Classic Rock recently republished a 2009 interview with Dee Snider, where the Twisted Sister vocalist talked about his first impressions of Metallica during their early years.
About his first meeting with the band, Snider told the outlet, “One of Metallica’s first major gigs was supporting Twisted Sister in a three-thousand-seater hall in New York. This was when they had Dave Mustaine and Cliff Burton in the line-up, and they were living in [Megaforce Records boss] Johnny Z’s basement.”
“Later, Metallica supported us on our ‘Stay Hungry’ tour,” he continued. “We got to a small town in Holland and were surprised to see a poster billing Metallica above us. I said to my tour manager: ‘Metallica are clearly the headliner. Go and tell them we’ll open for them tonight.’ My tour manager came back and told me: ‘They said no. They seem somewhat suspicious.’ Eventually I convinced Metallica that it wasn’t a trick, and that night I got to watch their show. I remember saying to someone: ‘These guys have got a lot of heart, but they’re never gonna go anywhere.’ So much for what I know! I thought Metallica were too heavy and there was no way society would ever catch up with that.”
Last year, Snider looked back on that decision to let Metallica close the show that night, writing on X that, based on the poster, it was clear the audience came to see Metallica instead of Twisted Sister. “On the upside, I got to join the band on stage for their ‘Metal up your a**’ chant,” he added.
Metallica released their first album, ‘Kill ’Em All,’ shortly before that tour. Four decades later, in early 2024, the band put out their eleventh studio album, ‘72 Seasons,’ via their own label, Blackened Recordings.
They now plan to start the 2025 leg of their M72 World Tour on April 19 in the United States.
