Live Recaps
AC/DC’s “It’s a Long Way to the Top” felt an appropriate choice of lights-down intro music for Metallica‘s concert at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey on Friday night (August 4) — the first show of the U.S. leg of the band’s M72 World Tour, and the first of two shows they’d play at the venue that weekend.
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After all, it’s now been 40 years since their debut album Kill ‘Em All first made them metal sensations. Though they’ve spent most of those four decades as gigantic rock stars, not many years in between have been particularly easy for the band, as they’ve dealt at length with death, alcoholism, in-band turmoil, repeat fan backlash and extremely public humiliation. But here they were, unquestionably at the top — as drummer Lars Ulrich later pointed out, performing in the round at the 80,000-cap MetLife marked the biggest venue they’d ever played in the New York area, and they’d be back doing so again on Sunday night — and their gratitude at being there (and being anywhere at all, really) was infectious throughout the night.
The band was likely feeling extra thankful to have an audience so willing to go along with their fascinating gambit for this particular tour: a risky “No Repeat Weekend” strategy that sees them play two nights at the same venue with two completely different setlists — meaning that each individual show is invariably lacking a handful of the usual musts. Fans with the time, willingness and (most importantly) money to make it out to East Rutherford for both of this weekend’s shows could afford to be zen about such things, but those in town for one night only could understandably be anxious about some of the big misses from Friday’s show. After all, can you really call it a Metallica concert if there’s no “For Whom the Bell Tolls,” no “One,” and — in Yankees country, no less — no “Enter Sandman”?
The answer, of course is “yes,” as became fairly clear early in the set. Many bands throughout history, even great ones, are too defined by their hits to stray from them in an average concert; Metallica can start off with three deep cuts (“Creeping Death” from Ride the Lightning, “Harvester of Sorrow” from …And Justice for All and “Holier Than Thou” from Metallica) and not feel like they’re reaching. Besides, even with over two hours to work with, the band’s songs are epic enough that there was only room for 16 of them; Metallica couldn’t hit all the big ones with that setlist length even if they tried. So it was pretty easy to let go of the idea of a la carte song ordering, and let Metallica’s omakase setlist do its thing.
And both the song selection and the performance was pretty impeccable throughout. It felt a privilege to get near 10 minutes each of both the spellbinding Master of Puppets instrumental chugger “Orion” and the underrated 21st century “Simple Man”-turned-“Free Bird” power ballad “The Day That Never Comes,” with the band — minus the occasional Lars aberration — in total lockstep, guitarist Kirk Hammett’s leads in particular sounding as explosive and radiant as ever. Even most of the material from the new 72 Seasons, which can feel a little flat on record, came alive in this setting — sounding more credible than ever as forgotten b-sides or second-side cuts from the band’s classic period. (“If Darkness Was a Son,” though, will likely always be a tough hang.)
But just as important than the specific songs and performances was the band’s good vibes throughout. You wouldn’t necessarily expect to be able to describe a Metallica concert — particularly one that starts with “Creeping Death” — as “life-affirming,” but that’s how it felt watching these guys cheesing up a storm, raving about their own picks (“I like that song!”) dodging gigantic beach balls onstage (dropped on the crowd during “Seek and Destroy”), even throwing an entire red Solo cup’s worth of picks into the crowd after the show. “We are so grateful to be up there kicking ass and celebrating life with you,” frontman James Hetfield raved. Bassist Robert Trujillo, who’s now been with the band a full two decades (and is basically the same age as the other members), still bounds with a sort of new-guy energy to him; he’s a great argument for why all veteran rock bands should add a brand new member — preferably one who’s been a longtime fan — halfway through their lifespan, to keep things from ever getting too stale.
The show closed with “Master of Puppets” — a signature song which, after three and a half decades of fan worship, also become the band’s unlikely first Hot 100 top 40 hit in nearly 15 years last summer. The most indelible image of the evening — in our section at least — was a series of four pre-teens in matching Metallica shirts losing their minds (and eventually their shirts) to “Master”; all members-in-training of the Hellfire Club, no doubt. One of the adults supervising them was also wearing a shirt with a Napster logo — seemingly as neither an ironic nor confrontational gesture, but rather just as a winking acknowledgment of how much water under the bridge band and audience share after 40 years.
The most emotional moment of the night, however, came earlier, as Hetfield acknowledged thanked the crowd for “remembering my birthday” — the frontman having turned 60 just on Thursday. “My seventh decade on the planet… I can’t believe it,” he rhapsodized from on stage. “Younger me would be saying, ‘You made it. You effing made it.’” Then, before launching into “Fade to Black” — from the band’s second album, and still one of the most vivid, heartbreaking, and still strangely empowering songs ever written about suicidal ideation — he reflected, “I’m glad I didn’t listen to my head when I was young.” It’s a long way to the top, but Hetfield and Metallica made a very good case on Friday for why getting there is worth the trip.
Setlist:
“Creeping Death”“Harvester of Sorrow”“Holier Than Thou”“King Nothing”“72 Seasons”“If Darkness Had a Son”“Fade to Black”“Shadows Follow”“Orion”“Nothing Else Matters”“Sad But True”“The Day That Never Comes”“Battery”“Fuel”“Seek and Desteroy”“Master of Puppets”
Bruce Springsteen might be tired of talking. Between two runs of his narrative-heavy Springsteen on Broadway residency and eight episodes of his Renegades: Born in the USA podcast co-hosted with former president Barack Obama, Springsteen had been doing a lot of gabbing in the six years since he last hit the road with longtime backing outfit The E Street Band. But if Wednesday night’s (Feb. 1) opener to the group’s 2023 Tour is any indication, story time is over: The Boss is back, and he just wants to play.
In fact, for the great majority of the show at Tampa’s Amalie Arena, the only thing Springsteen had to say — outside of the occasional “TAMPA!” holler or stage direction for his 19-piece band — was “one, two, three, four!” as he introduced their next ripper. No mention was made of the relatively long layoff since their last global trek, nor of any of the real-world circumstances that might’ve accounted for a couple of those dormant years, nor even of the fact that this was their first show back; if you’d wandered in from across the street, you’d likely assume they had already been on the road for months already.
But in many ways, that’s just Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band. They may be rock history’s most successful bar band, but they still have that working man’s approach to the gig — and priority one of Wednesday’s show was demonstrating that they were back in business, and picking right up where they left off. The group was cooking from the opener, Born in the U.S.A. fist-pumping fan-favorite “No Surrender,” and the energy stayed at that level close to throughout the 28-song set. No time for putting on airs; there was six years’ worth of rocking to catch up on.
The setlist also reflected this ethos, with the spirit of the selections being far more side two of The River than side four. (Only one song actually from The River, the boisterous rave-up “Out in the Street,” made the cut; presumably Springsteen figured we got our fill of that double LP the last time out.) Renditions of longtime live staples like “Prove It All Night,” “She’s the One” and “Johnny 99” were positively scorching — and though the show’s setlist was relatively light on major curveballs, longtime fans in attendance were no doubt please to hear the extended shine given to jammier early cuts “The E Street Shuffle” and “Kitty’s Back,” Springsteen even conducting the brass section in individual solos on the latter.
And the man himself remains a physical marvel. His voice is obviously still mighty, but you might’ve wondered if age and time off would result in Springsteen, now 73, appearing visibly diminished. But he still shows a wiry, near-pugilistic scrappiness onstage — perhaps a little stiffer in movement, but no less authoritative and striking for it. Among his classic rock peers, perhaps only Stevie Nicks can compare in terms of the amount electricity they can summon to this day simply by lifting their arms. (Bruce’s years might show most in his sense of humor, including on-stage banter with sideman Stevie Van Zandt during the ending of “Glory Days” about it being “time for us to go home… it’s way past my normal bedtime.”)
The show also aimed to demonstrate that Springsteen still has it as a songwriter, with a whopping six tracks pulled from his 2020 LP Letter to You. (Last year’s Only the Strong Survive cover set got a quick two-song mini-set, while 2019’s dustier group of originals Western Stars was not represented at all.) The new songs meshed surprisingly well with the old — particularly the anthemic “Ghosts,” which already sounds like it should’ve been a live fixture for decades — with the repetitive “House of a Thousand Guitars” the lone selection where you could feel the energy lag a bit. The evening’s most emotionally charged moment might’ve come with Springsteen’s spellbinding solo acoustic performance of Letter ballad “Last Man Standing,” preceded by his lone preamble of the evening — which explained the song as being inspired by the death of an early bandmate, leaving him the lone living member of his first-ever band. “At 15, it’s all tomorrows… at 73, it’s a whole lot of yesterdays,” he summarized, to roaring audience support. “So you gotta make the most of right now.”
It certainly felt like the band made the most of their time in Tampa — particularly once they started blazing through a show-ending run of classics like “Born to Run,” “Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)” and “Dancing in the Dark,” with Springsteen even mimicking his famous dance moves from the latter’s music video. The “Dark” performance also included a rare miscue for the band, as someone came early with the chord changes in the first verse — a foible that came off as more charming than anything, especially with the rest of the group visibly shrugging to themselves and one another, eh whaddya gonna do, it’s opening night, lotta tour still ahead.
The final number was a second Letter to You acoustic rendition, this time of “I’ll See You in My Dreams,” which Springsteen also used to close Springsteen on Broadway in 2021. Dedicating the song to Emily Rose Marcus — the recently deceased daughter of rock critic Greil Marcus — Springsteen’s hushed performance was a thoroughly heartbreaking closer. But as he walked offstage at 10:43 ET, seemingly with time still left for an epic encore (“Thunder Road” perhaps?) the crowd continued buzzing expectantly for a couple minutes — until the house lights came on, confirming that The Boss was indeed checking out. He had said all he needed to say for the night.
Setlist:
No SurrenderGhostsProve It All NightLetter to YouPromised LandOut in the StreetCandy’s RoomKitty’s BackBrilliant DisguiseNightshiftDon’t Play That SongThe E Street ShuffleJohnny 99Last Man StandingHouse of a Thousand GuitarsBackstreetsBecause the NightShe’s the OneWrecking BallThe RisingBadlands
Encore:Burning TrainBorn To RunRosalita (Come Out Tonight)Glory DaysDancing in the DarkTenth Avenue Freeze-OutI’ll See You in My Dreams
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