Metallica’s Long-Awaited Performance Of ‘Enter Sandman’ Causes Seismic Activity At A College Football Stadium

For the last 25 years, Virginia Tech begins every game at Lane Stadium the same way: by blasting Metallica‘s “Enter Sandman” while the Hokies take the field.

“It’s just a different type of feeling,” wide receiver Ali Jennings told Hokie Sports about the experience. “I get chills every time I think about it ­­– the stadium actually shakes.” The stadium was certainly shaking on Wednesday night (May 7), when Metallica performed at Lane Stadium for the first time.

So much so that “Enter Sandman” registered on the Richter scale from an estimated 65,000 concertgoers jumping up and down in unison.

Here’s how a Virginia Tech student described it to local ABC affiliate WSET: “Experiencing that live; the actual band playing it rather than the games because we already get hyped from the games themselves, but hearing Metallica playing in the stadium live, it’s awesome, man.”

The “Enter Sandman” tradition dates back to 2000, when it beat “Welcome To The Jungle” by Guns N’ Roses and “Sirius” by The Alan Parsons Project as the team’s walk-out song in a fan vote. “The next thing you know, the whole band is jumping up and down, and then the next thing you know, the whole stadium is jumping up and down,” former director of the Marching Virginians David McKee told The Washington Post. “It was one of those accidental traditions.”

You can watch Metallica at Lane Stadium here.