It’s pretty safe to say Metallica have received plenty of fan tributes and gifts over their illustrious 40-year career. Many of these are on display at Metallica HQ and were prominently shown in an interview between AC/DC’s Brian Johnson and Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich for Johnson’s “A Life on the Road” television series. But recently, Metallica got one of the odder tributes from a metal musician and visual artist from Tampa, Florida. The artist known as Price Midnight constructed a toilet designed to look like Ulrich (see below), and it recently found its way to the Ripley’s Believe It Or Not! museum in Ulrich’s native country of Denmark.
Some thought the toilet was an insult to Ulrich, but Prince Midnight insists that is “absolutely not the case. This toilet was built by a Metallica super fan,” he told the Tampa Bay Times. “They wrote the first songs that meant something to me.” Prince Midnight said he chose to depict Ulrich in toilet form because Lars “as the drummer, is usually depicted sitting. I could have done a urinal with (frontman) James [Hetfield), but that’s not where the creative spirit was leading me.”
“I could have painted a picture or made a traditional sculpture, but no one would have even noticed, and really, that’s not the kind of art and performance I do,” he said. “The first band I ever loved was Metallica. I even went to see them a couple years ago with Lamb of God, so the passion hasn’t waned.”
Metallica bassist Robert Trujillo commented on the toilet saying “Oh my god! You’re kidding. This is incredible, how come I didn’t see this? This is a work of art. I want one. Where can I buy em?… I’m sure [Lars will] hear about this when I see him.” Metallica recently played their first show of the year at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas and also announced two stadium shows for Aug. 11 in Buffalo, New York, and Aug. 14 in Pittsburgh, Pa. Both shows will be opened bye Greta Van Fleet and Ice Nine Kills. The band has already released a video for “Battery” from their Las Vegas performance.
