Metallica
with Skully & the Hypocrites, Red Hot Lovers
Stars
Friday, July 12, 2002

Jon Dunbar

"He's got speeches prepared for you," warns guitarist Patrick Palardi before Blair comes in.

First things first: these guys are no metal band; they play refreshingly raw punk rock & roll. They named themselves Metallica because Blair's religion won't let him flip you the finger. They know they can't call themselves Metallica, and that's exactly why they did. But Blair didn't show up for the interview looking to talk about the name; he wanted to dive right into what makes him tick spiritually.

"I play this music because it's spiritually uplifting. I feel a connection with the people at our shows, and I do it because I feel like that life is gonna end really soon," says Blair, who plays bass and sings. He comes close to sounding like a Jack Chick comic. "If I don't do it now then one of these guys might die soon. We may die in the car on the way home."

When he gets this feeling, there's no stopping him, even if there aren't any shows booked. U of A security opened a file on him when his band played a guerilla show inside the Students' Union Building during midterm week. "The time was right--we had to play during midterm week," he says.

Their drummer, Doc Malcolm, played his first Metallica show behind a 7-11 until the police chased them away. Doc explains the blitzes: "Showing up somewhere, setting up your gear, and playing for people who don't wanna hear you play."

Blair has two reasons for their guerilla rock attacks. "First, it's a spiritual thing--channeling energy and changing our lives. And second of all it's revenge. It's a means of getting revenge against the people who judge us."

"It's also a huge adrenaline rush," adds Doc.

"Rock and roll used to be exciting and dangerous," says Blair, "but what is it now, it's-"

"It's Bear rock," says Pat.

"It's boring," Blair says.

"Most times when you hear a CD and it's fucking crazy," says Pat, "and you see their show and they're just hanging out on stage."

Doc and Pat may be in it for the fun, but Blair has serious spiritual motivation, even if you may not hear it in songs like "Devil Child" and "The Chris Andrich." Born and raised Mormon, you'd expect him to hand out copies of the Bible rather than handbills, and he comes to all his shows dressed as a missionary.

The rest of Metallica are past these concerns. "At first it was a little awkward because I thought he was trying to recruit me," Pat admits.

"I still think he is," says Doc. "When I met him, he was in his boxer shorts. But he knew I was coming over."

But the only gospel Blair preaches is of rock & roll. And, with a high energy act which gets the audience involved, he's won many converts.

"If you can have such intense experience when you play, others can't help but feel it," says Pat, who's coming around to Blair's way of thinking.

"We came together as three," Blair says, "but we're creating more than three people can create."

Their next mission is to get a reaction out of Chris Andrich, a guy who goes to shows all the time, but never reacts to any of them. "We see him at shows, and no one can get a reaction out of him," says Blair.

He made a song and a dance after Andrich, called 'The Chris Andrich' in order to get a reaction from him. "If that can't get a reaction out of Chris Andrich," says Blair, "nothing can."

"We're trying to help him," says Pat.

"Maybe he'll say he doesn't want it," says Blair, "but the true Chris Andrich wants to get out."

The band had a slow start due to poor reception from city promoters, mainly over their lawsuit-fodder name. They got a chance from Cory at Fox & Hounds, and slowly built their way up. They were recently featured in Sheri Barclay's local "That's What I Call Hits" 'zine, and hopefully the bad times are over.

"I'd rather have bad times than no times at all," Blair says.

Says Doc, "I'd rather have my music shut down rather than never play at all."

"Hopefully our performance can motivate others to live their dreams and goals," says Blair. "The time is right now to go for your dreams, because there's not much time in the grand scheme of things."

If you have a chance, come see Metallica and find out why they need a 50-foot bass cord. Leave your shame at the door.