Metallica’s long awaited Perth return wasn’t short on energy, pyro, or nostalgia, but two fans managed to steal focus for all the wrong reasons after scaling a speaker tower mid set.
Their stunt, which interrupted the band’s first Australian show in more than ten years, has now earned them lifetime bans from Optus Stadium and a bruising day in court.
According to reports, 20 year old Beau William Loch Rollings and 23 year old Rory Hugh Culbert jumped a safety barrier during Metallica’s November 1st concert before climbing the tower’s scaffolding to heights between ten and fifty metres.
They held their positions for roughly twenty minutes while thousands of fans watched on, some filming the moment as security and police scrambled to respond, their phones, which reportedly contained footage of the climb, were later seized.
Perth Magistrate Ruth Dineen didn’t mince her words during sentencing, saying “something that seemed funny at the time” had escalated into a serious trespassing offence. Defence lawyer Rachael Gemmell described the stunt as “just stupid behaviour,” a sentiment Dineen echoed, calling it “an incredibly stupid thing to do and a good way to ruin your night out.”
Both men pleaded guilty at the first opportunity, Rollings was fined $1000 with $308.80 in court costs, while Culbert received a similar penalty, and both walked away with lifetime bans from the stadium.
The incident comes after our earlier reporting on the moment, when WA Police confirmed the men had climbed the central sound tower positioned inside the bowl of Optus Stadium. Social media reactions landed somewhere between disbelief and dark humour, with fans joking about the lengths some people will go for a better view of ‘Master of Puppets’, or simply to make a scene.
Despite the distraction, Metallica powered through a career spanning two hour set as part of their M72 World Tour. Nine albums were represented in the setlist, with only one cut from 72 Seasons making an appearance in the form of ‘Lux Æterna’.
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