Nashville’s famous Lower Broadway is so popular that even stadium-headlining hard rockers can’t resist the boot-scootin’ bachelorette neon capital of the south.
Metallica headlined Music City’s Nissan Stadium on Thursday and Saturday last week – but Friday night, members had the night off. So, where did the “Enter Sandman” rockers spend their downtime? With Eric Church at his Lower Broadway bar, Chief’s.
Church, who released his Evangeline vs. The Machine on Friday, found time to surprise Chief’s patrons alongside Metallica’s guitarist Kirk Hammett and bass player Rob Trujillo.
Chief’s hosted SiriusXM Headbangers Happy Hour Friday night, celebrating Metallica’s two-night run at Nissan Stadium. Jose Mangin hosted the night in the Neon Steeple, and performers included Lzzy Hale and Joe Storm of Halestorm, Charlie Benante from Anthrax and Pantera, and more.
Videos by American Songwriter
Eric Church has Hard Rock History
But Church and the Metallica men weren’t on the roster. According to reports, the country singer gushed about loving Metallica as a child and said that choosing between Master of Puppets or The Black Album was a significant topic of conversation in those days. He chose Master of Puppets.
“We built this room to be, as you can tell by the windows, it’s a listening room,” he said. “There’s a lot of bars on Broadway, and they’re not this. That’s the reason we built this place. And I go back to, I’m a child of the ’80s. I was born in the 70s… It is an honor to bring two legends that meant a lot to me growing up to this stage.”
Then Hammett and Trujillo emerged.
The Chief’s crowd exploded in cheers.
Friday night isn’t the first time Church shared the spotlight with some hard rockers. He played Metallica’s Orion Music + More festival in 2012, took Halestorm on his Outsiders tour, and performed “That’s Damn Rock & Roll” with Lzzy Hale at the 2014 CMA Awards.
Hopefully, Hammett and Trujillo enjoyed themselves inside the multi-story bar on Friday night because they were performing in the rain at Nissan Stadium on Saturday night. At one point, fans were told to seek shelter from the downpour inside the stadium halls.
Evangeline vs. The Machine Track List
- Hands Of Time (Eric Church, Scooter Carusoe)
- Bleed On Paper (Tucker Beathard, Casey Beathard, Monty Criswell)
- Johnny (Eric Church, Luke Laird, Brett Warren)
- Storm In Their Blood (Eric Church)
- Darkest Hour (Eric Church)
- Evangeline (Eric Church, Luke Laird, Barry Dean)
- Rocket’s White Lincoln (Eric Church)
- Clap Hands (Tom Waits)
Free the Machine Tour
Sept. 12 || Pittsburgh, Penn. || PPG Paints Arena || Elle King
Sept. 13 || Columbus, Ohio || Nationwide Arena || Elle King
Sept. 18 || Philadelphia, Penn. || Wells Fargo Center || Elle King
Sept. 19 || Boston, Mass. || TD Garden || Elle King
Sept. 20 || Brooklyn, N.Y. || Barclays Center || Elle King
Sept. 25 || Green Bay, Wisc. || Resch Center || Marcus King Band
Sept. 26 || Milwaukee, Wisc. || Fiserv Forum || Marcus King Band
Sept. 27 || Des Moines, Iowa || Wells Fargo Arena || Marcus King Band
Oct. 2 || Detroit, Mich. || Little Caesars Arena || Marcus King Band
Oct. 3 || Lexington, Ky. || Rupp Arena || Marcus King Band
Oct. 9 || Indianapolis, Ind. || Gainbridge Fieldhouse || Marcus King Band
Oct. 10 || Grand Rapids, Mich. || Van Andel Arena || Marcus King Band
Oct. 11 || Cleveland, Ohio || Rocket Arena || Marcus King Band
Oct. 23 || Salt Lake City, Utah || Delta Center || Charles Wesley Godwin
Oct. 24 || Boise, Idaho || ExtraMile Arena || Charles Wesley Godwin
Oct. 25 || Spokane, Wash. || Spokane Arena || Charles Wesley Godwin
Nov. 6 || Vancouver, B.C. || Rogers Arena || Charles Wesley Godwin
Nov. 7 || Portland, Ore. || Moda Center || Charles Wesley Godwin
Nov. 8 || Seattle, Wash. || Climate Pledge Arena || Charles Wesley Godwin
Nov. 13 || Sacramento, Calif. || Golden 1 Center || Charles Wesley Godwin
Nov. 14 || Fresno, Calif. || SaveMart Center || Charles Wesley Godwin
Nov. 15 || Inglewood, Calif. || Intuit Dome || Charles Wesley Godwin
Paul A. Hebert/Shutterstock
Leave a Reply
Only members can comment. Become a member. Already a member? Log in.