Boy leaves Metallica concert with Hetfield's guitar pick, Ulrich's drum stick

The Metallica concerts in Edmonton proved to be a once-in-a-lifetime experience for multiple generations of fans.

"That was my lottery ticket," Ron Goltz, who attended both the Friday and Sunday show with his son, told CTV News Edmonton.

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He splurged for snake pit tickets, so the pair were right by the stage when the band played their favourite songs, "One" and "Creeping Death."

But "Seek and Destroy" ranks high after Friday night.

Lead vocalist and guitarist James Hetfield ended that track from Metallica's debut studio album with a solo on his knees in front of Goltz and 13-year-old Xander.

After playing his last note, Hetfield handed Xander his guitar pick and held the guitar within the boy's reach.

"Does he want me to touch it?" Xander recalled thinking.

Hetfield made a strumming motion, so Xander dragged the pick across the guitar's strings, prompting cheers from those around him.

Xander Goltz, 13, strums James Hetfield's guitar at the end of Metallica's performance of "Seek and Destroy" in Edmonton on Aug. 23, 2024. (Credit: Ron Goltz)

Hetfield gave the boy a high five, leaving him to turn around and exclaim to his dad and their snake pit neighbours, "Sh*t*!"

"I knew that stuff did happen to kids, like, James giving people guitar picks and stuff … I believed that could have happened. It was just a great shock that it was able to happen to me," Xander said.

The night could hardly have gotten better, but it did, for later, Lars Ulrich gave one of his drum sticks to Xander, too.

"It looked like he was going to give it to the person who was right in front and then he again handed it to my son who was on my shoulders," Goltz said.

"As a father of a son, there's nothing more you can ask. It meant so much to me."

Xander Goltz, 13, sits on his father Ron Goltz' shoulders at the Metallica concert in Edmonton, Alta., on Aug. 23, 2024, holding one of Lars Ulrich's drum sticks. (Credit: Ron Goltz)

"It was the best time of my life," Xander said.

Cruz Buchanan, another Metallica fan and Xander's friend – the two performed "Enter Sandman" together as an airband in Kindergarten – couldn't believe Xander's luck.

An undated photo of Xander Goltz and Cruz Buchanan performing an air band rendition of Metallica's "Enter Sandman" in Kindergarten. (Credit: Ron Goltz)

But he, too, was gifted one of Ulrich's drum sticks on Sunday night when he attended with his own dad.

"(After Friday) I was like, 'No way, you got a drum stick? That's like one in a million chances,'" Buchanan told CTV News Edmonton. "And the next night, I have one in my hand.

"It was just crazy."

Friends and Metallica fans Xander Goltz, left, and Cruz Buchanan, right, pose with the drum sticks they received from drummer Lars Ulrich during the band's concerts in Edmonton in August 2024.

Both boys credit their fathers for introducing them to Metallica. Buchanan says that's what they listened to on their way to hockey to "get pumped up." Xander first remembers listening to the band's music on the Stern pinball machine his dad bought when he was a toddler.

They both said their dads are part of what made the concerts so special.

"It was so cool hanging out with my dad, jamming out," Buchanan said.

"I was so happy that I was able to do it with my dad," Xander added.

"I didn't think (my love for the band) could get larger. They were already probably my favourite band in the world and now it just means so much more," his dad said.

With files from CTV News Edmonton's Evan Kenny and Brandon Lynch