In January 2016, Sandman arrived at a London, Ontario venue to play a Metallica tribute show and was served with a 41-page cease-and-desist letter from Metallica’s own lawyers.
Within days, Metallica had called the letter a mistake, drummer Lars Ulrich had phoned the band to apologize, and the tribute act that had been told to drop Metallica’s name and logo ended up with a license to use both.
On Saturday, Nov. 28, that same band brings its Metallica show to Maxwell’s Concerts & Events at 35 University Avenue East in Waterloo, with EPIC, a Faith No More tribute, on the bill.
How ‘Sandman’ Rose Up As Canada’s Must-See Metallica Show Since 1994
Sandman formed in 1994 in Toronto, taking its name from Metallica’s “Enter Sandman.”
The band spent more than two decades playing Metallica’s music on stages across Canada, billing itself as “Canada’s tribute to Metallica,” the billing that would later draw the lawyers’ attention.
Drummer Brent “Ned” Niemi has described the band as a group of friends who played the songs as an outlet to blow off steam, and its online footprint matched that scale: when the 2016 trouble started surrounding the cease-and-desist letter, the band’s Facebook page had fewer than 800 followers.
They had been using a reworked version of Metallica’s St. Anger-era logo for more than 10 years without a word from anyone. This suddenly became an issue.
Guitarist and vocalist Joe Di Taranto came from his own Toronto band, Warmachine, which he founded in 1994 and fronted as singer, guitarist and primary songwriter.
That attention arrived in the form of a legal letter.
The 41-Page Letter That Became a Metallica License
The letter was 41 pages long, sent by the Century City law firm Sheppard Mullin on Metallica’s behalf, and it was served not only on the band but on FitzRay’s, the London, Ontario club where Sandman had played on January 9, 2016 and were booked to play again that weekend.
It objected to the band using the Metallica name, what it called the phonetic equivalent of Metallica, or any of Metallica’s logos to promote live shows on Facebook and YouTube.
As mentioned, their logo used the same lettering Metallica had used on its 2003 album St. Anger, and the “Canada’s tribute to Metallica” billing was itself one of the things the letter told them to drop.
Di Taranto posted a photo of the letter’s front page on his personal Facebook page with the remark “Quite funny,” noting that he plays in Sandman in his spare time from Warmachine.
At the time the band had fewer than 800 Facebook followers; within days the count had multiplied past 2,000 as the story spread, and fellow tribute musicians rallied publicly, including Halifax’s Red Hot Chili Peckers.
Metallica’s response came through a statement to Rolling Stone: neither the band nor its management had known about the letter until it surfaced online, and they blamed an overzealous attorney. “Sandman should file the letter in the trash,” the statement read, adding that the lawyer could be found at San Francisco International Airport catching a flight to go permanently ice fishing in Alaska.
The statement also noted that Metallica began as a tribute band itself and has invited tribute bands to support it on tour.
Lars Ulrich phoned Di Taranto personally to apologize and gave the band his full blessing to carry on as they were.
On the One On One with Mitch Lafon podcast, Di Taranto said Ulrich was furious the papers had been sent over something so stupid, and that Metallica’s camp wanted Sandman to keep using whatever logos they liked, offering a license for $1, a fee they told him he didn’t even need to pay.
In November 2016 the story came full circle.
Metallica played an intimate benefit for the Daily Bread Food Bank at Toronto’s Opera House on November 29 and invited the members of Sandman to attend, then posted a photo of the two bands together on Instagram with the caption “Hanging with Sandman, Canadian tribute band.”
The four musicians in that photo are the lineup playing Waterloo.
The Four Musicians Behind Sandman’s Metallica Sound
Sandman’s lineup mirrors Metallica’s own: two guitarists, a bassist and a drummer, with three of the four also singing.
Rick Van Dyk: Lead Vocals and Lead/Rhythm Guitar
Rick Van Dyk handles lead vocals and lead and rhythm guitar, the role James Hetfield fills.
Credited as Rickferd Van Dyk on Headstones’ member roster, he played in the Kingston hard rock band before joining Helix as singer and guitarist in the spring of 2006. Headstones formed in 1987, broke up in 2003 and re-formed in 2011. Before Helix, Van Dyk had played in Zero Option, a Kitchener band that released an album in the early 1990s.
Joe Di Taranto: Lead/Rhythm Guitar and Vocals
Joe Di Taranto plays lead and rhythm guitar and sings. He founded the Toronto band Warmachine in 1994 and signed a one-album deal with Nightmare Records; its debut, The Beginning of the End, was released in 2006, with Megadeth bassist David Ellefson guesting on three tracks and sharing a co-production credit, and Harem Scarem’s Harry Hess guesting as well.
Warmachine’s second album, Left for Dead, followed in 2010, and that March the band toured the United States supporting W.A.S.P.
Di Taranto has named Queen’s A Night at the Opera among his favourite records of all time, and Warmachine even covered Megadeth’s “Tornado of Souls” on its 2007 Raw in the Hammer DVD. The Warmachine connection also explains one more name on Sandman’s résumé: drummer Darren Smith of Harem Scarem played drums for Warmachine from 2012.
Ned Niemi: Drums
Brent “Ned” Niemi is the drummer. Before Sandman he played in the Toronto progressive metal band THD alongside former Slash Puppet vocalist Mif, and in Straitjacket.
He joined Helix in 2006 after Brian Doerner left to drum for Saga, stayed through about 2009, played on the 2008 album A Heavy Mental Christmas, and toured Canada with Helix opening for Alice Cooper.
Paulo Fonseca: Bass Guitar and Vocals
Paulo Fonseca plays bass and sings. He was Helix’s bassist from 2007 to 2009, credited on A Heavy Mental Christmas, and toured with the band on The Power of Rock and Roll.
In other words, three of Sandman’s four members, Van Dyk, Niemi and Fonseca, were bandmates in Helix from 2007 to 2009, and by then they had already been playing together part-time in Sandman.
With that résumé on stage, the question for a Metallica fan is how closely the show tracks the real thing.
How Close Sandman Gets to the Real Metallica
The clearest outside endorsement of Sandman’s show comes from Metallica’s own tour events.
Metallica’s June 2023 announcement for its M72 North American takeover listed “…And Tributes for All: Damage Inc., Motorbreath & Sandman” at New York’s Irving Plaza on August 5, 2023, between the band’s two MetLife Stadium shows.
The takeover run also put Sandman on stage at Montreal’s Corona Theatre, the Whisky a Go Go in Los Angeles, and rooms in Dallas, Phoenix and St. Louis.
In April 2025, the band played Metallica’s Toronto Takeover at the Velvet Underground at 508 Queen Street West on April 25, between Metallica’s M72 shows at the Rogers Centre on April 24 and 26.
Exclaim’s coverage of the takeover quoted a press release calling Sandman “the official Metallica-licensed tribute band” and saying they “meticulously recreate the sound, energy, and stage presence of the legendary metal band.”
Promoters now bill Sandman as “the only Metallica-sanctioned tribute band,” a claim that traces back to the $1 license and Ulrich’s blessing rather than any published agreement.
Whatever the wording, the closeness shows up in how the band is built, from the shared vocal duties to the twin-guitar attack that mirrors Metallica’s own lineup.
A Touring Record From Dubai to Charlottetown
Booking agencies report sold-out shows in Dubai, where Sandman played the Phileas Fogg in May 2023, and the band has played theatres and convention halls across Ontario and Atlantic Canada.
Recent and upcoming dates include the Rose Theatre in Brampton in October 2024, the Imperial Theatre in Sarnia in February 2025, the Regent Theatre in Oshawa in October 2025, the Concert Hall at Victoria Hall in Cobourg, and the FirstOntario Arts Centre in Milton on October 17, 2026.
In Atlantic Canada they have played the Saint John Trade & Convention Centre and return to the Capitol Theatre in Moncton on March 19, 2027.
The schedule runs well past Waterloo, with North Bay’s Capitol Centre on Dec. 5, 2026 and Charlottetown’s Confederation Centre of the Arts on March 18, 2027.
For venue bookers weighing tribute acts, that mix of Metallica’s own takeover events, international dates and repeat theatre bookings is the track record behind the name.
If You Go: Sandman Tickets, Times, and Cutoff
- Date: Saturday, Nov. 28, 2026
- Doors and show: Doors 7:30 p.m., show 8:00 p.m.
- Venue: Maxwell’s Concerts & Events, 35 University Avenue East, Waterloo
- Ages and seating: 19+, licensed, general admission with limited side seating
- Price: $22.60 CAD plus fees
- Sales cutoff: 6:29 p.m. EST on Nov. 28, unless the show sells out earlier
Ready to See Sandman Play Metallica at Maxwell’s in Waterloo, Ontario? Get Your Tickets!
Metallica once told Sandman to throw out a lawyer’s letter and keep going, and on Nov. 28 that decision plays out at Maxwell’s with EPIC opening and doors at 7:30 p.m.
General admission is $22.60 plus fees, and sales run until 6:29 p.m. that evening unless the show sells out first.
