Mission to Lars

In addition to being a Marketing and Creative wizard, my fandom for the band Metallica is no secret. I’ve been a collector, attendee, contributor and fan for 30 years now and had the good fortune to cross paths with a few of the band members over the years but somehow, Lars Ulrich had eluded me. Who knew that one question - ”Can I help you?” - would lead to one of the most unbelievable days of my life.

Sometimes a question is the answer

Over the past few years, I have noticed one of the keys to a successful life is questions. Just ask questions. Asking questions can open so many doors. Are you hiring? How are you? Do you have any more Furby’s in the back? Can you help me with this for a quick second? Are you single? Is this game really sold out? Can I help you?

All of those questions, while simple on the surface, led to good fortune in my life but none more so than “Can I help you?”. Ok, i’d argue that “are you single” ultimately lead to my marriage so that’s in the #1 slot but the runner up, and the catalyst for my mission to Lars, was “Can I help You?”

marketing as a gateway to lars

My mission to Lars started with a simple “Can I help you?” A well established professional showed up on a popular social networking site looking to generate attention (aka Marketing) for her non-profit but from what I observed, she didn’t know where to begin or end for this project. I reached out to her via DM and offered my help. I didn’t want anything in return, I just wanted to set her up to do things correctly.

This led to a few phone calls which led to the revelation that somehow she was EXTREMELY tight with my favorite band, Metallica. And particularly Lars (!!). What in the heck hell are the odds that this particular person I reached out to had a deep connection with my favorite band?

She told me some great stories from back in the day and asked if I had any concerts on the calendar. I told her that I would be seeing the band in Athens, May of 2026. She requested I touch base with her as it gets closer and she will see what I can do.

I’ll See What I Can Do

Fast forward a few months and I check in with her just so see how things are going. She remembered my trip and proceeded to work some magic. That magic being a text message directly to Lars himself. A text message about me. I admit that at my advanced age, I was probably a little too excited by that but it is what it is.

The excitement increased by a factor of ten when I woke up a few days later to a screenshot of a text from Lars about me. He agreed to meet me after the show. Woah.

A band liaison reached out a few hours later to grab names for the guest list and this was all because I asked: “Can I help you?”

At this point, not only am I excited to be traveling to Athens to see my favorite band with my wife Lauren, a pinch me moment in itself, but I also have a meeting with Lars scheduled for after the show. Not on Zoom, not on Teams, not on Google Meet. In person, in the flesh, in Greece. Woah.

Showtime

The day of the show arrives and I am instructed to go to the box office to pick up my VIP passes and Snake Pit bands (don’t ask). I met up with my North America Metallica crew (Shoutout to Brad, Christos, Namarta and Harry) and we made our way inside up to the Black Box lounge access that came with our seats.

What is the Black Box lounge? It’s equal parts museum, open bar, banquet, interactive exhibit and experiential marketing project. You can actually play the band’s instruments, as well as take photos against album inspired backdrops or in an electric chair. Not only does this excite fans, it also encourages them to spend more money for this in-person experience - hence it being the ultimate experiential marketing activation.

Tucked away around a back corner was the Friends and Family VIP lounge where we were able to spend some time. After socializing and sipping cocktails in there, we made our way down to the seats for an incredible show. The Greek crowd was so rowdy that seismic activity was measured during For Whom the Bell Tolls. We caused a legitimate earthquake.

I have documented that via-video on my Instagram page and on YouTube

As soon as the show ended, I received instructions for where to meet the band liaison. Up until this point, i was not convinced the meeting was actually going to happen but now, I was fairly certain that my Mission to Lars was going to be complete. We made our way through the gaggle of Greek metalheads to the spot and were escorted backstage.

Metallica Yoga?

She led us down a very large and wide stadium hallway where we passed signs that included Metallica Catering, Backstage and even Yoga. Metallica yoga. Awesome. I expected this meet and greet to be a large group of people but it ended up being myself, my wife, a man from Denmark and our guide. We talked with the guide for a few minutes and then he appeared. The mission was complete. There was Lars, in the flesh. Toothpick and all.

He spent a few minutes speaking in danish to the other gentleman before making his way over to us. I will keep our conversation private but I can confirm it was about 10 minutes long, we spoke about a variety of things including Philly, the Sphere, the setlist, Cliff Burton trading his road case for weed and how many shows me and my wife have been to. And I was able to show him this business card from 1982 (he remembered his home phone number) and the aforementioned tour road case from 1984 (he laughed that it was acquired in exchange for the devil’s grass).

Another angle to this story started way back on July 4th, 2000. I met James Hetfield, Kirk Hammett and Jason Newsted in Baltimore, Maryland and had them sign my Master of Puppets CD cover. Part of my Mission to Lars was getting that CD cover complete and I am happy to announce that I completed that part of the mission too. He was also gracious enough to sign a show poster and this concert scheduled I ripped off the wall.

Mission Complete

The grand finale was getting a photo with Lars. My wife had no interest in being in the photo so it was just me and Lars, side by side like old buddies. Their guide took my phone, snapped a few photos of us looking straight ahead smiling and just before wrapping up, she said hold that pose…this is a great shot. After checking my phone in the cab on the way back to the hotel, it certainly was. Mission: Complete!

To be fair, this whole mission took slightly more than asking “Can I help you?” None of this would have been possible without my mystery marketing friend as well as my exceptional band liaison who facilitated all of this. Thank you both for making the memory of a lifetime and to everybody else, keep asking questions.