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Three decades ago, Tuktoyaktuk hosted a concert that rocked the North with giants of the music industry.

Part of a Molson Canadian product launch, Metallica travelled to the Beaufort Delta community on Sept. 3, 1995, alongside Hole, Veruca Salt, Cake and Moist to play a beach party. Bands used to packing tens of thousands of fans into arenas and stadiums entertained the Arctic hamlet of just under 1,000 at the time.

In the front row, directly in front of Metallica lead guitarist Kirk Hammett, was Dez Loreen who told ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø Media that the experience changed his life.

"My mom got me a pass. She was living in Tuk at the time and was working the event," he says. "Up until I met frontman James Hetfield in the Tuk school gym, I was Desmond Loreen. James signed his name ‘JAYMZ,’ and I said, 'Wait. We can do that?'

"So I started using Dez â€” and been doing so since then, at 12 years old."

Having parents who worked the show was a ticket for a lot of Beaufort Delta youth.

Francis Jacobson was able to watch the show at age 12. He says you can spot him and his friend Nelly Pokiak in the concert footage.

"The biggest memory of the show was meeting the bands," he recalls. "My mom and a few others were security and bouncers."

Joining the bands were 500 contest winners from across Canada for what was dubbed the Molson Ice Polar Beach Party.

Arguably the biggest party ever held in the Beaufort Delta, the impact of the show was so immense that, even 30 years later, people still talk about it like it was yesterday.

"I was nine years old and attended," says Donovan Felix. "I remember a security guard asked me to watch his seat for him while he went and got lunch. He shared a sandwich with me when he got back. I remember sitting in the back of the crowd and barely hearing my dad talk to me. Lots of cool memories — wish I'd have gotten their signature on my limited access pass."

Tuktoyaktuk's main stage and modest fair grounds were covered in a large canvas and dubbed "the Big Igloo." But the energy was so intense, nothing else mattered.

The globetrotting musicians were reportedly happy to meet with Arctic fans during their stay.

"I took Kirk Hammett to dip his toe in the ocean after, as well as we passed Eric Erlandson from Hole, and offered him to come with us but they declined," Tanya Gruben remembers. "They signed my jacket though."

Loreen, who was so impressed by the performance he made a point of seeing Metallica live a second time in Edmonton while they were shooting their feature film 'Through the Never,' says he became a lifelong fan because of the Tuk performance.

"It was a wild show," he says. "I think the concert has left a lifetime of memories with those of us who were there — it would be so great to see Metallica come back again."

ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø Media reached out to Metallica's official fan club to speak to someone from the organization and was referred to Metallica's current publicist, MBC Public Relations, but did not receive a response from the London, England-based firm.

Watch Metallica's two-and-a-half-hour set in Tuktoyaktuk here: