85 Year old Granny to Attend Metallica Concert

The St. Petersburg Times are reporting that Jim Priebe will never forget how he found out: Nine years ago, he called home to check on his mother, a routine how-ya-doin' in the middle of the day. Margaret Priebe — in her mid 70s at the time — was just fine . . . in the garage, car doors open, stereo cranking.

Jim shouted into the phone:

"What's that noise, Mom?!"

She shouted back:

"Metallica!"

Metallica: the iconic thrash quartet, four surly dudes hammering dark, demonic nightmares at head-splitting volumes.

Mama, it turns out, was a metalhead.


She's 85 now, and still into it.

Mother and son have tickets to Metallica's show at the St. Pete Times Forum on Saturday. They wouldn't miss it — not after last year, a hard year for Margaret. She battled lymphoma and chemo and lonely nights in the hospital when the only thing she could do was untangle the headphones of her MP3 player and tune out: Enter Sandman, Bleeding Me, Devil's Dance.

Heavy metal for heavy times.

"I like Metallica — there's nothing wrong with them," says Margaret, who knows she's likely to be the only person at the concert born during the Coolidge administration. "People think I'm weird. But I'm sorry, I like it loud."

At home, on a table next to her favorite chair, are an Art of Knitting DVD, a giant magnifying glass, The Rough Guide to Heavy Metal and a magazine devoted to the four men in Metallica: singer James Hetfield, drummer Lars Ulrich, guitarist Kirk Hammett and bassist Robert Trujillo.

"Mom likes Lars," says Jim, 48, who builds Koi ponds and waterfalls. "She likes drummers."

"Lars is cute," says Margaret. "But I like 'em all." She also digs Ozzy Osbourne, Judas Priest. "And I like the Molly Hatchet."


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Tags:  Metallica, granny, grandma, florida, concert

Tampa Bay.com    September 30, 2009