Machine Head say they’re “extremely honoured” after being given keys to the city of Albuquerque by Mayor Tim Keller, jokingly claiming that they were keys to the Albuquerque City Jail.
The Oakland groove metal band passed through the New Mexico city on Monday (June 23) as part of their ongoing North American tour supporting metalcore stars Killswitch Engage. The band met Keller, who’s known as the ‘Metal Mayor’ due to his love for the genre, plus his brother Scott ahead of the concert.
Machine Head wrote in an Instagram post: “We’re extremely honoured to have been presented with keys to the Albuquerque City Jail yesterday by @mayorkeller and his brother, Scott!”
Keller, a Democrat, is the 30th mayor of Albuquerque and the first in the city’s history to have served three consecutive terms, after assuming the post in 2017 and being re-elected in 2021 and 2025. His affinity for metal was the focal point of a 2018 New York Times profile, which reported that he had been spotted at local Anthrax concerts and once introduced Trivium onstage at the Sunshine Theater.
In 2022, US band Soulfly posted a photo of Keller wearing one of the band’s shirt as he went to to vote in the midterm elections. From 2024 to 2025, he gave keys to the city of Albuquerque to Iron Maiden frontman Bruce Dickinson, members of Testament, Soulfly/ex-Sepultura frontman Max Cavalera and members of Judas Priest. He’s also officially declared September 19 as Iron Maiden Day.
During an interview with Riot Fest in 2018, Keller called metal music “part of the background of my daily life”: “I wake up to it (currently my alarm song is I’ve Been Sober by DevilDriver), I drive to it, I work out to it, I read with it, I work on the computer to it long into the night. I probably listen to metal at least four hours every day.”
He also revealed that his very open love for the genre hadn’t affected his political career all that much.
“I’ve actually always owned my love of metal, even when I got into politics 10 years ago as a state senator,” he said. “The funny thing is, no one cared or noticed until I became mayor. I get a lot of people who are like, ‘Not sure about music taste, but I like you.’”
He added: “I have had opponents try and use it here and there by saying I’m too ‘fringe’ or ‘alternative’ because of metal, but it seemed to make them come off as really stodgy and desperate to be making fun of someone’s music taste instead of debating the issues.”
Keller is a longtime Machine Head fan, having discovered the band’s 1994 debut album Burn My Eyes through word-of-mouth when he was in school.
The four-piece’s tour continues tonight (June 25) at the Hollywood Palladium in Los Angeles. They’ll headline the Rockfest and Inkcarceration festivals in the US next month before playing another leg of North American Killswitch Engage support shows in August.
