Talking with Metal Hammer magazine, guitarist Gary Holt recalled Exodu’s New Year’s Eve show in San Francisco together with Metallica, Megadeth and Metal Church.
About that evening, Holt recalled on Metallica the following:
“We stomped them into the dirt.
”We were getting wasted after the show, and James [Hetfield, Metallica frontman] was laughing and saying, ‘Haha, that’s the last time you guys ever support us.’ And it was the last time we ever supported Metallica.”
He added more:
“The scene was rad. You could go to a different club five nights a week and never see the same band twice. There wasn’t thrash metal competition, ’cause in the beginning, there was only us and Metallica. The first time I ever heard with them was when we played with them, and it felt like looking in a mirror. Later on, there was some competition.
”The bands were all friends, and we hung out together, but Exodus owned [legendary San Francisco Bay Area club] Ruthie’s. Everybody was gunning for us, but nobody could take us.”