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Metallica musicians Lars Ulrich, James Hetfield, the SF Symphony music director Michael Tilson Thomas\u00a0after announcing them as the first performer at the Chase Center in San Francisco, March 18, 2019.<\/p>\n
Gabrielle Lurie\/The Chronicle<\/p>\n
Metallica performs with the San Francisco Symphony for the grand opening of Chase Center, the new home of the Golden State Warriors, September 6, 2019.<\/p>\n
Nick Otto\/Special to The Chronicle<\/p>\n
Warriors president and COO Rick Welts (left) poses with Metallica musicians Lars Ulrich, James Hetfield, the SF Symphony music director Michael Tilson Thomas, Mayor London Breed and Golden State Warriors owner Joe Lacob after announcing them as the first performer at the Chase Center in San Francisco, March 18, 2019.<\/p>\n
Gabrielle Lurie\/The Chronicle<\/p>\n
Metallica musicians Lars Ulrich (left), James Hetfield (right), and the SF Symphony music director Michael Tilson Thomas (center) speak on stage after it was announced that they would be the first performers at the Chase Center in San Francisco, March 18, 2019.<\/p>\n
Gabrielle Lurie\/The Chronicle<\/p>\n
Michael Tilson Thomas<\/a>, the longtime San Francisco Symphony music director whose death has prompted tributes across the music world, left behind a legacy that stretched far beyond the concert hall. Among the most vivid examples was S&M2, the pair of concerts<\/a> that united Metallica and the San Francisco Symphony for the opening of Chase Center in San Francisco.<\/p>\n The performances on Sept. 6 and Sept. 8, 2019, marked the 20th anniversary of Metallica\u2019s original 1999 collaboration with the Symphony at Berkeley Community Theater, which produced the live album \u201cS&M.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n The sequel, billed as S&M2<\/a>, was announced months earlier as the first major concert event at the Golden State Warriors\u2019 new arena in Mission Bay, with Warriors executives pitching it as something distinctly local.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n San Francisco Symphony music director Michael Tilson Thomas (left) and Metallica guitarist James Hetfield speak on stage after it was announced that they would be the first performers at the Chase Center in San Francisco, on March 18, 2019.<\/p>\n Gabrielle Lurie\/The Chronicle<\/p>\n \u201cWe wanted to do something unique to the Bay Area,\u201d Rick Welts, then the Warriors\u2019 president and chief operating officer, said at the March 2019 announcement<\/a>. \u201cSomething that would happen only here and nowhere else in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n Metallica said in a statement Thursday, April 23 \u2014 a day after Thomas died \u2014 that the conductor was \u201ca major driving force in the development\u201d of the shows.<\/p>\n San Francisco Chronicle Logo<\/p>\n Make us a Preferred Source to get more of our news when you search.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Add Preferred Source<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n \u201cWe cherished our time with MTT and learned so much working with him to prepare the S&M2 performances,\u201d the band said. \u201cIt was a very high honor to have him on the podium.\u201d<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n For Thomas, who led the Symphony from 1995 to 2020 and spent decades pushing the orchestra toward new audiences and repertory, the collaboration fit squarely within a larger artistic philosophy. He had built his reputation not only on performances of Mahler, Beethoven and Debussy, but also on championing contemporary music, unconventional programming and the idea that orchestras could belong to the broader civic culture of San Francisco.<\/p>\n That made Metallica \u2014 the world\u2019s most famous metal band, and one with deep Bay Area roots of its own \u2014 a natural, if still striking, partner.<\/p>\n The event was conducted by Thomas and Edwin Outwater, with new orchestral charts by acclaimed musical arranger Bruce Coughlin supplementing material from the first \u201cS&M.\u201d In addition to revisiting older songs, the 2019 concerts incorporated Metallica songs written after the original collaboration.<\/p>\n A banner while announcing Metallica as the first performer at the Chase Center in San Francisco, March 18, 2019.<\/p>\n Gabrielle Lurie\/The Chronicle<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a beautiful opportunity,\u201d Metallica frontman James Hetfield said at the time. \u201cWe\u2019re super proud that after 38 years, there\u2019s still cool things on the horizon for us.\u201d<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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