Whatever job we have, we all fuck up at some point. even the guitarist for the biggest heavy metal band of all time does at some point.

What really matters is how you deal with this fuck up, how you own it then move forward, rather than fight it.

This is exactly what Metallica‘s Kirk Hammett did at the Boston Calling festival this weekend, where he totally butchered the intro to a song he’s played a million times, and at least had the good humour to laugh at how hard he dropped the ball.

As you’ll see in the fan-shot video below, Kirk started off Metallica’s “Nothing Else Matters” on Sunday, May 29th, at the Harvard Athletic Complex in Allston, Massachusetts, with a little flourish from “More Than a Feeling” by Boston (because of the fest). However, when it came time to play his own song, Kirk straight-up screwed the pooch, prompting him to fall to his knees and then flop onto his back in exasperation. The dude then got up with a big grin on his face and told the crowd, “Sorry, guys, you’re so kickass…I got distracted by how kickass you are!” Then he tried again, and the band played the song.

Some part of us wants to criticise Kirk for messing up a track he’s played countless   times in his life. Something about a big crowd, owing the fans, yadda yadda yadda. But honestly, this incident just makes him look very endearing. Metallica ONLY play to big crowds, so it’s inevitable that they’re going to have minor fuck-ups in front of thousands and thousands of people. Least they can do is chuckle about it and apologise.

Watch the videos down here:

Full Song here: