The second of two Metallica concerts at the Chase Center this weekend, in celebration of the band's 40th anniversary, ended with a series of fireworks blasting off that many in San Francisco could not see — but they and their dogs could hear them.
It isn't baseball season, or the Fourth of July, or New Year's Eve, but fireworks were blasting off seemingly all weekend in San Francisco, and fairly late at night, much to the confusion of many on social media.
First, around 11:30 p.m. on Saturday, the afterparty for the Matrix Resurrections premiere down at Waterbar and Epic Steak on the Embarcadero closed out with fireworks being shot off a barge in the Bay nearby. Reports on social media indicated the fireworks sounded just as loud out in the Richmond District as they did over in Oakland, and you wouldn't have had the pleasure of seeing them unless you live pretty close to the Bay.
One SF resident who lives at Folsom and First streets tweeted that the explosive noise shook their building and woke up everyone inside (at least those who were asleep at 11:30 on a Saturday). As another Twitterer joked, "SF's attempt at having a night life. Didn't understand the assignment."
Folsom and first. Shook my building hard enough to wake everybody up. Where was the heads up? Too much to ask?
— Fred (@augie50) December 19, 2021
It’s almost midnight. They’re literally shaking the building im I’m in Berkeley.
— Mikey (@Crispycrunchy) December 19, 2021
WTF it's 11:30,im in the Richmond district and it's super loud
— Michel Pigassou (@Dagnan) December 19, 2021
I appreciate this tweet as I had no idea what was going on. I absolutely do not appreciate 11:30pm fireworks when the world just seems to be periodically spontaneously exploding (literally and metaphorically) as it is.
— You (@luckiestmonkey) December 19, 2021
SF’s attempt at having a night life. Did not understand the assignment.
— Gerta.eth👩💻 (@gerta_ma) December 19, 2021
The movie premiere was one of the biggest and splashiest ever held at the Castro Theatre — and this was thanks in part to the insistence of director and Matrix creator Lana Wachowski, who is a San Francisco resident and who says the Castro is her favorite movie theater.
And as Wachowski noted in comments from the stage Saturday night, per the Chronicle, Mayor London Breed was instrumental in "turning nos into yeses" during the filming in early 2020, so we know who probably signed off on late-night fireworks without, like, neighborhood outreach. But hey, it's a party!
This scenario repeated itself around 10:45 p.m. on Sunday, when another late-night fireworks show went off at a slightly different location, outside the Chase Center in Mission Bay.
The show went on for several minutes, and also led to confusion — as not everyone in town knew that Metallica was performing two 40th anniversary concerts in SF this weekend, one on Friday night, and one on Sunday night.
"Fireworks mission bay at 11 p.m. on Sunday. Who. And why," wrote one Redditor. Others responded about the Metallica show, and one replier said, "Also heard it loud in the east bay. Same thing last night, which was apparently the Matrix premiere. Hopefully not again tomorrow."
One SF resident on Twitter tweeted at Metallica saying, "You're assholes for shooting of[f] firworks on a Sunday night at 11 p.m. in our city."
What is up with the fireworks in San Francisco right now? #sf pic.twitter.com/VTuu3ORMtE
— Shannon Stone, PhD 🧬💉 (@shasto) December 20, 2021
Omg what are all these #explosions around #SoMa??
— ɢʀᴀʜᴀᴍ.ʟʏ (@grahamharbison) December 20, 2021
Laws about noise after 10:00pm doesn’t seem to extend to celebrations regarding sports events or concerts! Fireworks at the end of the @Metallica concert disturbed a lot of people, & probably pets too, but the city doesn’t care about that! @LondonBreed @sfgov @sfbos @ChaseCenter
— mary french (@ukgirlinsf) December 20, 2021
@Metallica you’re assholes for shooting of fireworks on a Sunday night at 11 pm in our city.
— Michael Fransen (@michaelfransen) December 20, 2021