Brent Pry on Metallica concert at Virginia Tech: 'It's special'

Virginia Tech head coach Brent Pry was absolutely blown away by Metallica performing at Lane Stadium. It only reminded him that the Hokies have the best entrance in college football.

The band played live on campus on Wednesday and it was a raucous show. They ended with “Enter Sandman,” which is what the football team runs out to pregame, and it caused a seismograph spike.

Pry couldn’t believe what he saw when he saw the legendary heavy metal band perform inside the stadium. If you didn’t get chills, maybe you don’t like college football!

“Standing out on that platform, you know, watching and listening that I get chills, and it’s special,” Pry said on Sirius XM. “And, you know, I’m very thankful. The couple of guys that came up with using this song for our entrance are still here working at Virginia Tech. They were young guys. They also had an opportunity to meet the band yesterday, you know, along with myself. And it’s just, it’s another very cool story in, you know, in our fabric, in our history … Our guys are very, very appreciative and so very fortunate to have that type of entrance. It’s the greatest entrance in all of college football. 

“And to have that, to run out of that turtle and experience that, that’s a lifetime experience, and one that they’ll never forget. So you know, I do remind them often of how fortunate they are, and I think, you know, they appreciate it, and it’s special. No better way to kick off a football game than coming out to ‘Enter Sandman’ with 70,000 jumping, going crazy and singing. They’re singing at the top of their lungs.”

Virginia Tech began coming out to Metallica on Aug. 27, 2000, when Virginia Tech installed the first video board inside Lane Stadium. That’s when the powers that be decided to use ‘Enter Sandman’ as their entrance, and the rest is history. It’s become a key part of Saturdays in Blacksburg.

Metallica and Virginia Tech initially announced the tour stop at Lane Stadium back in September of 2024. At the time, the release stated, “Get ready for an unforgettable night in Blacksburg! We’re thrilled to announce that the legendary band, Metallica, will be performing at Lane Stadium.”

Oddly enough, this isn’t the only time a stadium has managed to get picked up by a seismograph. LSU’s Tiger Stadium has been known to shake the earth. Seattle Seahawks fans were similarly able to register on a seismograph reacting to a Marshawn Lynch touchdown run.