Mike Shinoda , one of the founders of Linkin Park , once recounted a "prank" he and his bandmates played on the members of Metallica . The episode occurred while the nu metal group was participating in the Summer Sanitarium Tour in 2003, in which Limp Bizkit , Deftones , and Mudvayne James Hetfield 's band as the headliner.
In an interview with Australian radio station Triple M (via Blabbermouth ), Shinoda revealed behind-the-scenes details of the tour and heaped praise on the heavy metal giants:
“One of our greatest achievements — and perhaps we are still the only ones — was pulling a prank on Metallica. They took us on as opening acts for stadiums across the United States for two months in the summer. And we were very nervous. I love Metallica. Our guitarist learned to play because of them, they were his biggest influence. We were all fans. So there we were, on tour, completely blown away.”
Still on the subject of the tour, the multi-instrumentalist commented on the time when Hetfield and his colleagues invited them to a bar and praised their work:
“Until one day they invited us to a bar to hang out with them. And it was like, 'Seriously? You guys?' They were so sweet—each one of them incredible. Very humble, attentive, and they complimented us a lot. They said they loved our show. Each one made a point of telling me personally, 'I really like what you guys do. As an opening band, you're excellent. Good people with great music.' That gave us a lot of confidence; we felt comfortable with them.”
What was the "prank" that Linkin Park played on Metallica?
At the end of their tour with Metallica, Linkin Park decided to play an unusual prank on the band—something that, according to Mike Shinoda, had never been done before. Since Metallica's head of security had previously worked with them, the band approached him with the idea: “Hey, Tom , usually at the end of tours, bands play pranks on each other. Do you think it's possible to do that with Metallica?” The response came with a rare openness: “Look, they've never done that to them, but I think I can figure something out.”
The prank was then put into practice. In the middle of one of the songs in the set — probably “Ride The Lightning,” according to Shinoda — the members of Linkin Park went on stage with a blanket, a picnic basket, snacks, and soft drinks. Chester Bennington appeared with a skateboard, and everyone started pretending to have a picnic behind the band, while Metallica continued with their performance.
“Everyone was trying to take the performance seriously, and Chester was skateboarding behind them, eating a snack,” Shinoda recounted, laughing. Drummer Lars Ulrich “completely lost his concentration” when he realized what was happening, since no one had ever gone on stage during a band show before. “They quickly understood what was going on. It was sensational.”
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