Metallica have now made their mark on every continent on earth. The band traveled way down south to the Antarctic this weekend to play a show they’re calling “Freeze ‘Em All” near the heliport of the Argentine Antarctic Base Carlini.
The band played inside a small dome on Sunday for an audience of 120 people, Billboard reports. The tiny crowd included scientists from around the world, as well as the winners of a contest sponsored by Coca-Cola Zero for fans in Latin America. In order to meet international Antarctic protocol to preserve the fragile local environment, Metallica played the whole show with no amplification. The sound was instead transmitted to the audience through headphones. The show was also live-streamed and filmed for later release.
“This was the most unique show Metallica has ever done,” the band wrote on its Facebook page. “The band, contest winners, research station scientists (from Russia, South Korea, China, Poland, Chile, Brazil and Germany), and the ship crew, all crammed in this little dome out on the helipad of Carlini Station in ANTARCTICA! The energy in the little dome was amazing! Words can not describe how happy everyone was.”
Sunday’s 10-song, hour-long show seals Metallica’s status as the first band ever to play on all seven continents. According to Pollstar, the first (and last) rock concert to take place on Antarctica before this happened in 2007, when members of a science team formed an indie-rock quintet called Nunatak to play a show for Live Earth.
2. “For Whom the Bell Tolls”
FastWalkingShortGuy on December 22nd, 2019 at 19:40 UTC »
Also the only band to have performed a concert both below the Antarctic circle (this show) and above the Arctic circle (they performed a show in Tuktoyaktuk, NWT in 1995).
bucko_fazoo on December 22nd, 2019 at 19:29 UTC »
You make it sound like an acoustic set but it's more like silent disco. So that was an interesting surprise.
CoatgunT on December 22nd, 2019 at 19:27 UTC »
Yet they still can't play Trapped Under Ice