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San Francisco Chronicle
a day ago
- Entertainment
- San Francisco Chronicle
Review: Metallica omits its biggest hit on first night of Levi's Stadium stand
Is a Metallica concert in 2025 complete without 'Enter Sandman'? The fans gathered at Levi's Stadium for the chilly first night of an epic weekend residency didn't seem to notice its omission. With a full clip of metal classics stretching more than four decades, a stadium full of black-clad day-ones and their offspring, and a 'no repeats' setlist in place across two nights, Metallica's signature hit took a rare night off. Still, Metallica's Friday night, 16-song set was career-spanning, touching upon multiple eras. They turned back the clock to 1983 with thrash metal templates 'Hit the Lights' and 'Seek and Destroy.' Well-oiled headbangers 'Creeping Death,' 'Sad But True' and 'Battery' inspired hearty chants. Lead guitarist Kirk Hammett even shouted out the local metal community, specifically the burgeoning RBS movement led by Sunami, Drain, Scowl and others. 'The Bay Area is so metal,' said Hammett. Singer and guitarist James Hetfield, too, flexed his regional knowledge, confidently bellowing 'Santa Clara' as opposed to 'San Francisco' like other headliners. At 61, he still cuts an imposing figure, looking clean and lean in tough leathers. His voice possesses a hefty gruff, chewing up and spitting out lyrics like gristle. 'I have the best job in the world,' Hetfield said, as he surveyed the masses. Openers Ice Nine Kills and Limp Bizkit were a mixed bag. Ice Nine Kills, a metalcore band with a theatrical bent and saxophone, were enthusiastic but more appropriate for dark theaters than late afternoon sunlight. Limp Bizkit fared better with a nostalgic set of millennial rap-rock hits like 'Nookie,' 'My Way' and 'Break Stuff.' Lead singer Fred Durst commented that while serving his country at the Alameda Naval Air Station in the late '80s, he'd often go to shows at the Warfield and the Fillmore. For the main event, Metallica commanded attention using an innovative circular stage that stretched the stadium floor approximately between the 30-yard markers. The intention was for all sections to have the feeling of the band performing right in front of you. And for extended moments, that felt true. The group periodically moved counter-clockwise to perform in each quadrant over the two-hour set. Even Lars Ulrich's drum kit was mobile, disappearing underneath the stage and reappearing in a different spot. Other times, Hetfield, Hammett and bassist Robert Trujillo would splay out across the stage to connect with fans. Speakers were suspended above the stage in a unique trussing system, giving everyone a clear vantage point. That said, the newfangled stage takes some getting used to. When the band was in close quarters performing right in front of you, the show fulfilled its stated mission. But as they circulated to opposite ends, it gave flashbacks to the rotating stage concept at the old Circle Star Theater in San Carlos. To keep up, fans would rely on the eight 360-degree video screens perched overhead on top of towers. Sometimes the video director went overboard with the quick cuts, close-ups and special effects when all you wanted to see was four-on-the-stadium-floor action. The two main jumbotron video boards were turned off for the entirety of the show. Meanwhile, those who shelled out for 'Snake Pit' passes got more than their money's worth. The pit is the filet mignon-like area inside the circular stage. The standing-room-only experience gave diehards the sweaty intimacy they craved for a premium price ($2000 for both nights). During 'Sad But True,' bassist Rob Trujillo rode a platform that crowd-surfed through the pit. Outside of the pit, the general admission floor teemed with folks pressed up against the stage barrier, with up to seven moshpits breaking out in different spots. At the other end of the price spectrum, the view from the upper deck seats (starting at $60, a bargain for a show of this magnitude) was all-encompassing and loud, a decent experience for the price despite the windy conditions — pack a jacket. The band rewarded the audience's decades-long faith with a few special moments. The stage crew plucked a young kid on stage to count off 'Seek and Destroy' ('Do you have the album 'Kill Em All'? Can I borrow it?' asked Hetfield). Hammett and Trujillo debuted 'Primo,' an impromptu bluesy jam. Large, very un-metal Metallica beach balls were set loose towards the end of the show. 'The Day That Never Comes' from the 2023 album '72 Seasons' showed the group's ability to introduce new material without sacrificing momentum, Hetfield beginning the song on a stool then rising like a phoenix to finish it off. Two songs in particular stood out given current events. 'King Nothing' felt kismetic given the recent 'No Kings' protests ('Just want one thing/ Just to play the king/ But the castle's crumbled/ And you're left with just a name'). The anthemic set closer 'Master of Puppets' was equally prescient and cataclysmic. A song about drug addiction, the crowd participated in primal scream therapy — chanting 'Master! Master!' with vigor — an activity that Hetfield encouraged early on and hopefully carries on to Sunday night and beyond. 'I hope you came here to do the same thing I did, which is to get all the ugly crap out,' he said. 'Get it out, leave it right here, and breathe in all the good stuff, alright? We're here to make you feel good.' Setlist: 'Creeping Death' 'Harvester of Sorrow' 'Hit the Lights' 'King Nothing' '72 Seasons' 'If Darkness Had a Son' 'Primo (Kirk and Rob doodle)' 'The Day That Never Comes' 'Cyanide' 'Orion' 'Nothing Else Matters' 'Sad but True' 'Battery' 'Fuel' 'Seek & Destroy' 'Master of Puppets'
Yahoo
07-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Review and Setlist: Metallica delivers heavy-hitting Tampa show
TAMPA – Enter Metallica. The reigning kings of thrash made their long-awaited return Friday, delivering a relentless sonic boom to a jam-packed Raymond James Stadium. The band, which had bypassed Tampa Bay during its last two Florida tours, treated about 70,000 acolytes to a blistering 2-hour and 5-minute, 16-song set. You could have birthed a child now old enough to drive between the time that the band had last appeared here — 5,725 days ago. (But who's counting?) The group is playing a two-show, 'no repeat weekend' with different sets and opening acts — unapologetically designed to lure hardcore followers to both nights. Friday's other performers were Limp Bizkit and Ice Nine Kills. Sunday's bill includes Pantera and Suicidal Tendencies. Metallica has achieved enormous worldwide success built on sturdy musicianship and multilayered songs that connect with fiercely loyal fans. Power rock, speed metal, thrash or heavy metal. Call it what you will. Metallica still rules the genre. The band's M72 world tour has been in full stride since the release of its 11th studio album '72 Seasons' two years ago — the latest in a line of intense, take-no-prisoners recordings, building on a mostly brilliant resume. The group formed when 17-year-old drummer Lars Ulrich placed an ad looking for like-minded musicians in the fall of 1981. James Hetfield, who had just turned 18, showed up. He would become the singer, lyricist, and rhythm guitarist. Angry and rebellious, those two Southern California teens likely would have scoffed at the idea that they'd be doing this into their sixties. But here they are. Lucky for us. The band Friday traversed 40 years of music with a mix of anthems and obscure tracks, starting with the volcanic 'Creeping Death' off their 1984 album 'Ride the Lightning.' There is a rocket-fueled, galloping rhythm to signature Metallica music, forged by Hetfield's down-picking style and lead guitarist Kirk Hammett's searing solos. Newer songs like the title track from the last record and 'If Darkness Had a Son,' played early, cut loose like rollicking runaway trains. The show featured some of Metallica's strongest work, including 'The Day That Never Comes' — a ballad that found Hetfield seated at the start, until the band charges like a hostile rhino. 'Love is a four-letter word,' Hetfield growls. It stood as one of many first-night highlights. As for deep cuts, you can't get much deeper than the mesmerizing and melodic instrumental 'Orion' written primarily by transformational bassist Cliff Burton months before he died in a 1986 tour bus crash. Metallica only resumed playing it with the gifted Robert Trujillo, his bass slung so low at times it nearly scrapes the stage. Hetfield seemed genuinely inspired by the size of the crowd, stopping at one point to say 'I can't believe how many people came here tonight to celebrate live music with your friends from Metallica.' Later he told those attending their first show that 'we've been waiting for you, and now you're here — members of the Metallica family of Tampa Bay.' Family is forever, he would note. And that family lost its collective minds when Hammett launched into the gorgeous opening bars of 'Nothing Else Matters' from their top selling 1991 album 'Metallica.' It's as close to a real love song as anything in the hall of fame group's vast catalog, though it pulsed with energy. Fans filled a 'snake pit' inside a massive circular stage. The configuration had pros and cons. It made for a more intimate experience for those who could afford to be in the thick of it. During most of the show, however, it felt as if the quartet stood in four different zip codes. Only seldomly, like during 'Orion,' would they all congregate near each other for the duration of a song. The band closed with seething versions of 'Seek and Destroy' and 'Masters of Puppets' — essential playlist tracks for every Army tank operator who ever powered up an M1 Abrams. There would be no encore, unless you count Sunday's full show as such. Earlier in the evening, the pride of Jacksonville, Limp Bizkit, brought its own brand of fury during a high-energy — and fun — nine-song set led by frontman Fred Durst and masked guitarist Wes Borland. Durst, wearing a Japan national team Shohei Ohtani jersey, shouted out Clearwater resident Tom Cruise — a big-time Metallica fan who was apparently hanging out earlier backstage. Limp Bizkit followed every serial killer's favorite band, Ice Nine Kills. The five-member Boston-based outfit (not counting the zombies and damsels in distress that wandered or danced across the stage) buzzed through House of Horrors performance art choreographed to its music, complete with splattered blood, severed heads, hatchets and other killing tools. By mid set, I wondered when they were going to melt down last Halloween's leftover candy corn and shoot it into our veins. Here are the main downsides of the no repeat weekend: Floor tickets for a single show sold for up to $424 through Ticketmaster. A spot in the snake pit commanded $3,700 on the secondary market. Seats in Ray Jay's hinterlands, where sound quality can be a dice roll, approached $100. Even being bigger bodied came with financial consequences. Fans buying 2XL, 3XL or 4XL T-shirts had to fork over a $5 'upcharge' at the bustling merch stands. If you managed to score decent seats to both concerts, great. (Tom Cruise could afford it!) But what if you couldn't? Pick the Friday show and you ran the risk of never hearing the end of it from buddies who will see Metallica play 'Enter Sandman' 'One,' 'For Whom the Bell Tolls,' 'The Unforgiven,' and 'The Call of Ktulu' — all standard second-night offerings. It's the better setlist. Go Sunday only, and there's no 'Orion.' I did a quick informal survey of fans milling around the concourse, and roughly 70% of the folks I talked to bought tickets for both nights. 'Smart marketing on their part,' one told me. In between the no repeat concerts along this tour, Metallica is fitting in one-off shows in places like Syracuse, New York, and Blacksburg, Virginia. Those concertgoers reveled in a fully-loaded final six-song feast of 'Nothing Else Matters,' 'Sad but True,' 'One,' 'Seek & Destroy,' 'Masters of Puppets' and 'Enter Sandman.' It's hard to complain when a band ends a muscular show with the potency and conviction of its riveting chosen songs. The band looked and sounded great. And it truly was a fantastic performance. But it's easy to yearn for more Metallica, especially on behalf of those Friday-only fans who've been sleeping with one eye open and gripping their pillows tight — waiting all these years for the Sandman's return. FRIDAY SETLIST 'Creeping Death' 'Harvester of Sorrow' 'Leper Messiah' 'King Nothing' '72 Seasons' 'If Darkness Had a Son' Kirk and Rob doodle ('Jalepeno Jam') 'The Day That Never Comes' 'Cyanide' 'Orion' 'Nothing Else Matters' 'Sad But True' 'Blackened' 'Fuel' 'Seek & Destroy' 'Master of Puppets' ANTICIPATED SUNDAY SETLIST These are the percentage chances that the following songs will be played based on an analysis of a full year's worth of M72 'no repeat' performances. 'Whiplash' (100%) 'For Whom the Bell Tolls' (100%) 'Ride the Lightning' (93%) 'Until It Sleeps' (53%) 'Lux Ӕterna' (93%) 'Screaming Suicide' (60%) Kirk and Rob doodle (100%) 'Welcome Home (Sanitarium)' (47%) 'Wherever I May Roam' (80%) 'The Call of Ktulu' (100%) 'The Unforgiven' (100%) 'Inamorata' (73%) 'Fight Fire With Fire' (40%) 'Moth into Flame' (100%) 'One' (100%) 'Enter Sandman' (100%)
Yahoo
08-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Metallica Perform 'Enter Sandman' at Virginia Tech Stadium 25 Years After It Became School Tradition: Watch
The post Metallica Perform 'Enter Sandman' at Virginia Tech Stadium 25 Years After It Became School Tradition: Watch appeared first on Consequence. Metallica finally brought 'Enter Sandman' to Virginia Tech's Lane Stadium — 25 years after it became a school tradition as the Hokies' game-day hype intro. Since 2000, the iconic metal song has blared from the loudspeakers as the Virginia Tech football team takes the field on game days, becoming a school tradition in the process. Metallica have been well aware of the song's significance in Blacksburg, once paying tribute to legendary Va. Tech coach Frank Beamer in a video message that was played before his last game nine years ago. Get Metallica Tickets Here At last, Metallica themselves made their way to Blacksburg for a concert at Lane Stadium on Wednesday (May 7th) as part of their ongoing 'M72 Tour.' The special gig opened with an intro that simulated the football team's walkout, with a recording of 'Enter Sandman' sending the crowd into a frenzy, as captured in audience footage. From there, Metallica launched into a set-opening rendition of 'Creeping Death' before running through their typical career-spanning 'M72' setlist, which closed with an actual live performance of 'Enter Sandman,' with the crowd reaction apparently registering on the Richter scale. Even current Virginia Tech head coach Brent Pry was in attendance, taking in the gig from his private suite at the stadium. Before the show, he met with the members of Metallica, presenting each with a No. 25 Hokies jersey and a No. 72 jersey, commemorating the 'M72' tour. The Metallica-Virginia Tech lore runs deep, and even took a tragic turn in 2009 when a Virginia Tech student, Morgan Dana Harrington, went missing following a Metallica concert in Charlottesville, Virginia, and was eventually found to have been murdered. Metallica offered up a $50k reward, in addition to a $100k reward from Crimestoppers, for information leading to a conviction (prime suspect Jesse L. Matthew, Jr. was later sentenced to four consecutive live sentences for the murder of Harrington and another student, Hannah Graham, who attended the University of Virginia). As for Metallica, the thrash legends' tour rolls on with a stop at the Sonic Temple fest in Columbus, Ohio, where they'll play two separate sets on Friday (May 9th) and Sunday (May 11th). Get tickets here. You can check out audience footage from the Lane Stadium show, along with the setlist, below. Setlist: Creeping Death For Whom the Bell Tolls Ride the Lightning King Nothing Lux Æterna Screaming Suicide Kirk and Rob Doodle ('Hell and Back' first performance since 2012) The Day That Never Comes Fuel Orion Nothing Else Matters Sad but True One Seek & Destroy Master of Puppets Enter Sandman Metallica' 2025 Tour Dates: 05/09 – Columbus, OH @ Sonic Temple Music Festival 05/11 – Columbus, OH @ Sonic Temple Music Festival 05/23 – Philadelphia, PA @ Lincoln Financial Field + 05/25 – Philadelphia, PA @ Lincoln Financial Field * 05/28 – Landover, MD @ Northwest Stadium * 05/31 – Charlotte, NC @ Bank of America Stadium * 06/03 – Atlanta, GA @ Mercedes-Benz Stadium * 06/06 – Tampa, FL @ Raymond James Stadium + 06/08 – Tampa, FL @ Raymond James Stadium * 06/14 – Houston, TX @ NRG Stadium * 06/20 – Santa Clara, CA @ Levi's Stadium + 06/22 – Santa Clara, CA @ Levi's Stadium * 06/27 – Denver, CO @ Empower Field at Mile High + 06/29 – Denver, CO @ Empower Field at Mile High * * = w/ Pantera and Suicidal Tendencies + = w/ Limp Bizkit and Ice Nine Kills Popular Posts Beyoncé Hit with Cease and Desist Letter Over Video of Her Picking Up Sphere Ghost Become First Hard Rock Act to Go No. 1 on Billboard in Four Years Lady Gaga Plays Biggest Show of Career for 2 Million People at Copacabana Beach The Rehearsal's Latest Episode Had Us Literally Screaming at the Screen Stephen King's The Long Walk Movie Gets Long-Awaited Trailer: Watch Trump Signs Executive Order to End Federal Funding of NPR, PBS Subscribe to Consequence's email digest and get the latest breaking news in music, film, and television, tour updates, access to exclusive giveaways, and more straight to your inbox.
San Francisco Chronicle
21-04-2025
- Entertainment
- San Francisco Chronicle
Over 47,500 fans pack Metallica's record-breaking 2025 tour opener
Metallica made history over the weekend with its first concert of 2025. The veteran Bay Area hard rock act set a new attendance record at New York's JMA Wireless Dome in Syracuse, packing in more than 47,500 fans on Saturday, April 19. It surpasses the previous record of 47,319 attendees at the venue (formerly the Carrier Dome) set by The Who in 1982. 'Thank you, Syracuse!!! We had an amazing time kicking off this year's #M72 Tour at JMA Wireless Dome, where you set a new all-time attendance record with over 47,500 of you welcoming us for our first show,' Metallica wrote in a Facebook post Sunday. The concert was part of the band's ongoing M72 World Tour, supporting its latest album, '72 Seasons.' Since its debut in Amsterdam in April 2023, the tour has taken Metallica across the globe, with upcoming stops scheduled for Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara on June 20 and 22. For the Syracuse show, Metallica used a unique circular stage setup, allowing concertgoers to surround the entire performance area. In addition to the seats around the stage, 7,500 fans filled the floor, where there was even an exclusive 'Snake Pit' zone. The 16-song setlist spanned the band's entire career, from 'Creeping Death' to 'Enter Sandman,' representing all of Metallica's studio albums, except 2003's 'St. Anger' and the 2011 collaboration with Lou Reed, 'Lulu.' The concert is estimated to have generated up to $15 million for the local economy, according to Visit Syracuse. A portion of proceeds from every ticket sold on the M72 tour benefits local charities via the band's All Within My Hands foundation. Metallica M72 setlist 'Creeping Death' 'For Whom the Bell Tolls' 'Hit the Lights' 'King Nothing' 'Lux Æterna' 'Screaming Suicide' 'Broken, Beat & Scarred' 'The Day That Never Comes' 'Fuel' 'Orion' 'Nothing Else Matters' 'Sad But True' 'One' 'Seek & Destroy' 'Master of Puppets' 'Enter Sandman'
