There were tons of potential highlights during Metallica’s performance at the 30th annual Bridge School Benefit. The metal legends played acoustic versions of The Clash‘s “Clampdown” as well as their own hits “Whiskey In A Jar,” “Hero of the Day,” “Seek and Destroy” and “Bleeding Me” during their set on Saturday night. But nothing is going to top a guitar duel between Neil Young and Kirk Hammett, which is exactly what happened during the group’s performance of Buffalo Springfield’s “Mr. Soul.”
Young joined the band in the middle of their set at the Shoreline Ampitheatre in Mountain View, CA before stepping up to Hammet. The duo squared off and shredded during the track’s solo breaks. When he wasn’t busy showing off, Young took vocal duties with accompaniment from James Hetfield. Check out that performance and their take on “Clampdown” below:
The Bridge School Benefit is held every year to raise money for the namesake school for children with severe impairments. Young plays every year — the school was co-founded by his wife Pegi — and Metallica have played the benefit twice before, once in 1997 and again in 2007. At this year’s event, they showcased a song of their upcoming new album Hardwired…To Self-Destruct.
If Neil Young’s surprise intrusion left you without enough Metallica to sustain your red-blooded, American soul, you’re in luck. The band is planning a full-scale tour of the U.S. some time in 2017.
