Met in Beagá

Metallica came to Belo Horizonte in 2022 for the first time in their 40-year career. The people of Minas Gerais had to wait two years for the event to be rescheduled due to the pandemic.

Combined with the natural lack of interpersonal encounters caused by the pandemic, intensified by the fact that the American quartet essentially brought their entire history to Belo Horizonte, an unprecedented sense of urgency and importance arose in the public imagination regarding this event.

After a very successful show, considering the sold-out tickets, an innovative setlist, and the entire band's official production structure brought to the city on my own initiative, I decided to design artwork to pay tribute to this moment.

Released a few weeks after the show, my artwork garnered 15 pre-orders, most of which were from people discovering my work for the first time. We had a WhatsApp group for communication among those attending the show at Mineirão stadium, and I used this feature to connect with several people with the same interests.

This artwork gave me the opportunity, for the first time, to export my work to Connecticut, USA (thank you for the purchase, Alex). Alex was supposed to be in Brazil specifically for the show, but due to unforeseen circumstances, he couldn't attend. Friends from Minas Gerais helped me with the process until the artwork arrived in the USA.

Main elements of the artwork: in the background, we have the floor plan of Mineirão and its surroundings, superimposed with the classic Gibson JH Flying V, James Hetfield's signature model. Also in the background, at the top, we have a side view of the stadium's architecture. In the foreground, the complete setlist specific to this show, including the laser and pyrotechnic effects, as well as the divisions of musical blocks. I also included the phrase spoken by James in Fade to Black: "We're no alone!", which became memorable for everyone who was present at the Belo Horizonte show. The classic "M" from the band's typography complements the artwork on the right.

My project was the only one produced independently, outside of Metallica's official releases, with the Belo Horizonte show being the absolute protagonist of the artwork, reaching a few dozen people who, over time, went on to purchase other works of mine.