rhythm guitar while singing, leaving Mustaine as the sole guitarist in the band.

The setlist was as follows:

01. Hit The Lights (Hetfield, Ulrich)
02. Blitzkrieg (BLITZKRIEG cover)
03. Helpless (DIAMOND HEAD cover)
04. Jump In The Fire (Hetfield, Ulrich, Mustaine)
05. Let It Loose (SAVAGE cover)
06. Sucking My Love (DIAMOND HEAD cover)
07. Am I Evil? (DIAMOND HEAD cover)
08. The Prince (DIAMOND HEAD cover)
09. Killing Time (SWEET SAVAGE cover)

Ulrich wrote on Instagram: “37 years ago today, March 14 ’82, the ‘TALLICA played our first live show ever at a joint called Radio City in Anaheim, California.

“As you can tell from the notes in my diary, it was my first gig ever and I was ‘very nervous.'(!)

“Additionally, you eagle-eyed observers may notice that there’s not a lot of ‘TALLICA originals being performed here at the first outing, but almost all NWOBHM covers, most of which ended up being recorded later along the way and showing up on various ‘Garage’ releases…

“Here for your viewing pleasure is a picture of your Danish drummer from later in ’82 still playing my first Camco kit (there are no pictures that exist from the first gig), the OG flyer, the setlist in my handwriting and a page from my diary describing the antics of the evening!

“Happy Live Debut Anniversary! Who would’ve thought…”

Hetfield spoke about METALLICA‘s first show during an interview with the U.K. magazine Kerrang! He said: “The first gig was at Radio City, and I was just singing. There were a lot of people there, maybe 200, because we had all my school friends and all Lars‘s and Ron‘s and Dave‘s buddies. I was really nervous and a little uncomfortable without a guitar, and then during the first song, Dave broke a string. It seemed to take him eternity to change it and I was standing there really embarrassed. We were really disappointed afterwards. But there were never as many people at the following shows as there were at that first one.”

This incarnation of the band recorded several demos, including the legedary “No Life ‘Til Leather” and “Power Metal” tapes. McGovney was replaced by Cliff Burton by the end of 1982, and Mustaine was dismissed in April 1983 before being replaced by EXODUS guitarist Kirk Hammett.

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37 years ago today, March 14 ’82, the ‘Tallica played our first live show ever at a joint called Radio City in Anaheim, California. As you can tell from the notes in my diary, it was my first gig ever and I was “very nervous.”(!) Additionally, you eagle-eyed observers may notice that there’s not a lot of ‘Tallica originals being performed here at the first outing, but almost all NWOBHM covers, most of which ended up being recorded later along the way and showing up on various Garage releases… Here for your viewing pleasure is a picture of your Danish drummer from later in ’82 still playing my first Camco kit (there are no pictures that exist from the first gig), the OG flyer, the setlist in my handwriting and a page from my diary describing the antics of the evening! Happy Live Debut Anniversary! Who would’ve thought….? #wanna #tbt ? by @umlaut

A post shared by Lars Ulrich (@larsulrich) on Mar 14, 2019 at 10:17pm PDT