Dave Wyndorf Interview About Metallica: “So many dudes on tour”
Monster Magnet frontman Dave Wyndorf talks about touring with Metallica. He shared this “There were so many dudes,” and he added what’s the feel like touring with the Metallica band.
A milestone hit that earned the band their first gold record. Phil Caivano, the band’s guitarist, joined in 1998.
The first single “Space Lord,” was a major radio hit, and the band went on tour alongside successful bands Aerosmith, Metallica, and Rob Zombie. The band also appeared as an opening act on the Beautiful Monsters Tour, which had been co-headlined with Hole and Marilyn Manson. After the well-publicized spat between Hole’s and Marilyn Manson’s outspoken vocalists, Monster Magnet kept touring with Manson and opened the first three concerts of his “Rock is Dead” tour. Rock radio stations played the songs “Powertrip,” “Temple of Your Dreams,” and “See You In Hell.” The album featured No. 97 on the Billboard 200 chart.
Dave Wyndorf revealed feeling about touring with Metallica in the late 1990s on a recent episode of the “Appetite for Distortion” podcast (transcribed by metalshout.com):
“We had been through Europe many, many times headlining before, so we’d do, like, maybe five hundred people. So we had done really, really well in Europe, going around. Our records were selling increasingly better and better. We had, like, two records on a major at that point. And we were looking for some sort of break.
You look for that break that you want. Metallica, really, they gave us a chance to. And it was really cool. The only thing that wasn’t cool about it was that there were so many dudes. We went through all of Eastern Europe, and we were, like, ‘Where are the girls?’ Because it was Metallica. And we were used to having a bunch of girls at the show. So that was the only hard part. It was just, like, what do you do after the show?”
Monster Magnet also released their cover album in May 2021 and said this:
“The album opens with “The Diamond Mine”, as Dave Wyndorf recites a classic monologue by Dave Diamond, an American radio DJ whose programs in the late 1960s and early 1970s helped popularize many psychedelic and acid rock bands. The real trip begins, as the opening chords of the Hawkwind classic “Born To Go” gear up for launch. Tracks like standout “Mr. Destroyer” (Poo-Bah) boast swaggering riffs and swirling vocals, spurring visions of some untold Freak revolution. Or perhaps dinosaurs battling on a burning planet at the end of time – creating a perfect blend of hard rock and psychedelia. Feverish “Motorcycle (Straight To Hell)” (Table Scraps) is the pure punk fury of the old school tradition, evoking a cross between Iggy Pop and Motörhead as Wyndorf wails “I’m gonna drive it straight to HELL!”
Falling even further down the mind-bending rabbit hole, Magnet offers their stunning, whirlwind take on the often-overlooked hard rock classic “Learning To Die” (Dust) and a masterful version of the Stooges meets Goth epic, “Solid Gold Hell” (The Scientists). The album closes with a nuclear cover of Morgen’s “Welcome To The Void”, inviting you to restart the ride again and again. Take a sonic journey to another time and space and experience what has made MONSTER MAGNET tick since day one with A Better Dystopia!”
He also talked about his bicycle accident, impending MM releases, and tour plans are all discussed. Dave also talks about Guns ‘N’ Roses, Metallica, and Kurt Cobain, answers your questions, and more. Watch and listen episode below!
