A Whitley Bay schoolboy played drums for Metallica in front of 68,000 people in Amsterdam on his 13th birthday.
Evan Adamson was whisked away to the Netherlands by his dad to see the metal icons for a birthday treat.
But he had no idea that he'd end up playing drums with the band on one of their biggest hits in front of a sold out Johan Cruyff Arena.
Valley Gardens Middle School pupil Evan was invited onto stage by the band's legendary drummer, Lars Ulrich, handed the sticks and invited to play 'Seek and Destroy' on Lars' kit, as Metallica's gig hit its peak.
Evan's performance was filmed by Metallica and posted on the band's Instagram, where it has been viewed hundreds of thousands of times.
Evan appeared to be the calmest man in Amsterdam that night when he kicked into the song, but he says he was a bag of nerves.
Evan told ChronicleLive: "It was obviously a dream for the whole time to play with Metallica. I did it in front of 68,000 people.
"It was mindblowing."
Evan, who has loved Metallica for as long as he can remember, explained how his dream came true.
Evan's dad, Chris, took him to a pre-party event before the concert, where he got chatting to one of Metallica's photographers.
Chris showed him a clip of Evan playing on Lars Ulrich's drum kit ahead of a previous Metallica concert, when the pair got to go back stage before the show.
The clip was sent to the band, who were clearly impressed.
Evan and Chis arrived at the Amsterdam Arena with 'meet and greet' tickets, which allowed them to meet the band before Tuesday's stadium show.
Metallica instantly recognised Evan and praised him for his drumming. But Evan had no idea that Lars Ulrich had bigger plans for the young drummer once the gig was underway.
Evan was picked from the crowd to play drums with Metallica on Seek and Destroy in front of 68,000 people.
It all happened towards the end of the show, when Lars' drum kit popped up in the 'snake pit' - the section of fans stood closest to the stage.
"I was in the snake pit, at the front of barrier, when the drum kit popped up," Evan told ChronicleLive.
"They played three songs there, the last of the songs was Seek and Destroy.
"Lars turned around, twirled his fingers and gestured to get me up on the stage.
"I was looking at the the drum kit, and Lars told me to stand up and look at everyone. He said, 'Do you know how to play it?'.
"I said, 'yeah'."
Back at on our side of the North Sea, word got round about Evan's unforgettable birthday experience.
"One of the teachers managed to find a video of it on YouTube and emailed all of the other staff.
"They were like, 'Wow, you played with Metallica!"
How's that for a first day as a teenager?
