James Hetfield’s Pre-Tour Anxiety: “It’s Just Me and a Rubber Guitar”

James Hetfield of Metallica has his own brand of anxiety dreams, where his worst-case scenarios aren’t about showing up to class unprepared. No, they involve his bandmates vanishing, his guitar turning into rubber, and feeling like he’s the only one taking things seriously while everyone else is in party mode backstage.

During an interview on The Metallica Report podcast, Hetfield opened up about his pre-tour jitters, explaining how every tour brings a surge of these odd nightmares. Reflecting on them, he shared, “It’s like I’m at the gig, and nobody cares except me. I look around, and people are goofing off, or there’s this flood of people backstage. I’m hunting for my stuff, wondering, ‘Where’s my setlist? What songs are we playing?’” His tone sharpens as he describes the mayhem, “Then, of course, my guitar neck feels like rubber, only two strings hanging off it, and the mic seems a mile away. My roadie? Missing in action, and I’m practically tangled in cords.”

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James Hetfield isn’t just the growling frontman. He used to dabble in sketching and whipped up some early Metallica logos himself. Who knew he had an artsy side?

But despite the surreal scenarios, Hetfield takes it all in stride. “These things have to happen,” he says with a knowing laugh. “But it’s no reason to lose it. You practice, and that muscle memory kicks in fast.”

Right now, Metallica is on their M72 tour, an intense round-the-world trek with an ambitious twist—two dates in each city, playing completely different sets both nights. This setup ensures that die-hard fans get fresh music each night. Every show unfolds in massive stadiums with the band performing in the round at the center, placing them right in the middle of the crowd. And even for a veteran like Hetfield, such a format ramped up his anxiety. Speaking about it, he admitted, “The anxiety at the start of this tour was through the roof. I mean, how are we supposed to cover this giant stage? My ego wasn’t helping either, whispering things like, ‘Oh, the other guys don’t have to sing or dash across the stage. They’re not dealing with my pressures…’”

In a grounded moment, Hetfield talks about finding comfort in his bandmates. “Once I shared it with them,” he says, “they were like, ‘Yeah, but I’m dealing with this, and that.’ And suddenly, I didn’t feel so alone. It’s like, ‘Alright, I’ll take my issues back [laughs].’ We’re all in this together. We know the physical demands, we know what shape we need to be in.” And now? “We’ve tamed the stage; we know the drill. So now, it’s just pure fun,” Hetfield remarks, sounding every bit the rock veteran who’s faced down his demons and come out the other side.