Musicians gather
In a podcast on the Metal Injection website, former Metallica bassist Jason Newsted was asked about his thoughts on Metallica's performance with Lady Gaga at the Grammy Awards ceremony. The performance was marred by a major technical glitch, with James Hetfield's microphone malfunctioning, and was compounded by presenter Laverne Cox forgetting to introduce Metallica during the opening act. The performance can be seen here.
Newsted immediately defended his former band: “I think doubting Metallica is never a smart thing to do, no matter the reason. They always get back up and are ready for another round. It’s quite impressive. I’ve been in, out, back in, man, I’ve seen them from every angle and it’s all very respectable.”
The bassist also said that the technical glitch ended up making the performance more powerful: “As a fan, I was really pissed off by the disrespect shown by the equipment failure. But just the fact that they took that opportunity, the way they do with everything, even if you don't agree, it's not our place to decide. If they want to do that with someone as talented and powerful as Lady Gaga, they should. They're on the same level as her. She's lucky to be there with them.”
We could discuss this or that and blah blah blah, but the victory of the performance was precisely because the equipment failed, James and Gaga resurfaced as the enormous rock stars they are, empowering themselves with the moment, even if forced. And that made the performance more powerful than they could have planned if they had rehearsed twenty times. They came together and gave more than they would have given alone. It was fantastic. I think it was a great brilliance that came out of all this. It showed what people are made of. A large percentage of the people in that room are performers who wouldn't have been able to handle it the same way if it had happened to them.”
