Metallica – 40th Anniversary Concert (Night Two) Review 12.19.21

First the Rewind: Metallica celebrated their 40th anniversary of being a band by doing two shows. The first on Friday, December 17th and the final show on Sunday, December 19th at San Francisco’s Chase Center. The first night saw Metallica perform a career-spanning set lasting over two hours. No special guests appeared on either nights but it was not needed as the band went into their second night with deeper cuts in a surprising setlist.

Much like the first night, the setlist was arranged to play a couple songs from each album but the second night. But on the second night rather than the band play something from  1983’s Kill ‘Em All , they reversed it by opening up with their most recent album in 2016’s Hardwired… To Self-Destruct.

Before taking the stage, the fans in attendance were treated to a “Metallica Story”  narrated by Rage Against the Machine guitarist Tom Morello (actor Jason Momoa did the honors previous evening).

Unlike the first evening which saw mainly dark colored lights on the band, and at times felt Homemade from a fan-cam, white lights were used on the band throughout. In addition, smoother transitioning and tighter camera cuts.

Greatest highlights of Night Two saw Metallica perform a number of songs that had not been performed in a long time. This included:
“The End of the Line” ( from Death Magnetic album),

“Dirty Window” (representing St. Anger album),

“I Disappear” (from the Mission: Impossible 2 soundtrack).

Another excellent moment was when they launched into “The Memory Remains” as the maxed capacity crowd as they sang along. Instant chills ran up the spine as the fans closed out the song for several minutes singing Marianne Faithfull’s sinister closing La, da, da, da, la, da hook sang at the end of the studio version of this classic song.

Next up was “Fuel”
Up next was one of Hetfield’s favorite tunes to play live: “Fuel” as from their the band went on a deep and slow emotional roller-coaster beginning with “Bleeding Me” as it really took things down a few notches before bringing it back up with “Wasting My Hate” and dialing it way down again with  “The Unforgiven.”
Around the bend of wrapping up their second night, Metallica focused on classics such as “Enter Sandman”, “Harvester of Sorrow”
“Master of Puppets” “Fade to Black”
“Whiplash”, and a kickass closer in Seek & Destroy to close out their 2 hours and 14 minute show.

Catch the two 40th anniversary performances coming soon to Prime Video and Amazon Music. See the second night’s setlist and video highlights below.

Setlist (Night 2):
“Hardwired”
“The End of the Line”
“Dirty Window”
“I Disappear”
“Am I Evil?”
“The Memory Remains”
“Fuel”
“Bleeding Me”
“Wasting My Hate”
“The Unforgiven”
“Enter Sandman”
“Harvester of Sorrow”
“Master of Puppets”
“Fade to Black”
“Whiplash”
“Seek & Destroy”

9.0

The final score: review Amazing

The 411

All things considered, as Metallica members quietly approach being in their sixties, they still know how to perform with great intensity. This special 40th anniversary set of performances featured deep cuts, and an excellent setlist despite no special guests. Honestly though? It was not needed as Metallica has always been Metallica, they just do their thing while kicking ass. In a day and age where most acts rely heavily on Auto-Tunes and lip-syncing, Metallica shows grit with attention to detail while actually performing live. Whether it's an appearance in front of thousands or for an audience of five, Metallica shows up with memorable performances. All these decades later and to James Hetfield's point from night one, they still love what they do. There is an old sang that if you find something you really love doing and invest in it, that you will never really work a day in your life. Metallica continues to be blessed as they easily could phone it in by being a greatest hits touring band, and not putting out any new material. They have earned the right to do so but they continue pushing the envelope creatively in and out of the studio and live on stage. These guys make it look so effortless. By the way, can we give the drummer some love? Lars Urlich played like a man possessed with such furious tenacity! Congrats Metallica on 40 years! Here is to more great memories!