Headliners Metallica capped off the first day of Lollapalooza Festival in Chicago on July 28 with an electrifying set to a crowd of mixed ages, many of whom were seeing the band live for the first time. The iconic rockers tipped a hat to their recent jolt of popularity sparked by Stranger Things season 4.
The fourth season of Stranger Things brought a legion of new fans to 80s songstress Kate Bush, after using Running Up That Hill in a pivotal moment. They also brought renewed attention to Metallica – who are still consistently touring and recording new music, unlike the reclusive Bush. The heavy metal band’s Master of Puppets was played by new fan-favourite Eddie Munson (Joseph Quinn), again in a particularly exhilarating moment.
At the show, James Hetfield said; “Forty-one years to still be up here kicking your asses and you still kicking ours … we were born to do this and we’re glad we’re still doing it.” While the band played Master of Puppets on stage, a brief clip of Quinn playing the same banging solo appeared on the giant screens.
After the two-part finale of Stranger Things debuted, Master of Puppets had 17 million downloads on Spotify in the week that followed. The song also had a 5000% Google search surge following the finale. The song was released in 1986, the year after Bush released Running Up That Hill.
Stranger Things season four brought record-breaking viewing numbers to Netflix, and the wait for the fifth and final season will now be agonising. There is much speculation about who, if any, of the main characters will be killed off. Hopefully, the gap won’t be as long as the one between seasons three and four. There is expected to be a time jump to deal with the fact that the young cast are aging out of their characters.
While we wait, check out our guide to the best sci-fi series.