METALLICA – Grammy ‘Mic Fail’ Was A Publicity Stunt?

For the past week since the epic microphone failure of METALLICA while performing with pop star Lady Gaga at the 2017 Grammy Awards, there’s been a ton of news stories that have hit the web about why it happened (‘the stagehand unplugged it!’) – and somehow drummer Lars Ulrich is able to turn a cheek and look at the situation more positively than we have even seen him handle anything else before.

“The one thing my phone blew up about was how awesome it was that Gaga and James were in each other’s face, singing into the same microphone, and the energy and the spectacle came across,” Ulrich told the Associated Press on Monday night. “Obviously James did not have an easy couple of minutes, but in some way I guess his anger and frustration translated to television.”

Did you say “translated to television”? Perhaps it was all nothing more than a really clever way to bring heat to the telecast that was not going to be their otherwise, right?

When James Hetfield began to sing the song “Moth Into Flame”, all 26 million of us watching witnessed one of the biggest gaffes in rock music history. But was is it really a mistake or a staged mishap designed to draw an even larger audience to the band after the fact? Think about it. The biggest metal band ever playing a live song for tens of millions watching it on their TV sets, many seeing the group for the very first time, and when all of those eyes were on them… they drop the ball? Hundreds of live shows under their belt and when it comes to the biggest one yet they fumble? Either it’s the biggest blunder or the most brilliant publicity stunt of them all. Let me point out how perfectly orchestrated this move was, if indeed it was all planned to happen ahead of time. Consider how Metallica is heading out on a 23-date North American stadium tour in May in support of their new album “Hardwired … To Self-Destruct”. It’s their first ‘real’ tour since 2009, and while the album has sold nearly 2 million copies since its release, a well executed PR stunt could help them sell another million units as well as increase concert ticket revenue.

“A minute before we started playing, when people were checking it, it worked,” drummer Lars Ulrich told The Associated Press on Monday night. “Somewhere in between there and when we began to sing, it stopped functioning.”

Sure it did, Lars. I believe that about as much as I believe in the Tooth Fairy, bro.

Guitarist and lead vocalist James Hetfield sang the first few verses of “Moth Into Flame” into a completely dead microphone. Nearby, Lady Gaga, totally unfazed by the technical mishap, is performing her vocals into a different mic, that did not have the same problem, which then allowed Hetfield to leave his mic and run over to miraculously save the gig and perform with Gaga the Great.

What it allowed, if you examine the situation more closely, was the opportunity for James, the tough looking metal icon, to share the vocals with the overrated diva in a more intimate way that Metallica fans don’t normally see the legendary act ever engage in.

Sure the people behind the Grammy awards say it was their fault and they have now made a public apology to the band, but anyone with half a brain in their head who follows this highly calculative act should clearly be suspect and look at this ‘mic fail’ as potentially something that was 100% planned to happen.

https://metallica.com/