Metallica will release a document of last year's S&M2 concerts, in which the band performed alongside the San Francisco Symphony, as a box set this August.
Drummer Lars Ulrich announced the release Wednesday night (June 10th) on Jimmy Kimmel Live! when he surprised Long Island nurse and Metallica fan Tracy Bednar during the host’s #HealthCareHero segment. Bednar told the host that she unwinds from her stressful job, in which she treats children who have COVID-19, by listening to Metallica loudly on the radio.
Bednar was visibly shocked and delighted to see Ulrich, who promised her the first signed copy of the S&M2 set. The drummer also invited Bednar out to the next Metallica concert in her area, whenever that is, saying, “I look forward to meeting you and thanking you in person for everything that you do.”
Last September, Metallica performed two nights with the San Francisco Symphony, revisiting songs they’d recorded with that ensemble 20 years earlier for their original S&M release and working up new arrangements for a variety of other songs.
Ulrich told us that doing things like the orchestral shows keep the band energized and engaged when they are not recording new music: “We certainly never want to turn into a nostalgia band, but at the same time, you've got to keep yourself, I guess, creatively alive and that's what we do by playing these gigs and doing all these other projects and doing movies and festivals. I mean, it's just, all that stuff's a lot of fun, but it takes a lot of time, you know.”