Metallica delivered an epic, career-spanning set last night (Friday July 3) as they played the first of their two “no repeats” shows at London Stadium.
The metal pioneers took to the stage in the capital as part of the last UK and Ireland leg of their huge ‘M72’ world tour – which kicked off back in April 2023 and celebrated the release of latest album ‘72 Seasons’.
Following shows in Dublin, Glasgow and Cardiff over the past couple of weeks, James Hetfield and co. delivered a packed set last night at the first of their two shows planned for London Stadium in Stratford.
After support slots from Knocked Loose and Gojira, Metallica launched their 16-song set with 1984 ‘Ride The Lightning’ cut ‘Creeping Death’, followed by ‘…And Justice For All’’s ‘Harvester Of Sorrow’, and both ‘Holier Than Thou’ and ‘Of Wolf And Man’ from their 1991 self-titled ‘Black Album’.
“London, you better look out because Metallica is in a good mood tonight… and it’s all your fault,” the frontman quipped. “This is where we get to see the love and the care in your faces, and we get to give it right back”.
As well as breaking out favourites from their earlier discography, the rock pioneers also broke out ‘Lux Æterna’ and ‘If Darkness Had a Son’ from their latest album, as well as ‘Hardwired’ from their 2016 record ‘Hardwired… to Self-Destruct’.
As with each show, bassist Rob Trujillo and guitarist Kirk Hammett broke out a unique “doodle” specifically for the show, where they cover a couple of tracks that were written in the city that they are performing in.
Following a cover of Tom Jones’ ‘Delilah’ in Cardiff’ – despite the song being banned from the Principality Stadium – for the first of the two London shows, they broke out a medley of Ian Dury‘s ‘Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll’ and The Clash’s ‘Guns of Brixton’.
Once frontman Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich returned to the stage, they wrapped up the rest of the night with more fan favourites, including ‘Fade To Black’ – which they quipped was one of the few tracks they all agree is “pretty good” – as well as ‘Cyanide’, ‘Orion’, ‘Nothing Else Matters’ and ‘Sad But True’. Hammett borrowed the guitar of Gojira’s Christian Andreu to break out the latter 1991 classic track, while Trujillo played the bass from inside the snakepit, surrounded by fans.
Bringing things to a close, Metallica broke out back to back renditions of huge hits ‘Fuel’, ‘Seek & Destroy’ and ‘Master Of Puppets’.
“I have the best job in the whole world,” Hetfield said at the end of the night, adding that they felt “so blessed to still be here after 45 years”. Check out more footage from the night and the full setlist below.
Metallica’s London night one setlist was:
‘Creeping Death’
‘Harvester of Sorrow’
‘Holier Than Thou’
‘Of Wolf and Man’
‘Lux Æterna’
‘If Darkness Had a Son’
Kirk and Rob Doodle (Ian Dury’s ‘Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll’ and The Clash’s ‘Guns of Brixton’)
‘Fade to Black’
‘Cyanide’
‘Orion’
‘Nothing Else Matters’
‘Sad but True’
‘Hardwired’
‘Fuel’
‘Seek & Destroy’
‘Master of Puppets’
Up next, Metallica will perform at London Stadium again on Sunday night (July 5), and are expected to break out an entirely different setlist, as they have billed the shows as a “No repeats weekend”. Find any remaining tickets here.
That show will be the last of the 2026 UK and European dates they have planned, and up next the heavy metal legends will be heading back over the pond for a run of residency dates at the Sphere in Las Vegas. Those shows commence on October 1, and will run into 2027.
The band have yet to release any new music since dropping ‘72 Seasons’ in 2023, although they did recently rerelease their 1997 album ‘Reload’ (Remastered)’, with previously unreleased demos, rough mixes, live performances and more.
In a four-star review of Metallica’s ‘M72’ tour opener in Amsterdam, NME wrote: “Metallica have always been a gateway band for heavy music, but there’s a renewed excitement around them now. Tonight’s surprising, ambitious and giddy gig matches that energy at every turn.”
“From the gorgeous ‘Nothing Else Matters’ through to the unifying ‘Seek & Destroy’, the majesty of heavy music is on full display throughout the gig as Metallica prove why they’re clearly still the greatest metal band around.”
As well as breaking out huge hits, Metallica have also covered The Pogues, The Proclaimers, a-ha, and ABBA across their recent tour dates, drawn attention for Kirk Hammett wearing a “Taylor Swift Is A CIA Psyop” shirt, urged fans to donate blood and plasma by becoming the first-ever metal group to collaborate with UK blood services, and also donated £20,000 to a foodbank in Cardiff.
