Two former Virginia Tech athletes and alumni have been sleeping with one eye open and gripping their pillows tight for the past several months.
A dream comes true for both George Probst ’95, ’00 and Jeff Holland ’95, ’98 on Wednesday night when American heavy metal band Metallica takes the stage at Lane Stadium for a concert long speculated about and long in the making. Announced last September, the show is part of the band’s ongoing M72 World Tour.
Metallica and Virginia Tech have become intertwined, with the football team having entered the stadium to the opening riff of the band’s hit “Enter Sandman” before every home game since 2000. The riff, now often played all athletics home events, should be a little louder and the atmosphere probably just as crazy when the group takes fans to never-never land Wednesday night.
“I’m incredibly excited about it,” Probst said. “I’m excited for the Virginia Tech fans after all these rumors for decades, and now it’s finally, finally coming true. I know a lot of work went into it behind the scenes, and I’m very grateful to them [Virginia Tech officials] for sticking with it and being persistent, because I just can’t think of a better place to see Metallica than at Virginia Tech, my alma mater, a place that’s known for Metallica.”
Holland echoed similar sentiments.
“The rumors of Metallica playing in Blacksburg for the last 25 years have run rampant,” Holland said. “And me and George, we have an in [with the band], and we knew the rumors were all BS, and this one, when we heard it, we thought the same. But they were like, ‘No, it’s going to happen,’ and we couldn’t believe it. I think it was maybe a month or two before it officially came out. So yeah, very ecstatic. Can’t believe it.”
Probst, who has an undergraduate degree in industrial and systems engineering and a master’s degree in human factors option industrial systems engineering, and Holland, who graduated with a bachelor’s degree in urban affairs and planning and a master’s degree in urban and regional planning, share an affinity for Metallica that goes back to the late 1980s, when both started listening to the group’s music as teenagers.
In 1991, Probst, a runner on the Virginia Tech men’s cross country and track team, and Holland, a football player, regularly saw each other while eating meals at Cochrane Hall as freshmen. They didn’t really know each other at the time, but often greeted each other with a head nod whenever one wore a Metallica T-shirt.
Though they didn’t realize it at the time, both attended their first Metallica concert on March 11, 1992, when the band played in Roanoke, igniting an obsession that still exists today.
“It was Tech’s spring break,” Holland said. “I drove home to Chesapeake and then drove back to Roanoke a couple of days later. That was my first taste, and it’s been a passion of mine ever since.”
Probst and Holland started seeing each other with friends at other Metallica concerts, and in 2003, the two of them decided to pair up to see Metallica in Philadelphia. The concert started what has become a lifelong friendship, two dudes with common tastes in music. Probst later was in Holland’s wedding, and Holland stays with Probst when he comes to Blacksburg for football games in the fall.
Despite busy lives and thriving careers, they’ve been going to shows together ever since that night in Philadelphia. Holland, who works as a senior site acquisition specialist for Dewberry Engineers Inc. and works from his home in Chesapeake, has been to 104 Metallica concerts, while Probst, who doubles as an underwater wildlife photographer and a software administrator for New River Computing in Blacksburg, has been to 102 after attending two shows in Nashville this past weekend.
“When I met Jeff and started going to concerts with him, it became even better, because if you go to concerts with people who get that same vibe, it just kind of amplifies the experience,” Probst said. “It’s more than the sum of the parts. I’ve met some incredible people through Metallica, and when we all get together for a show, the show is just that much better, because all our energy just kind of comes together.”
The two have traveled all over the United States to see the band, creating a treasure trove of special memories. Both mentioned receiving a special invitation to watch a secret performance in the basement of a music store in Nashville in 2008 as one of those. Probst cited the concert at the Apollo Theater in New York City as memorable because they sat in the front row and noted radio personality Howard Stern sat 10 rows behind them. Holland enjoyed the four shows that the band played at The Fillmore in San Francisco that served as part of the group’s 30th anniversary tour.
In addition, Holland has seen Metallica in Canada, Australia, France, Germany, and Italy.
“Metallica is just one of those bands – and you can throw U2, Pearl Jam, Phish, and The Grateful Dead when they were around in there, too – it feeds you,” Holland said. “There’s a large contingent of fans that will follow and go, too. We see the same people over and over, all throughout the world. Everybody’s connected through social media. Me and George, we’re both over 50. We complain about a lot, about the flying or the standing in line, stuff like that, but the two-hour concert is the part we love.”
Probst and Holland both decided to spare no expense once they heard the band was playing at Lane Stadium. Both bought VIP packages that include early entry, a production tour, and a group photo on stage, among other perks. Notably, they will watch the concert from the “snake pit” at the center of the stage on the field.
“We’ll be in the middle, head-banging away,” Holland said.
Both plan on enjoying a memorable evening. For two people with Virginia Tech connections and who love Metallica, this concert is a bucket list experience.
“There might be some people who are more Virginia Tech than us, and there might be some people who are more Metallica than us,” Probst said. “But there’s nobody who’s more Virginia Tech and Metallica than us.’”
By Jimmy Robertson