A Bad Winter Storm Stranded Metallica Fans In Las Cruces – Part 2

I recently wrote an article about the time Metallica fans got stuck in Las Cruces. My story was just the tip of the iceberg.

Back in 1997, Metallica and Korn rocked the Pan Am Center on the NMSU campus in Las Cruces. A great show as usual but this one came with a helluva winter storm that shut the El Paso, Las Cruces area ... and everywhere else within hundreds of miles ... down completely.

The major roadways were all closed, visibility was zero and people from as little as 40 miles away, took HOURS to get to the show. The show did go on, (see a similar show below), and, afterwards, fans faced the daunting task of trying to get home and/or finding a place to stay.

A huge portion of the sold out crowd had to stay the night and hotel rooms went super quick ... and were super pricey. My friends and I managed to get one of the last ones available so we were good for the night.

One of my friends, the one I mentioned in the original article that BS'd his way through road closures across Colorado, posted this comment:

Hundreds ... thousands maybe, I don't remember ... spent the night in the Pan Am Center as they had no where else to go. (Or, at least, no way to get there.)

Several people posted their own memories of that night on the KLAQ Facebook page. Here are a few samples:

The situation clearly did nothing to dampen Jonathan's love of the band.

The Red Cross eventually brought some snacks in but things weren't exactly pleasant inside the Pan Am according to Sylvia.

On the upside, she liked the headlights and, on another positive note, Lindy got to meet Kirk Hammett.

Sadly, as you can see, not everyone made it to the show but those that did had a once in a lifetime experience.