Metallica Unleash Relentless Fan-Only Show In London

Metallica reaffirmed their status as one of metal music’s finest exponents as they brought their new album, ‘Death Magnetic’, to London tonight (September 15th).

The band performed in front of 20,000 people at the O2 Arena.
And, as frontman James Hetfield pointed out, the fan-only show took on an extra meaning after their new record topped the UK charts yesterday (September 14th).

Performing in the round, Metallica’s performance was relentless from the outset, as they launched into ‘That Was Just Your Life’.

All dressed in black jeans and t-shirts, expect for bassist Robert Trujillo, who was wearing his trademark army combat shorts, the band’s set included five songs from their new record.

'Metallica's Party'

Introducing the evening’s second song, ‘The End Of The Line’, Hetfield welcomed the crowd to “Metallica’s party”, before asking rhetorically: “Are you with us?”

After storming versions of ‘The End Of The Line’ and ‘The Thing That Should Not Be’, the singer told the audience to put away their camera phones.

“Put your phones away," Hetfield said, before adding that people should not worry about talking to their mother or bother trying to make themselves famous on YouTube and "just enjoy the show."

Energetic

Metallica showed no sign of rust during what was their first full UK arena show in support of their new record. 

And clearly benefitted from their unique stage set, which allowed each side of the audience to experience the full force of the band during songs like ‘Until It Sleeps’ and ‘Master Of Puppets’.

Drummer Lars Ulrich, who was mounted on a high circular riser, rotated throughout the performance, and could barely contain his excitement – often jumping to his feet before the songs conclusion.

After leaving the stage for a brief encore, the band returned with three songs, ‘Stone Cold Crazy’, ‘Jump In The Fire’ and ‘Seek and Destroy’.

As they unleashed the latter track, giant black beach balls fell from the roof of the venue, eventually swamping the stage.

Tickets proceeds from tonight’s gig, which followed a similar show in Berlin last week, went entirely to the Youth Music Charity.

Stay tuned to Gigwise for all the action and photos from the band’s gig at the O2 Arena.

Metallica’s set list was:

'That Was Just Your Life'
'The End Of The Line'
'The Thing That Should Not Be'
'Of Wolf And Man'
'One'
'Broken, Beat And Scarred'
'Cyanide'
'Frantic'
'Until It Sleeps'
'Wherever I May Roam'
'For Whom The Bell Toll'
'The Day That Never Comes'
'Master Of Puppets'
'Blackened'

'Stone Cold Crazy'
'Jump In The Fire'
'Seek and Destroy'

CLICK HERE to see 50 stunning, exclusive pictures of the O2 Arena show. Or enjoy selected highlights below

Metallica at the O2 Arena: