Jason Newsted was on a recent podcast and talked about a night in Canada where a concert goer was trying to injure James Hetfield.

In the 80’s Metallica played a show at an arena in Canada.

Because the show took place in a more rural area, they hadn’t sold it out, so the venue hung a curtain and pushed the stage closer to the seats. That meant the fans in the seats on the upper level were practically right above the stage.

“We’re playing a few songs and all of a sudden [points down], it’s a dart. I look over at James [Hetfield] and... another one. I go, ‘Dude,’ the no-words communication thing," Newsted recalled.He said a few other darts flew past him and the rest of the band, one of which almost hit Hetfield’s soft-top shoe.

“So he stops it, [that was] maybe the fourth time I remember that we ever stopped a show and it was usually for something like this. When we saw too much blood or too much this or somebody’s arm getting pulled out, we’d stop the show for a second,” he continued.

The frontman picked up one of the darts, held it up and shouted, “What the f*$k!”

The venue security guards and some fans shined lights and lasers on the perpetrator and some members of the crowd jumped on him. The sheriffs ended up escorting the individual out of the show and Newsted praised the crowd for their “self-policing nature.”

“Anyway, stuff does get thrown on the stage for sure,” he concluded.

Axel Lowe