Random Metallica setlists were a challenge for Rob Trujillo to handle in his early days with the band.
In a recent conversation with 107.7 The Bone’s Nikki Blakk, the bassist recalled his first shows with Metallica and revealed who is in charge of the band’s setlists:
“What I remember most about that in 2003 was not knowing what the setlist was gonna be each night. It was like really sort of loose. And I don’t know if that was on purpose or we were so overwhelmed or Lars, who is in charge of putting together the setlist, was so overwhelmed, he couldn’t tell me exactly what we were gonna play.”
He Didn’t Have Much Time To Learn The Songs
Trujillo went on to talk about why he felt so under pressure at the time:
“So I was learning songs like ‘Phantom Lord’ on the spot. And they hadn’t played ‘Phantom Lord’ in a very long time. So there was just all this energy around me and my head was sort of swimming with the pressure of the show, the pressure of being the new bass player, but also the pressure of having to put together a song earlier in the afternoon the day that we would be playing it.”
What It Was Like To Audition For Metallica?
The rocker officially joined Metallica in 2003, after Jason Newsted left two years earlier. He got a million-dollar advance when he joined the band. Last year, Rob reflected on his audition for Metallica, explaining:
“And then, going back to my audition, we were leaving the parking lot, and Lars stopped me and went, ‘Hey, do you want to go get a drink?’ It was about 11 o’clock at night because basically, you would go to the studio and you’d hang out from 11:00 a.m. to 11 at night; you’re just a fly on the wall. It was really weird. So, then, all of a sudden, he’s like, ‘Let’s go get a drink,’ I said, ‘Okay,’ and I swear we drank until 5 in the morning. And I think that was him seeing how I could handle my booze at that time and that I didn’t go crazy or try to kill anybody.”
Trujillo had met Metallica members earlier when Suicidal Tendencies toured with them in 1993 and 1994. The band opened for Metallica in both Europe and the United States.
You can watch the rest of his latest chat below.