Metallica's Next Stop: Philadelphia Parking Lot

Hard-rock band will play for free in front of CoreStates Arena

By Daniel Frankel Nov 05, 1997 2:30 AMTags
It was like a big stadium rock show, where the lead singer urges the crowd to yell as loud as it can and tosses T-shirts and illicit contraband at the section that screams loudest. Metallica was turned down by several cities because of permit problems and other restrictions when it wanted to play a free show in support of their upcoming album, Reload. So, they appealed to their fans with an 800 number and an e-mail address.

The request was simple: If you know a good place for the 16-year-old metalheads to play, call 'em up. More than 120,000 fans flooded the phone lines, from Boston to Chicago to Detroit to Killeen, Texas. But Philadelphia screamed loudest. Metallica will play for free November 11 in the parking lot of the CoreStates Arena.

The Grammy-winning rockers had become a bit frustrated in their attempts to find a venue. "We've been turned down by some of the finest municipalities in the country in our requests to play public parks, stadiums, abandoned air force and naval bases, airports and parking lots," drummer Lars Ulrich said.

But it all worked out, and by Tuesday, the band was demonstrably pleased. "The response was incredible," said Ulrich. "The whole reason we wanted to do the concert in the first place was to thank our fans for always coming through."

Frontman James Hetfield was a bit more curt: "Fuck red tape We asked our fans to find us a place to play, and they came through. There's no better place to play millions of decibels than the Hard-CoreStates Arena."

Elektra Records will release more details about the show, including ticket information, next week.