In a recent interview with the hosts of The Rush Hour on Australia’s Triple M radio, Mike Shinoda recalled the late Linkin Park frontman Chester Bennington’s last-second joke on Metallica. When asked if he had any outrageous backstage tales about Linkin Park, the rhythm guitarist said that they were fairly subdued. On the other hand, he related a joke they pulled on Metallica during their 2003 Summer Sanitarium tour with the aid of Tom Robb, the band’s security chief. Shinoda disclosed: Their head of security was a man who had previously worked for us. So we were familiar with him… Hellboy is his name. And we said, “Hey, Tom, a lot of times, people will pull practical jokes on each other at the end of tours.” Do you believe we could fool Metallica? He was also James Hetfield’s friend. Then he says, “Well, I don’t know whether you know this, but that has never been done.
However, I believe I can figure it out. So the guys of Linkin Park devised a strategy for Metallica’s final tour stop. Mike continued to describe the incident’s remaining details: So the next thing the Metallica members know, they’re in the middle of a song—I forget which one—but they are. We also brought a picnic basket, a blanket, and some small containers with us. They had a platform behind them, so Chester [Bennington] comes out with a skateboard, and we go up to the middle of it and start having a picnic on their stage with sandwiches and sodas. The musician explained Metallica’s response to their deed, saying: Chester is basically skating back and forth behind them while eating a sandwich while they perform ‘Ride The Lightning,’ [and] others are attempting to take them seriously. The band’s members, I believe Lars [Ulrich] completely lost the plot.
They were asking, “What the hell is going on?” It was fantastic. Later, Linkin Park and Metallica performed together onstage at various other events, including the Summer Sonic Festival in Japan in 2006, the Soundwave Music Festival in 2013, and the 2014 headlining performances at Rock am Ring and Rock im Park. His entire chat is available to view below.
