Metallica closed out its visit to Mexico on Sunday (Sept. 29) with a final tribute to the country. Bassist Robert Trujillo and guitarist Kirk Hammett once again surprised the crowd who gathered at the GNP Seguros Stadium (formerly known as Foro Sol) with a performance of another classic from the Mexican popular songbook: “Los Luchadores” by the legendary tropical music group La Sonora Santanera.
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“El Santo, el Cavernario, Blue Demon y el Bulldog,” sang Trujillo, who is of Mexican origin, while Hammett delighted the 65,000 fans gathered at the venue with his challenging riffs, according to figures provided by the promoter OCESA.
With the band’s unique interpretation of La Sonora Santanera’s classic song, the quartet ended a series of performances in Mexico City that marked its return to the country after a seven-year absence. In total, Metallica gathered 260,000 attendees during four sold-out shows, according to OCESA.
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The legendary Californian metal band, also made up of vocalist and guitarist James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich, visited Mexico as part of its M72 World Tour. The group promoted its four dates —Sept. 20, 22, 27 and 29 — with photos of guitar picks with drawings of Mexican pop culture such as the iconic wrestler “El Santo” and a colorful piñata.
Each show included a song in Spanish by a Mexican act, all performed by Trujillo accompanied by Hammett. On Friday (Sept. 27), the band played its own version of the Mexican group El Tri’s classic “A.D.O.” The gesture was reciprocated hours later by the Mexican band’s frontman, veteran rocker Alex Lora, in a video posted on social media.
“Thank you, Metallica, for making my classic A.D.O. yours! Thank you, Trujillo! Thank you, Hammett! And long live rock n’ roll!” Lora said in a video on Instagram, in which he also played the first few verses of his celebrated song.
Previously, during the band’s first night on Sept. 20, Metallica paid tribute to the norteño music group Los Tucanes de Tijuana by playing “La Chona.” Two days later, the rockers paid tribute to rock group Caifanes with their cumbia-themed hit “La Negra Tomasa.”
Metallica’s history with Mexico began three decades ago while promoting its Black Album (1991), when they performed five shows at the Palacio de los Deportes in 1993. Since then, the band has maintained a close relationship with the country, including recording the live DVD Orgullo, Pasión y Gloria (2009), which portrays three spectacular nights in June 2009 at the Foro Sol (now the GNP Seguros Stadium).