The fifth annual Outside Lands descends upon San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park August 10-12, with Skrillex, Stevie Wonder, and Metallica topping the bill. The headliners have all been warming up this summer — Skrillex has been cruising around Canada, Wonder has stayed busy regaling Brits at June’s Diamond Jubilee, and Metallica even threw their own festival. But a show in NoCal is particularly significant for the metal legends. Originally from Los Angeles, the band relocated to the Bay Area in 1983 and has been more or less stationed there ever since. Drummer (and recent SPIN Inquisition victim) Lars Ulrich, who now lives in Marin County just north of San Francisco, would’ve talked a little more about what fans can expect out of the show (hint: the Snake Pit will continue its revival tour), on a press call yesterday, but mainly, he’d prefer to chat about his kids — who, he seems relieved, have moved past their Megadeth phase.
“I took my kids [to Outside Lands last year] to see Muse, Arctic Monkeys, Kings of Leon the year before that, I think it was the Black Eyed Peas… as a Bay Area resident, and as a music fan, Outside Lands is a huge thing for not only me but for my family,” he said, mentioning his crew is also digging Deep Purple and Black Sabbath these days. “If I’m not gonna play it, I’m gonna take my kids; it’s gonna be the concert highlight of the year [for them]. It works on all fronts.”
Over the next half hour, he brought up said kids — 21-year-old Sebastian (his stepson), 14-year-old Myles, 11-year-old Layne, and 5-year-old Bryce — at least three more times, explaining, “It’s always inspiring, you know, when your kids have all their friends there…you gotta make your kids look good.”
The Outside Lands gig comes amid a gigantic 2012 for Metallica, who have been celebrating their 30th anniversary as a band by playing the Black Album in full for the first time ever during a stint in Europe. After the San Fran fest, they’ll be filming their 3D movie in Vancouver and starting work on their follow-up to 2008’s Death Magnetic (or the follow-up to Lulu, if we’re feeling charitable).
Blame dad for this particular mortification, kid — here’s a clip of baby Myles Ulrich tearing apart a drum set all by himself:
https://youtube.com/watch?v=BEZMEOUgnmo
