When Metallica performed their debut show at Virginia Tech’s Lane Stadium on Wednesday, the Richter scale was triggered by the enthusiastic response of the audience to “Enter Sandman,” which has served as the Hokies football team’s opening song for the past 50 years.
The sold-out audience’s reaction to the Black Album classic was measured by the Virginia Tech Seismological Observatory. James Hetfield, the singer, started the performance with the chant, “Hokies! Come on! Lars Ulrich’s drum beat caused the 60,000-person crowd to begin leaping up and down, and the movement was strong enough to produce a discernible spike on the seismograph that was comparable to a “small” but protracted earthquake:
The Hokies football team has used “Enter Sandman” as the theme song when they run onto their home field on game day for the past 25 years. According to Hokies Daily, even the fans’ response to the recorded version of the song has caused the seismograph to tremble, as was the case before crucial games against Miami in 2011 and Ohio State in 2021.
Similar to the football team, Metallica performed a taped version of “Enter Sandman” before ending the show with the song’s live rendition.
READ MORE: Metallica’s Kirk Hammett Believes He “Should Be A Lot Better” At Playing The Guitar
Luke Dalton, a junior at Virginia Tech, told ABC News 13 that he would prefer experience the band performing live than the games because the latter already get us excited. However, he said, “Hearing Metallica perform live in the stadium is awesome, man.”
A post shared by Virginia Tech (@virginia.tech)
In order to commemorate their current M72 Tour, Metallica met with Hokies football coach Brent Pry before to their first performance at Lane Stadium. Pry gave them the team’s jerseys with the numbers 25 (for the duration that “Enter Sandman” has been the opening song) and 72.
“Enter Sandman is where it all begins,” Pry told Hokies Daily. “In college football, there isn’t a better entrance.” Notably, the opening theme for Hall of Fame New York Yankees closer Mariano Rivera used to be “Enter Sandman.”
Step into the ultimate entertainment experience with Radiant TV! Movies, TV series, exclusive interviews, live events, music, and more—stream anytime, anywhere. Download now on various devices including iPhone, Android, smart TVs, Apple TV, Fire Stick, and more!
