James Hetfield + Rob Halford Rock Out to Younger Band at Festival

What band got Metallica‘s James Hetfield and Judas Priest‘s Rob Halford as their side stage audience at a recent Norwegian festival? That would be Turnstile, whose energetic performances have won over fans everywhere in recent years. And now you can count Hetfield and Halford among those seeming to thoroughly enjoy watching the buzzy rockers.

It’s the ultimate compliment for a young band such as Turnstile to have drawn what amounts to metal royalty carving out time in their schedule to see what the Brendan Yates-led band is all about.

In this particular video shared by Turnstile and also posted on the Hardcore Reddit, the camera shows Hetfield rocking his cowboy hat with Halford in his black T-shirt and chain leaning against a case at the side of the stage. Hetfield appears to be the more animated of the two bobbing his head back and forth and pumping his fists along with Daniel Fang’s drums and audience chants as they finish up “T.L.C. (Turnstile Love Connection).”

Just Two Old Dudes Rocking Out to Turnstile
byu/IslandDrummer inHardcore

Turnstile were rocking the stage at Oslo’s Tons of Rock Festival, where Metallica had played prior and Judas Priest were performing shortly after Turnstile had performed.

Halford + Hetfield Play Tastemakers

Given their status, the likes of Rob Halford and James Hetfield carry a certain weight with metalheads. Their show of support side stage may turn some fans onto Turnstile, but this is far from the first time that either musician has publicly voiced their support for some of the younger acts in heavy music.

READ MORE: Where Turnstile Rank in 100 Best Rock + Metal Albums of the 21st Century

Just last month, James Hetfield shouted out a brand new band, though one that has an extensive metal pedigree. During an appearance on The Metallica Report podcast, Hetfield weighed in with love for Category 7.

While the name may not be familiar (and it wasn’t to Hetfield upon first listen), the members certainly were. “Listening to the radio, I guess the newest thing that I was surprised by and really made me smile was Category 7, a band that is kind of a collaboration of a few people. I was listening to it going, “That voice is awesome and it sounds very familiar.'”

“It was freakin’ [Armored Saint singer] John Bush, our singer we never got,” Hetfield laughs.

“Brian Slagel [Metal Blade] has signed them. I heard one song on the radio and that’s it and it was great. It was really good,” he beamed.

Halford, meanwhile, had some kind words about 2023 buzz band Sleep Token earlier this year. Shouting out their ability to blend different styles, Halford told radio station 93X, “They’re a really curious band in what they’re putting out in terms of all of these different textures. They’re very difficult to pin down. That’s what I find intriguing as a musician listening to their music. It’s going to a lot of different places, and I think that there isn’t any other band out there right now that’s able to do that.”

“Most bands have a specific sound and direction and idea that they project. And then you kind of fine-tune into that. But you can’t really nail them down, if that’s the expression. And, of course, the guys have been around for a few years; they’re not, like, suddenly here they are,” he continued. “They’ve worked hard to get to this place of recognition. But I really like all the extra textures of the way that they look and the way that they’re talking.”