Seems that the Glastonbury festival is getting a lot of metal press lately. First, Bruce Dickinson called the festival “the most bourgeois thing on the planet,” while claiming Maiden was better than Metallica. Mogwai also weighed in with an attack on Lars Ulrich, also calling Metallica “shite.” However, Lars Ulrich responded very humbly to Maiden’s claims. Making things more interesting are the fact that Maiden and Metallica will both be headlining Sonisphere on different days. Now, Metallica is getting more flack for their appearance at Glastonbury, this time, from animal rights activists.
A Facebook group entitled simply Remove Metallica has surfaced, with the sole goal of having Metallica removed from Glastonbury. At time of writing, the page has gained over 8,000 likes in just about one week. The page has surfaced because lead singer James Hetfield has described himself as a “keen huntsmen,” and will be narrating The Hunt, a History TV series about hunting bear in Alaska. The Facebook group says those ideals are “incompatible with the spirit of Glastonbury and bring its good name into disrepute.” The admin of the campaign went on to say:
“I doubt very much that James Hetfield is the first high-profile big-game hunter to grace the stages – I’m sure there have been many. I do however doubt that any of them have had a prime time History show promoting his view that hunting is a good thing to do, on at the same time. This double-exposure gives his views extra publicity and acceptability, and this is where we can have an effect. This is about raising awareness and making both Metallica and Glastonbury aware of what appears to be a large number of people’s disapproval.”
The producers of the documentary disagree, and claim that their documentary offers a balanced view of bear hunting.
“Brown bear co-existence with humans on the island is a delicate balance, yet is regarded as one of the most successful conservation efforts in the world. Most hunters go after adult males, or boars, who when food is scarce are known to kill and eat cubs, as well as cause trouble near populated areas.”
Only time will tell if this group will stop Metallica from having a beary good time at Glastonbury this year (spoiler alert: it probably won’t). The documentary will launch on June 8, and Metallica will headline Glastonbury just 20 days later on the 28th.
