The guest lineups for Metallica's first two 30th anniversary shows should have many of us slapping our foreheads for not being a member of Met Club and not being in San Francisco right now.
The second show of Metallica's San Fran residency not only saw the band perform "To Live Is To Die" for the first time ever, but again featured a myriad for friends and guest performers.
Marrianne Faithful was on hand to reprise her vocal performance on "The Memory Remains," and Lou Reed showed up to play "The View," "Iced Honey" and "White Light/White Heat" with his new bandmates.
Perhaps most exciting was a near-reunion for Mercyful Fate when Metallica were joined by King Diamond, Hank Shermann, Michael Denner and Timi Hansen for a Mercyful Fate medley. Also present was Sweet Savage bassist/vocalist Ray Haller who added a classic touch to "Killing Time."
Friend of the band and fellow Bob Seger fan Kid Rock made a guest appearance on a rare live performance of "Turn the Page."
Jason Newsted made another appearance last night, taking bass duties on "Creeping Death" and "Battery."
Armored Saint/ex-Anthrax vocalist John Bush -- who legend has it was approached by Lars Ulrich to sing is his new band back in 1981 -- contributed vocals to "The Four Horsemen" before again joining the band on the encore, "Seek and Destroy," which also featured his former bandmate Scott Ian, Armored saint members Joey Vera and Gonzo Sandoval, Jason Newsted. Ray Haller and the Soul Rebels.
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Josh Hart is a former web producer and staff writer for Guitar World and Guitar Aficionado magazines (2010–2012). He has since pursued writing fiction under various pseudonyms while exploring the technical underpinnings of journalism, now serving as a senior software engineer for The Seattle Times.
