In the late afternoon of August 5th, a queue of at least 200 fans wrapped around the corner of E. 23rd Street and Lexington Avenue in the Gramercy neighborhood of Manhattan, hours before doors opened to the event billed as a “Metallica Weekend Takeover” event. On each Saturday between Metallica’s ‘no repeat’ weekend shows on their M72 tour of North America, the hosting city is holding “takeover” events involving film festivals, pop-up stores, long-time Metallica photographer Ross Halfin book signings, sponsored charity opportunities and of course, live music.
As Metallica’s tour kicked off just across the Hudson River at MetLife Stadium on Friday, Gramercy Theatre welcomed co-headliners OTTTO (a Venice, CA heavy metal trio featuring bassist Tye Trujillo, the son of Metallica’s Robert Trujillo) and Bastardane (featuring Castor Hetfield on drums, son of Metallica front-man James Hetfield) to their intimate, 86-year old venue.
Fans of Neftflix’s wildly popular Stranger Things are no stranger (no pun intended) to then 17-year old Tye Trujillo. A musical prodigy, he contributed newly recorded guitar parts (the intro and solo) for the Season 4 finale which saw Eddie Munson battle the evil Vecna and his Demobats by shredding Metallica’s “Master of Puppets” in the Upside Down.
With their proud papas in attendance, the festivities kicked off promptly at 8:00 pm with OTTTO’s Bryan Noah Ferretti (vocals/guitar) and Patrick “Triko” Chavez (drums) joining Tye on stage in support of their first full-length album “Life Is A Game”. Influenced by bands such as Alice in Chains and Red Hot Chili Peppers, OTTTO unleashed a 12-song, mosh pit-inducing set as Tye absolutely slayed on his low-end thunder.
OTTTO Setlist: Ride Low / Cosmos / Let Them Return / Night Howlers / Sorius / Ghost Rider / Scopa / The Void / Trip / Dance of the Dead / Rising Machines / Skyscraper
Promoting their independently released debut offering “Is This Rage?“, 22-year old Castor Hetfield and his Bastardane bandmates who formed in 2019 while attending college in Savannah, Georgia are comprised of Jacobius Lovebone (vocals) and Ethan Sirotzki (guitar). Taking the stage at 9:20 pm and accompanied by a touring bassist, Bastardane’s brand of entertainment melds high-gain guitar riffs and power chord grooves with heavy feedback and well-written lyrics. With Castor behind the kit, it won’t be long before these sludgy thrashers are ready to take their own seat upon the heavy metal throne.
Bastardane Setlist: Gaslight / Bass Breaks / Slow Decay / Revolt / Chum / Imposter / Praise No Bliss / Grand Slam / Masquerade / Above All
OTTTO/BASTARDANE TOUR DATES:
August 5 – New York, NY*
August 6 – Hartford, CT
August 8 – Boston, MA
August 9 – Portland, ME
August 11 – Quebec City, QC
August 12 – Montreal, QC*
August 13 – Toronto, ON
August 15 – Cincinnati, OH
August 16 – Nashville, TN
August 17 – Memphis, TN
August 19 – Dallas, TX*
August 20 – Lubbock, TX
August 22 – Colorado Springs, CO**
August 23 – Denver, CO**
August 26 – Los Angeles, CA*
August 27 – Bakersfield, CA
August 28 – San Diego, CA
August 30 – Sacramento, CA
August 31 – Fresno, CA
September 2 – Phoenix, AZ*
November 4 – St. Louis, MO*
November 11 – Detroit, MI *
* Metallica Weekend 2023 Takeover Performances
** Bastardane only