Metallica hang out with the tribute band they almost sued

A picture of Metallica and tribute band Sandman backstage in Toronto
Metallica meet Sandman in Toronto

At their recent gig in Toronto, Metallica hung out backstage with the tribute band their legal team nearly sued.

Earlier this year, Metallica’s lawyers sent a cease and desist letter to Canadian band Sandman, ordering them to stop using Metallica’s name, font or logos to advertise their shows.

But when Lars Ulrich and co got wind of the letter, they stepped in and gave Sandman the licence to use their name and logo for a nominal fee of $1. And when the thrash giants played at Toronto’s Opera House this week, they met the members of Sandman backstage.

They have since posted a picture of the two bands together on Instagram, with the caption: “Hanging with Sandman, Canadian tribute band.”

Also while in Toronto, Metallica announced they would donate proceeds from the gig to the city’s Daily Bread organisation.

Meanwhile, the band have released a behind-the-scenes look at the photoshoot for the cover of their new album Hardwired… To Self-Destruct. The album’s cover art “confuses” the band, they said in a recent interview.

It features an eye-catching collage of all the individual members’ faces. The video can be viewed below.

Metallica have a number of tour dates lined up, with more expected to be announced in due course.

A photo posted by on

Metallica tour dates 2016-17 so far

Dec 17: Oakland Fox Theater, CA
Jan 11: Seoul Gocheok Sky Dome, South Korea
Jan 18: Beijing Le Sports Centre, China
Jan 20: Hong Kong AsiaWorld-Expo, China
Jan 22: Singapore Indoor Stadium, Singapore
Feb 03: Copenhagen Royal Arena, Denmark
Feb 05: Copenhagen Royal Arena, Denmark
Feb 07: Copenhagen Royal Arena, Denmark
Feb 09: Copenhagen Royal Arena, Denmark
Mar 25-26: Sao Paulo Interlagos Racetrack, Brazil
Mar 31-Apr 01: Buenos Aires Hippodrome San Isidro, Argentina
Apr 01-02: Santiago Parque O’Higgins, Chile

Metallica bill tribute band... for $1

Stef wrote close to 5,000 stories during his time as assistant online news editor and later as online news editor between 2014-2016. An accomplished reporter and journalist, Stef has written extensively for a number of UK newspapers and also played bass with UK rock favourites Logan. His favourite bands are Pixies and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. Stef left the world of rock'n'roll news behind when he moved to his beloved Canada in 2016, but he started on his next 5000 stories in 2022.