On June 6, METALLICA's James Hetfield and Kirk Hammett played the American national anthem on to kick off the X Games in Austin, Texas. Check out video footage of the performance below. As previously reported, METALLICA has joined forces with ESPN and Circuit Of The Americas to assist the victims of the recent floods in Texas by donating all money raised from the sale of downloads of the band's show at the X Games to the American Red Cross of Central Texas. All formats of the download, including the high definition versions, are being offered at LiveMetallica.com for the very deeply discounted price of $5.00 each through July 15. Click here to order the show. METALLICA performed at the 2015 X-Games, which is taking place between June 4 and June 7 in Austin, Texas. METALLICA headlined on June 6. Other artists playing at the extreme sports showcase include Nicki Minaj, Talib Kweli, Kid Ink, PENNYWISE, JOYWAVE and more. Hetfield told skateboarding legend Tony Hawk in a previously released clip: "It only makes sense that people who grew up on METALLICA are wanting to continue to skate and do the cool things that they do." Hetfield continued, "We're pretty jazzed. We're excited to get there and X-Games has been going on for a while; it's about time! The music does something to you. When athletes are already really good and the music takes them to another place, you can't explain that." Bassist Robert Trujillo added, "It always seemed like the skaters and the surfers were really connected to the music of METALLICA
There's a connection to those type of people. It's similar energy. You see at these events they're playing a lot of hard rock metal and punk rock." Despite insisting that work has been proceeding on a new album, METALLICA has spent a lot of time outside the studio in the last year, with activities that included a string of European all-request shows last summer, a week-long residency on "The Late Show With Craig Ferguson", and the Rock In Rio stint. More festival dates are on the schedule for this summer, including two shows in Montreal and a headlining slot at Lollapalooza in Chicago at the end of July.
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