Metallica’s James Hetfield + Kirk Hammett Play U.S. National Anthem at NBA Game
San Francisco's home town heroes Metallica were part of the opening moments of the Golden State Warriors vs. Los Angeles Lakers NBA game last night (March 15) as James Hetfield and Kirk Hammett teamed up to play the U.S. national anthem before tip-off.
The two Metallica guitarists were positioned in front of a black curtain and two amplifiers, each adorned with the band's logo at the top while one read "Strength in Numbers" and the other was emblazoned with the Warriors' Golden Gate Bridge logo.
As has been the case at numerous sporting events in the past where the guitarists played the "Star Spangled Banner," Hetfield assumed rhythm duties while Hammett took the lead and they, on occasion, harmonized parts with dramatic effect.
Watch Hetfield and Hammett play the national anthem toward the bottom of the page.
The Warriors went on to lose the basketball game to their conference rivals by a score of 128 to 97, which elevated the Lakers to a 26-13 record, while the Warriors dropped to an even 20-20.
For Metallica, it was another quick appearance in the national spotlight after having most recently performed the Master of Puppets opening track "Battery" on A Late Show With Stephen Colbert on the very same day that marked the 35th anniversary of the landmark album.
They had played "Enter Sandman" on a Super Bowl edition of the late night talk show host's program earlier this year as as well and also made an appearance at the BlizzCon video game convention, though the three-song set hit a snag when Twitch, in fear of infringing upon its own copyright regulations, overdubbed royalty-free 8-bit folk music over Metallica's trio of songs.
All performances were streamed and filmed at an off-site location.
Metallica Play the U.S. National Anthem Before Golden State Warriors NBA Game
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