Volcanoes Can’t Stop Metallica

Metallica refused to let an Icelandic volcano get in the way of its European tour.

Faced with the cancellation of their two-hour flight from Oslo, Norway, to the Latvian capital of Riga, the band embarked on a boat and road trip that took 28 hours.

Metallica made it in time to play its show at Latvia’s Riga Arena April 17.

Apart from the punishing schedule, the journey will have brought back sad memories of a previous Nordic bus ride in 1986, when the band’s bus skidded out of control and flipped several times near Dorarp, Sweden. The band’s bass player, Cliff Burton, died in the accident.

“When we boarded the bus again this week and had to travel overnight, I realized that those bad memories are still here. I still haven’t overcome the fear of buses. But the show must go on,” lead guitarist Kirk Hammett said, after the band had moved on – via Tallinn Saku Suurhal in Estonia (April 18) – to wrap the Baltic run with two Lithuanian in the Siemens Arena in Vilnius April 20-21.

Hammett said it’s been more than 20 years since the band had traveled by bus.

“I just could not relax, thinking, ‘Wow, those buses have changed a lot since we traveled.’ They are so much more comfortable.”