Metallica fan returns to Montreal 20 years after belligerent interaction with drummer Lars Ulrich

Montrealers are banding together to see Metallica as they visit this weekend for two concerts at the Olympic Stadium Friday and Sunday.

It’s the latest on the heavy metal band’s M72 World Tour, named after their latest album, 72 Seasons, released this past April.

Each of the two shows will be unique, according to the Metallica website, with “two totally different set lists with two different bands opening the show each night.”

City of Montreal spokesperson Philippe Sabourin says at least 60,000 fans will attend each show at the Olympic Stadium.

Many of those seats will be filled by fans coming to Montreal from across the country — including Ryan Furlotte from Bridgewater, N.S., who drove all the way to Montreal.

“The energy that goes along with the music — it’s just awesome,” said Furlotte, in an interview with CBC Radio’s Let’s Go Thursday afternoon.

‘My blood was filled with heavy metal’

Furlotte’s history with the band goes back years. He was in Grade 6 when he first heard their music, leading him to pick up guitar to play their songs — something he continues to do today.

But his real moment with the band came when he won an opportunity to see Metallica at MusiquePlus, Quebec’s equivalent to MuchMusic, in July 2003 when Furlotte was 19.

“My life then was long hair, leather jackets,” he said. “My blood was filled with heavy metal.”

During a commercial break, the audience was asked what song they wanted to hear. Furlotte screamed out from the front row for Dyers Eve — one of Metallica’s most difficult songs to play, which they had never performed live at that point.

After the crowd pointed him out, drummer Lars Ulrich came down to confront him.

“He’s like, ‘Can you play it?’ And he kind of poked me on the shoulder at the same time,” recalled Furlotte. “I was generally, like, a shy person, and I don’t know what clicked inside me. But I clapped back at him pretty quick and I said, ‘Yeah, give me a guitar and I’ll show you how.'”

There was some more back and forth between Furlotte and Ulrich as the drummer told the fan they’d play it once he could play the song on drums too, earning a laugh from the crowd. But Furlotte wasn’t done yet, and as Lars went back to stage, he yelled: “Hey Lars! Do you want me to sing it too?”

Full-circle moment

Despite his outburst, Furlotte still got an autograph from Ulrich at the end of the show. He thought the story ended there, but a few months later Metallica would play Dyers Eve live for the first time in Los Angeles in March 2004.

Then, later that year, he got an email from a Metallica superfan who had secured an opportunity to meet the band in Edmonton. In the email, the fan asked Ulrich why they finally decided to play the song live. According to a Facebook post from Furlotte, Ulrich reportedly responded, “Because of this one f–king kid in Montreal.”

Furlotte believes that kid was him. And now back in Montreal to see the band for his 40th birthday, Furlotte wants a chance to apologize to Ulrich — and ask if it’s true that Metallica was driven to play the song because of him.

“Looking back on it now, I’d probably apologize for the way I reacted,” he said. “I called out this guy’s integrity. He’s the drummer of the best metal band in the world.”

“I’d love to write the perfect ending to this story and have the journey come full circle.”