While the famous heavy metal band from California, Metallica, is enjoying its 24-show residency at the Las Vegas Sphere, the Oakland native band gave a special shoutout to Angel Stadium.
During the band’s performance of “Wherever I May Roam,” the band paid tribute to Angel Stadium by featuring “The Big A” on the Sphere’s enormous video screen.
At a distance of over 250 miles from Las Vegas and Angel Stadium, the video screen featured a train steaming through Anaheim, passing right underneath “The Big A” with Angel Stadium appearing on the left.
Right above the stadium’s name on the iconic landmark to the stadium was a bold Metallica billboard decorated in the middle.
It’s unknown why Metallica decided to feature Angel Stadium — especially since it originated in Oakland and played in the next state over.
On top of that, the band has never played a live show at Angel Stadium, despite playing multiple small clubs near Anaheim in 1982.
But one thing is for certain.
The band has resonated with Angels fans for nearly two decades.
For most of the 2000s, “Enter Sandman” would echo off the speakers at Angel Stadium during the team’s pregame introductions.
The song was played off the speakers in the stadium, just after “Calling All Angels” by the band Train opened the festivities, and it was followed by “Spirit in the Sky” by famous singer-songwriter Norman Greenbaum.
At some point in the mid-2010s, “Enter Sandman” was removed from the pregame entirely, while the other two songs are still regularly played.
For the Angels now, the franchise is undergoing a complete makeover, after longtime owner Arte Moreno sold a majority stake to Rams owner Stan Kroenke and his ownership group, Kroenke Sports & Entertainment, last month at a record-breaking $4 billion.
Moreno owned the team for 23 years, and his ownership was defined by two halves.
The first half featured a lot of winning.
The second half, not so much.
The Angels have the longest active-playoff drought in baseball. They missed the postseason for the 12th season in a row and finished below .500 for the 11th time in a row.
The lack of winning encouraged fans to regularly chant “Sell the team” during games this past season, with the result of it happening in their favor.
While the sale isn’t expected to be finalized until the end of the first quarter next year, Kroenke’s team will be tasked with fixing the Angels.
Perhaps finding a way to incorporate Metallica would be a nice touch.
