Lars Ulrich: I Wouldn’t Put Money on Metallica Playing Full Album Sets at 2013 Orion Festival
After the success of last year's Orion Music + More festival, the members of Metallica were pretty confident that they'd bring it back for a second year. But will the band play entire albums during their sets, like they did last year? Drummer Lars Ulrich was non-committal on the subject when speaking with Revolver.
When asked if the band would revisit any more albums in full like they did last year with 'Ride the Lightning' and the Black Album, Ulrich stated, "If I was a betting man, which I’m not, I would probably not put too much money on that. I think you’ve got to be careful that it doesn’t become something that people expect from you every year, especially when you only put records out every five years like we do. We’ll run out of records to play at some point pretty quick." However, Ulrich says he is aware of the 30th anniversary of 'Kill 'Em All' this year, but admits the band hasn't made the decision of whether or not to play it in full.
But while the idea of playing a full disc live is still up in the air, Ulrich says there really wasn't much debate about whether or not the Orion Music + More festival would return. He explains, "We had a great f---in' weekend, and it seemed like everybody else had a really fun weekend. I don't think it has to be much more intellectualized than that."
The drummer says that the first year was filled with memorable moments from getting to showcase his film tent to seeing such acts as The Arctic Monkeys, Avenged Sevenfold, and The Sword performing to getting to play their own sets, and he's just as excited about this year's event. He singled out such veteran acts as Red Hot Chili Peppers, Deftones, Death and Dillinger Escape Plan as 2013 performers he's anxious to see, and he also revealed his fandom of indie rockers Japandroids. "My 14-year-old has turned me on to Japandroids," says Ulrich. "I've heard some of their stuff, which is pretty amazing."
Ulrich also expressed his joy over the fact that the current incarnation of Black Flag, simply billed as FLAG, will be playing this year. "We actually saw them in New Jersey around '84 or '85," recalls the drummer of Black Flag. "That was a very special night, because up 'til now -- I'm not saying it won't happen again -- but up 'til now, that's the only time I've been hardcore punched." Ulrich revealed that he smarted off to one of the bouncers when they were asked to leave and in response he got punched in the stomach. He explains, "That the other thing I remember about that night other than seeing Black Flag."
To read Ulrich's full interview with Revolver about Orion and their upcoming appearance that the Revolver Golden Gods ceremony, click here.