Metallica @ Stubb's, Austin, TX (Guitar Hero SXSW) - pics

photos by Fresh Bread

Invading South By Southwest, Metallica attempted to pose as one of the hundreds of smaller bands there just hoping to get a record deal.

“We’re a young band from Norway and we want to get signed,” Metallica frontman James Hetfield told the audience at the heavy metal band’s SXSW performance Friday night.

It was a widely expected but not officially announced show at a venue (Stubb’s) that for a band like Metallica is downright minuscule, holding about 2,100 people. The band played for slightly more than an hour, performing both classics and, as Hetfield called it, “new stuff” off their 2008 album “Death Magnetic” — a disc widely considered a return to form for the 28-year-old group.

But despite Hetfield’s mock camouflage (and poor Norwegian accent), Metallica stood out on the SXSW landscape Friday. With more than 50 million albums sold, Metallica has probably outsold the other 1,900-plus bands at SXSW combined.

Droves of die-hard fans, catching wind of the rumors, lined up all day outside Stubb’s, where Metallica 18-wheelers parked outside. [AP]

More pictures from Friday night’s show below…