ABC/Randy Holmes
Metallica‘s show in Milan, Italy Wednesday featured an extra special guest: a whole lot of rain. The wet conditions led to a briefly scary moment when guitarist Kirk Hammett slipped and fell on stage during a guitar solo.
During a performance of the Hardwired…to Self-Destruct song “Moth into Flame,” Hammett was jamming the solo while operating his signature wah-wah pedal. Thanks to the rain, the pedal had become more slippery, and when he went to stomp on it, he lost his footing and fell backwards. Luckily, Hammett recovered quickly, and got back on his feet while smiling.
Hammett himself posted footage of the slip on his Twitter. “I slipped on my wet wah pedal,” he wrote. “It rained so much I felt like I was playing guitar in the shower.”
Ever the good sport, Hammett also shared a video capturing the fall in slow-motion.
At this point, falling on stage is nearly a Metallica tradition. Hammett took a tumble during a show in Sioux Falls, South Dakota last fall, while frontman James Hetfield hit the deck in Amsterdam in 2017.
Metallica’s current European tour continues Friday in Switzerland. The metal legends will be back in the U.S. in September to play two shows in San Francisco with the San Francisco Symphony to celebrate the 20th anniversary of their 1999 live album S&M.
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