VH1: Last year, Lars Ulrich and Kirk Hammett turned up to EchoBrain’s first gig in San Francisco to give their seal of approval. The blood still runs pretty thick. Newsted will always be a business partner in Metallica, so he’ll see the others across a boardroom table. But what would he say if the trio asked him to play bass with them again?
NEWSTED: “No problem. More than half of my adult life has been completely dedicated to Metallica. Nothing comes before it. But it would have to be James inviting me to his house to hang with the kids or coming to my house to jam and looking me in the eyes and saying, ‘I’ve got some songs. I’d like you to play bass on them for Metallica.’ I’d be there in a second.”