Glastonbury 2014: Metallica hit out at 'precious' music fans and compare themselves to Jay Z

The US heavy metal band will headline the Somerset festival on Saturday

Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich (Getty Images)

Metallica’s Lars Ulrich has hit out at people who see UK metal fans as “less educated”.

The US group’s drummer claims the press have “pigeonholed” his band, who are set to headline Glastonbury Festival on Saturday night.

“People have short attention spans in 2014,” he told BBC6 Music. “They like things broken down into easy, digestible sound-bites. It’s like, Metallica at Glastonbury, what’s the sound bite? ‘Here comes the big bad heavy metal band to our precious little festival’.”

Ulrich went on to explain that he knew not everyone was attacking Metallica but noted that there are “people who snub their nose a little bit at hard rock and look at hard rock as inferior or lower-class”.

Controversy over organiser Michael Eavis’ decision to book the band has been rife since they were announced on the line-up.

Fellow musicians and fans alike have cast over Metallica’s suitability for “hippy” Glastonbury, with the revelation of frontman James Hetfield’s involvement in a pro bear-hunting documentary only adding to the outrage.

Ulrich blames this on “a tradition with British music journalism, a need to categorise,” adding that no-one has “batted an eye” at their appearances in other countries’ Glastonbury equivalents.

The 50-year-old is convinced that Metallica will put on a memorable show at Worth Farm and is taking confidence in Jay Z’s unexpected success in 2008.

“Not only did everybody survive when Jay Z showed up a few years ago but they even enjoyed it,” he said. “I see no reason why the same shouldn’t happen when Metallica takes the stage.”