Jason Newsted Joins Voivod Onstage in California

Bass legend Jason Newsted has largely been unseen since shutting down his social media presence in September of 2014. With that decision also came the end of his solo outfit, Newsted, who had only released one EP and one album before dissolving. However, the surfaced last night (June 8), performing onstage with his former band Voivod.

Voivod are currently on tour supporting their Post Society EP and stopped at Slim's in San Francisco, Calif., where they were joined by their former bandmate. Newsted hopped up and ripped through the band's eponymous track off their War and Pain 1984 debut. Looking genuinely excited to be playing with the group, he stalks the stage and provides emphatic backing vocals as seen in the clip below.

Newsted and Voivod's ties go back to 1995 where they first began working together with the icon sitting in as a producer. Following his departure from Metallica, he joined the Canadian thrash veterans in 2002 where he remained until splitting with the group in 2008. Making appearances on Voivod, Katorz and Infini, he also served as producer on the self-titled disc as well as Infini.

Stepping away from Metallica in 2001, Newsted cited his desire to work on his project Echobrain, which Metallica's management had seen as a promising outfit and were willing to put support behind it. A side project did not sit well with James Hetfield, who became defensive and tried to shut down the band. Ultimately, Newsted felt the strain of not having enough of a creative outlet and made the decision to step down.

See Where Jason Newsted Ranks Among the Top 50 Hard Rock + Metal Bassists of All Time

Jason Newsted Reflects on Metallica's '...And Justice for All'