Metallica Kicks the Volcano's Ash!

Metal band suffers through extremely long rides by bus and boat and are forced to recall a painful tragedy

By Breanne L. Heldman Apr 21, 2010 3:55 PMTags
MetallicaNancy Kaszerman/ZumaPress.com

Metallica's not going to let a little volcano stop 'em.

The heavy metal kings refused to divert from their European tour schedule in light of the ash cloud caused by Eyjafjallajökull. Instead, they spent extra-long hours traveling by bus and boat—taking 28 hours to travel what would have been a two-hour plane ride from Oslo to the Latvian capital of Riga—and were forced to relive some painful memories.

"I just could not relax, thinking, 'Wow, those buses have changed a lot since we traveled,'" lead guitarist Kirk Hammett told reporters in Vilnius, Lithuania. "They are so much more comfortable. You see, we did not use this means of transportation for more than two decades since the tragedy."

The "tragedy" to which he refers is the September 1986 bus accident in Sweden that killed bassist Cliff Burton.

The band is scheduled to leave Lithuania for Moscow tomorrow and will likely be making the 13-hour journey by train. How they'll all return to the U.S. after that remains a mystery.

"It would take a really great force to stop us," Hammett said. "But we'll figure it out somehow."

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