Jason Newsted Sings Early Metallica Song, Debuts 11 New Songs at First Newsted Band 2023 Show
On Saturday (May 20), Jason Newsted and his namesake band Newsted performed their first live show since 2013, covering songs by Metallica, Motorhead, Ted Nugent and Ramones in addition to debuting 11 brand new songs.
The show took place at Revolution Live in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, the same place where just a couple days earlier, Newsted hopped up onstage with his former Voivod bandmates and performed two songs.
The 20-song set was a real tour de force, demonstrating that despite Newsted's absence from the metal scene (he's been out gigging with the Chophouse Band, playing music outside of heavy metal) he hasn't lost a step. Vocally, he was truly impressive, utilizing plenty of grit to match the heaviness.
The band, which is also comprised of Jessie Farnsworth (guitar, backing vocals), Jesus Mendez Jr. (drums) and Humberto Perez (guitar), covered Metallica's Kill 'Em All classic "Whiplash" in full (something the Newsted band did regularly in the past) and included parts of "My Friend Misery" and "Creeping Death" in original Newsted songs.
On the covers end, the band also played two Motorhead classics — "(We Are) The Roadcrew" and "Love Me Like a Reptile" — as well as Ted Nugent's "Stranglehold" and Ramones' "I Just Want to Have Something to Do."
As for the new songs, they range from thrash-laden to bluesy groove, all with a rumbling energy that should have fans more than excited at what potentially lies ahead for the Newsted band.
See the complete setlist and view fan-filmed footage of select song performances further down the page.
In a recent interview with SiriusXM's Eddie Trunk, Newsted was asked about his current relationship with Metallica, to which he replied (as transcribed by Loudwire), "[I've texted] back and forth with Lars the last couple days. We try and stay in touch — he and I do — and talk about whatever."
Newsted continued, "He's interested in the art a lot — he's always been very supportive of that, so I'm grateful, but also with the music stuff. His sons, I'm a fan of them [and their band Taipei Houston] and they're fans of my stuff and that's a cool thing — an incredible thing, actually."
READ MORE: Jason Newsted Defends Lars Ulrich - 'Look at the Scoreboard - Motherf--ker'
"I've got nothing but mad respect. That's it. That's what I've got. I'm so freakin' proud of those guys," he added, circling back to Metallica, "Still cutting it like that? C'mon now. And taking this big of a bite and going for shows all the way up through fall of 2024 or something? Freakin' huge balls, dude. Incredible. How can you not applaud that?"
In that interview, Newsted also expressed appreciation that even though he's no longer in Metallica (and hasn't been for two decades), there's still fans who support whatever he does. And with 11 new songs that were just debuted live, it appears this may just be the beginning for more immediate musical plans.
Newsted Setlist — May 20, 2023 (via setlist.fm)
01. "Heroic Dose"
02. "Burn the Scarecrow" (world premiere)
03. "Heart Of Stone" (world premiere)
04. "Black Sheep" (world premiere)
05. "Mud Song" (world premiere)
06. "...As The Crow Flies" (with Metallica, "Creeping Death" bridge)
07. "Soldierhead"
08. "Good Guys" (world premiere)
09. "Live Fast" (world premiere)
10. "Full Moon" (world premiere)
11. "Iron Fish" (world premiere)
12. "Long Time Dead"
13. "Black Dog" (world premiere)
14. "Stab" (world premiere)
15. "Whiplash" (Metallica cover)
16. "Jezebel" (world premiere, with Metallica, "My Friend Misery" intro)
17. "Stranglehold" (Ted Nugent cover)
18. "I Just Want to Have Something to Do" (Ramones cover)
19. "Love Me Like A Reptile" (Motorhead cover)
20. "(We Are) The Road Crew" (Motorhead cover)