Metallica Pick Of Destiny - Listener Story C1

Story Shared By Stephen Edmonson

All my life I wanted to see Metallica live.

Throughout high school they were my favorite “classic” metal band and despite the fact that most of my generation had forgotten what good music sounds like, I always thought of them as rock poets. Well, last May it finally happened!

At the tail end of a three day festival filled with strangers handing out Gentlemen Jack, rainstorms, vertical crowd surfing, bold women, and starting mosh pits… Metallica finally hit the stage! I was determined to reach the front for this one. I have this technique where I pretend to fall over and when I stand up I am closer to the stage. So needless to say, I got there…but I underestimated the other fans. This was the tightest crunch I have ever experienced…like sardines have it cozy compared to this.

I was rockin out the best I could but my arms were locked in place so it was basically just my wrist swinging my hand back and forth! At one point I actually passed out from all the heat and exhaustion. Luckily I was still standing there when I recovered but I still don’t know what song I missed… Anyways, they finally reached the big finale with “Enter Sandman.” At one point, Hetfield actually stopped and the camera zoomed in on him holding a pick…it had the venue, date, and Metallica logo. It was entirely badass and I had to have it.

Miraculously, when he went to toss this pick into the crowd, I was standing in the perfect spot. Well…almost perfect. Probably 10 people jumped for it but it was really dark. I saw it hit the ground in front of me and they all assumed somebody had caught it! Except for the guy right in my way. In the strangest moment of animal instinct, and entirely against my character, the moment he reached down to snatch it I lifted my exhausted leg and kicked his ass over!

I grabbed the pick and scurried off into the crowd with my newfound treasure, which stays in my safe as my most prized possession! As a man who has never punched or kicked a stranger, I will always remember the night a Metallica pick brought out the beast in me!

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