College band director’s Metallica tattoo goes viral after national contest success

Metallica are praising a marching band director at a Virginia college for his commitment to his team, which recently placed second in a national competition, as per Loudwire. That is, getting a big tattoo of Metallica on his leg. Metallica released the results of their marching band competition, “For Whom The Band Tolls”, last month. A college marching band had to submit a video of a live rendition of a Metallica song in order to compete. The Division 1 school that wins gets a chance to record a song with Metallica in addition to $50,000 in rewards. Two runners-up in each category and additional awards were given to Division 2 and 3 schools.

After placing second in the Division 2 and 3 schools category, Bridgewater College’s Screamin’ Eagles Marching Band was awarded $20,000. The college is situated in Virginia’s Bridgewater. “By the way, it looks like you will be getting that tattoo, Barry,” Metallica guitarist Robert Trujillo said to viewers in a video announcing Bridgewater’s achievement. There was no further information on “Barry” or his need for a tattoo. On Wednesday, a story update and a remark purportedly from Barry Flowe, the director of the Screamin’ Eagles Marching Band, were released. A video of Flowe getting the band’s emblem and a big screaming eagle head painted on his outside lower thigh was included in the article.

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Following their impressive results in the “For Whom The Band Tolls” marching band competition, Metallica announced that the following institutions will receive prize money.

Division 1

1. University of South Carolina ($50,000)
2. Virginia Tech ($25,000)
3. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign ($10,000)

Division 2 & 3

1. Riverside City College ($40,000)
2. Bridgewater College ($20,000)
3. Indiana Wesleyan University ($10,000)

Fan Favorite

1. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign ($10,000)

Upcoming shows in 2026:

09* MAY	ATHENS, GREECE	OLYMPIC STADIUM
13* MAY	BUCHAREST, ROMANIA	ARENA NAȚIONALĂ
19* MAY	CHORZÓW, POLAND	STADION ŚLĄSKI
22* & 24ˣ MAY	FRANKFURT, GERMANY	DEUTSCHE BANK PARK
27* MAY	ZÜRICH, SWITZERLAND	STADION LETZIGRUND
30* MAY	BERLIN, GERMANY	OLYMPIASTADION
03* JUNE	BOLOGNA, ITALY	STADIO RENATO DALL’ARA
11ˣ & 13* JUNE	BUDAPEST, HUNGARY	PUSKAS ARENA
19ˣ & 21* JUNE	DUBLIN, IRELAND	AVIVA STADIUM
25* JUNE	GLASGOW, SCOTLAND	HAMPDEN PARK
28* JUNE	CARDIFF, WALES	PRINCIPALITY STADIUM
03* & 05ˣ JULY	LONDON, ENGLAND	LONDON STADIUM

*Support: Gojira & Knocked Loose
ˣSupport: Pantera & Avatar

As always, a portion of proceeds from every ticket sold will go to local charities via the band’s foundation, All Within My Hands. Established in 2017 as a way to give back to communities that have supported Metallica over the years, All Within My Hands has raised over $20 million, providing $11.4 million in grants to career and technical education programs, including the ground-breaking Metallica Scholars Initiative, now in its seventh year, over $7.4 million to combat food insecurity, and more than $4.7 million to disaster relief efforts.