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It happens a few minutes into "Creeping Death," Metallica's first song at the Parco Nord amphitheater in Bologna, and again and again, more than half a dozen times during the show. Metallica perform on a deep, wide stage, with multiple microphones across the front so Hetfield can sing directly to different parts of the crowd. But he keeps stepping up on Ulrich's drum riser, hovering behind the drummer, furiously strumming his guitar as Ulrich half-turns in his seat, looking up at Hetfield with bug-eyed glee. Hammett and Trujillo often hang out close to Ulrich during the set, like they're still in the Tuning and Attitude room. Hetfield, though, is the only one who actually joins Ulrich on the riser.

It is not an unspoken rule or caste system, Hammett points out: "I don't go up there, because Lars spits a lot. It's an unconscious thing. He doesn't really look, and you'll catch some of it. I only go up on the riser during mellow songs like 'Nothing Else Matters.'"

"It comes out in those moments — 27 years of bonding and what we've been through," Ulrich says of Hetfield's visits every night — during the fast, instrumental section of "Master of Puppets," headbanging together as Hammett solos in "Whiplash." "Here we are. We're still alive. We're having fun, doing what we want to do."

With nearly three decades on the odometer, Metallica now qualify for the question that dogs the Rolling Stones, the Who and U2 every time they hit the road: How much longer? "Metallica will go on forever," Ulrich declares, "bar the $64,000 issue." He points to his right shoulder. "The physical part.

"The Rolling Stones, Black Sabbath, Aerosmith — I have nothing but respect for their longevity," he says. "But Charlie Watts is not playing 'Damage, Inc.' three times a week or playing 'Whiplash' every night. This has the potential to go on for a long time. But if somebody's arm, back or neck just says, 'Fuck this,' and quits, I don't know.

"I could be content without it," Ulrich contends, "when it's time to say, 'Dude, that was crazy, now it's getting a little silly.' I know some people already think it's a joke. We don't — yet."

Trujillo sees the future in the changes he has witnessed in Hetfield since joining. "I was pretty sheltered from the craziness that had gone down," the bassist says. "When I came in, James seemed fragile. It was like there was a wall around him, to protect him. Now he's got his juju back. He's sober, but he's got his attitude."

"I don't know what the future holds," Hetfield says warily, as his jet lands in Riga for another day of Tuning and Attitude and trips to Ulrich's drum riser. "The fact that we've been together this long — there's a meaning behind that. We willed this to happen. It was a combination — the drive, the smarts, the right people.

"Listen, what else am I going to do?" he says. "That's a scary thought. I think we'd all be OK if we ventured out on our own." He pauses, turning and looking out the window as the plane taxis to the gate. "But I don't want to lose this."

[From Issue 1062 — October 2, 2008]

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