Weezer has added a slew of cover songs to its repertoire in recent years, including a version of Metallica's "Enter Sandman," which the band recorded for The Metallica Blacklist last year.
"Sandman" has found its way into many of Weezer's live sets ever since, until the band found itself on the same bill as Metallica at a recent festival.
Frontman Rivers Cuomo admitted in a recent interview with Conan O'Brien that his band considered playing "Sandman" anyway, just for the story. He went so far as to ask Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich if it would be okay.
"We ended up playing [with Metallica] this summer, and we were so close to playing 'Enter Sandman' right before they went on," Cuomo recalls. "We asked [Lars], 'Hey, is it cool if we play it?' And he said, 'Yeah, that would mean we don't have to play it!'"
Despite Ulrich's O.K., Cuomo says Weezer "chickened out," unsure of how the audience would have reacted.
Cuomo has spoken often over the years of his love for heavy metal. Weezer's 2021 LP, Van Weezer, was meant as a tribute to the band's hard rock heroes. But long before Van Weezer, Cuomo has admitted that the main riff in Weezer's "Undone (The Sweater Song)" is actually an unconscious rip-off of Metallica's "Welcome Home (Sanitarium)" from 1986's Master of Puppets album.
Check out the clip from Conan O'Brien Needs a Friend via the player above.
Listen to Weezer's "Enter Sandman" cover via the player below.