Metallica fans banned for life after "incredibly stupid" speaker tower stunt at show in Australia

Metallica fans at the heavy metal Sonisphere Festival at Goffertpark on June 20, 2009 in Nijmegen, Netherlands.
(Image credit: Paul Bergen/Redferns)

Two Australian Metallica fans have been banned from a venue for life after climbing up a speaker tower during a gig last month.

Beau William Loch Rollings, 20, and Rory Hugh Culbert, 23, were arrested after they scaled the tower during the thrash giants' performance at Optus Stadium in Perth on November 1.

They clung to the scaffolding, at heights ranging from 10m to 50m, for around 20 minutes after jumping over safety fencing designed to prevent fans from doing exactly what the pair did.

Perth Now reports that Perth Magistrate Ruth Dineen said “something that seemed funny at the time" resulted in both men being charged with trespassing. They both pleaded guilty at the first opportunity.

The pair gave no explanation for their actions and their mobile phones, which contained footage of their stunt, were seized by police.

Defence lawyer Rachael Gemmell described the antics as “just stupid behaviour.”

The magistrate agreed, saying it was “an incredibly stupid thing to do and a good way to ruin your night out."

Rollings was fined $1000 and ordered to pay $308.80 in court costs. Culbert was handed a similar penalty in the same court and both men were banned from the stadium for life.

Metallica's Perth show featured a career-spanning setlist from metal's biggest band, with nine of the Four Horsemen's 11 albums getting a showing. Despite being part of the M72 world tour, designed to promote Metallica's most recent album, 2023's 72 Seasons, only one track from the album was played in the form of Lux Æterna.

Stef wrote close to 5,000 stories during his time as assistant online news editor and later as online news editor between 2014-2016. An accomplished reporter and journalist, Stef has written extensively for a number of UK newspapers and also played bass with UK rock favourites Logan. His favourite bands are Pixies and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. Stef left the world of rock'n'roll news behind when he moved to his beloved Canada in 2016, but he started on his next 5000 stories in 2022. 

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