A Metallica show can be a truly fun experience, but it’s probably not the ideal environment in which to give birth. And yet that’s still what happened this past weekend. On Saturday night, Metallica headlined a shot at Estádio Couto Pereira in Curtiba, Brazil. Tattoo artist Joice Figueiró, 39 weeks pregnant, went to the show with her husband; they’d been holding onto their tickets for three years after two pandemic-related delays. Figueiró got an OK from her obstetrician to go to the show, and she took precautions, sitting in the handicap-access area. When Metallica took the stage, her contractions started.
talking to the Washington Post, Figueiró says that she tried to avoid contacting the stadium’s medical team, but she couldn’t hold on. The venue offered to call Figueiró an ambulance, but there wasn’t time. Joice gave birth to the healthy Luan Figueiró at 11:15 PM in the stadium’s medical area, and Joice says that her son de ella arrived at the moment that Metallica launched into “Enter Sandman,” the last song of the night. Joice says, “Since it wasn’t planned, I was scared that the medical team wouldn’t be ready. But there’s also the feeling of being able to tell people that this happened because Metallica is one of the bands we love the most.”
As Joice’s story went viral, she joked about naming the baby James Ulrich, and she’s still thinking about giving Luan a middle name to commemorate the experience. But Joice also says that the middle name will not be Sandman: “He’ll get bullied with the name ‘Sandman.’ I already have enough of a story to tell.”
As Blabbermouth reports, Metallica’s own James Hetfield called the Figueiró family yesterday to check in on them. On Instagram, Joice says that Hetfield talked to her for seven minutes and that she recorded all of it. Joice posted a video of the conversation on her Instagram story of her. When Hetfield congratulates her, Joice says, “Oh my God! I cry!” It’s very sweet. Check it out below.
Please go ahead and use the comments section for your finest Metallica baby puns.