Robert Trujillo (l) and Lars Ulrich of Metallica, and San Francisco Mayor London Breed at an event proclaiming Metallica Day at Chase Center in San Francisco on Dec. 16, 2021. Martin Lacey/STAFF.

SAN FRANCISCO — San Francisco Mayor London Breed proclaimed Thursday as Metallica Day in the City, ahead of the band’s citywide “takeover” this weekend for its 40th anniversary.

For the marquee events, Metallica headlines two concerts at Chase Center Friday and Sunday; both shows are sold out. But those aren’t the only events. Several bands with ties to James Hetfield and co. headline shows of their own through Saturday, including the bands of the sons of bassist Robert Trujillo and Lars Ulrich, OTTTO and Taipie Houston. There will also be art shows, a film screening, photography book events, fundraisers for Metallica’s All Within My Hands Foundation and events highlighting the band’s brand of whiskey, Blackened.

Mayor Breed called the members of Metallica “extraordinary musicians and people” at a press conference at Chase Center Thursday afternoon that featured Ulrich, Trujillo and Another Planet Entertainment President Gregg Perloff.

Robert Trujillo (l) and Lars Ulrich of Metallica, and San Francisco Mayor London Breed.

“They’re part of the fabric of the community,” Breed said after issuing the proclamation. “They have touched people’s lives for generations.”

Ulrich and Trujillo spoke about the acceptance and sense of home that San Francisco offered to Metallica (as well as Trujillo’s band at the time, Suicidal Tendencies) after the band first moved to the Bay Area from Los Angeles in 1982.

Ulrich said the band was able to build itself with the support of the culture of Bill Graham, beat poets and hippie culture. Trujillo credited not only the area’s existing thrash metal culture but funk artists like Sly and the Family Stone and Tower of Power, which influenced the genre in the ’80s.

“San Francisco is a state of mind,” he said of the Wild West mentality and ongoing fight for justice. “We fell in love with it. … We were embraced.”

Perloff, who has worked with Metallica on many occasions, including their headlining spots at Outside Lands two times, said the band’s fanbase makes Metallica unique—the band’s S&M2 concerts with the San Francisco Symphony at Chase Center were attended by people from 65 countries, Ulrich pointed out—but its skill and determination have given the band staying power for 40 years.

“It all starts with the music,” Perloff said, also boasting of the band’s “wonderful economic boost to the city” by attracting visitors and its support for local causes, such as Bay Area food banks and fundraising for wildfire relief efforts.

Robert Trujillo (l) and Lars Ulrich of Metallica.

Breed, who was in a jovial mood, both joked about returning to Chase for the band’s 41st anniversary—”To me, nothing is more important than having a good time”—and spoke of how the Metallica weekend in San Francisco is, in essence, a celebration of hope.

“This global pandemic has tested us like nothing else,” she said. “I can’t thank Metallica enough for committing to San Francisco.”

“We’re just getting started. All our best years are still ahead of us,” Ulrich said, laughing. “We may even turn professional.”

Follow editor Roman Gokhman at Twitter.com/RomiTheWriter. Follow photographer Martin Lacey on Facebook and Instagram.