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30 May 2023

SZA’s ‘Kill Bill’ Breaks Record for Most Weeks at No. 1 on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs Chart

SZA becomes the sole owner of one of the biggest records in the history of Billboard’s Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart as her single “Kill Bill” achieves an unprecedented 21st week at the summit. The record-breaking week, on the chart dated June 3, breaks “Kill Bill” from a tie with Lil Nas X’s “Old Town Road” (featuring Billy Ray Cyrus), which slides to second place with 20 weeks on top.

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For its all-time coronation week, “Kill Bill” rebounds from No. 2 after a one-week reign for Lil Durk’s “All My Life,” featuring J. Cole. The latter track is only the third title that has evicted “Kill Bill” from the top spot since the juggernaut single debuted at No. 1 on the list dated Dec. 24, 2022. “All My Life” follows The Weeknd and Ariana Grande’s “Die for You” and Drake’s “Search and Rescue,” each of which managed to stall the reign for only one week.

As “Kill Bill,” released on Top Dawg/RCA Records, shakes off the interruption and re-charts its course into chart history, here’s an updated look at the tracks with the most weeks at No. 1 on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs since the list became an all-encompassing genre survey in 1958:

Most Weeks at No. 1 on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs:

  • 21, “Kill Bill,” SZA, 2022-23
  • 20, “Old Town Road,” Lil Nas X feat. Billy Ray Cyrus, 2019
  • 18, “Industry Baby,” Lil Nas X & Jack Harlow, 2021-22
  • 18, “One Dance,” Drake feat. WizKid & Kyla, 2016
  • 16, “Blurred Lines,” Robin Thicke feat. T.I. + Pharrell, 2013
  • 15, “Be Without You,” Mary J. Blige, 2006
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In the latest tracking week of May 19-25, “Kill Bill” collected 17.3 million official streams in the United States (down 5% from the week prior), 1,000 downloads sold (a 4% drop) and 69.2 million in radio audience (a 5% slip). The totals translate to a 2-3 backtrack on R&B/Hip-Hop Streaming Songs, an 11-21 drop on R&B/Hip-Hop Digital Song Sales (affected by the arrival of many Tina Turner songs following the icon’s death on May 24) and a No. 4 repeat on the all-genre Radio Songs chart.

The “Kill Bill” domination has aligned with the similar supremacy of its parent album, SOS. The set has spent 20 weeks at No. 1 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart, extending its mark for the most ever by any album by a woman. Earlier this month, it ended the 54-year record-holding reign of Aretha Franklin’s Aretha Now, which logged a then-record 17 weeks atop the list in 1968.

30 May 2023

Bad Bunny’s ‘Where She Goes’ Blasts In at No. 1 on Billboard Global 200 Chart

Bad Bunny’s “Where She Goes” bounds in at No. 1 on the Billboard Global 200 chart (dated June 3). With the launch, he becomes the first soloist with as many as three No. 1s since the survey began.

Meanwhile, FIFTY FIFTY’s “Cupid” spends a second week atop the Billboard Global Excl. U.S. survey.

Plus, Shakira’s ballad “Acróstico” ascends to the Global Excl. U.S. top 10, from No. 11 to No. 8.

The Billboard Global 200 and Billboard Global Excl. U.S. charts, which started in September 2020, rank songs based on streaming and sales activity culled from more than 200 territories around the world, as compiled by Luminate. The Global 200 is inclusive of worldwide data and the Global Excl. U.S. chart comprises data from territories excluding the United States.

Chart ranks are based on a weighted formula incorporating official-only streams on both subscription and ad-supported tiers of audio and video music services, as well as download sales, the latter of which reflect purchases from full-service digital music retailers from around the world, with sales from direct-to-consumer (D2C) sites excluded from the charts’ calculations.

Bad Bunny ‘Goes’ Straight to No. 1 on Global 200

Bad Bunny’s “Where She Goes” launches atop the Billboard Global 200, with 71 million streams and 3,000 sold worldwide May 19-25, following its May 18 release. The Spanish-language song arrives as his third No. 1 on the chart, after “Un x100to,” with Grupo Frontera, for two weeks earlier in May, and “Dakiti,” with Jhay Cortez (now Jhayco), for three weeks in November-December 2020.

Bad Bunny becomes the first soloist with three Global 200 No. 1s; overall, he’s second only to BTS, with six. Justin Bieber, BLACKPINK, Drake, Olivia Rodrigo and Taylor Swift each boast two.

“Where She Goes” marks Bad Bunny’s first Global 200 entry with no accompanying artists since he released his LP Un Verano Sin Ti, which dominated the U.S.-based Billboard 200 for 13 weeks in May-October 2022.

Eslabon Armado and Peso Pluma’s “Ella Baila Sola” dips to No. 2 on the Global 200 after three weeks at No. 1, having become the chart’s first leader for the regional Mexican genre.

FIFTY FIFTY’s “Cupid” slips to No. 3 from its No. 2 Global 200 high; Yng Lvcas and Peso Pluma’s “La Bebe” retreats to No. 4 from its No. 3 best; and Miley Cyrus’ “Flowers” keeps at No. 5, after 12 weeks on top in January-April.

‘Cupid’ Hits Target Again Atop Global Excl. U.S.

FIFTY FIFTY’s “Cupid” adds a second week at No. 1 on the Billboard Global Excl. U.S. chart, despite drops of 6% in streams, to 61 million, and 13% in sales, to 2,000, outside the U.S. May 19-25.

Yng Lvcas and Peso Pluma’s “La Bebe” logs a fourth week at its No. 2 Global Excl. U.S. best.

Bad Bunny’s “Where She Goes” debuts at No. 3 on Global Excl. U.S., with 48.1 million streams and 1,000 sold in its first full tracking week. He notches his record-extending 14th top 10 on the tally, further distancing himself from runners-up BTS and Swift, each with 10.

Miley Cyrus’ “Flowers” holds at No. 4 on Global Excl. U.S., following a record-tying (with Harry Styles’ “As It Was”) 13 weeks at No. 1 beginning upon its debut in January, and Eslabon Armado and Peso Pluma’s “Ella Baila Sola” descends 3-5, after reaching No. 2.

Elsewhere in the Global Excl. U.S. top 10, Shakira’s “Acróstico” climbs 11-8, up 6% to 55.6 million streams outside the U.S. The Colombian-born superstar — who was crowned Woman of the Year at the first Billboard Latin Women in Music celebration May 6 — earns her fourth top 10 on the chart, all within the last year, with three in 2023. “TQG,” with Karol G, topped the March 11 survey, upon its debut; Bizarrap and Shakira’s “Bzrp Music Sessions, Vol. 53” hit No. 2 in January; and “Te Felicito,” with Rauw Alejandro, reached No. 6 in June 2022.

The Billboard Global 200 and Billboard Global Excl. U.S. charts (dated June 3, 2023) will update on Billboard.com tomorrow (May 31, a day later than usual due to the Memorial Day holiday in the U.S. May 29). For both charts, the top 100 titles are available to all readers on Billboard.com, while the complete 200-title rankings are visible on Billboard Pro, Billboard’s subscription-based service. For all chart news, you can follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both Twitter and Instagram.

Luminate, the independent data provider to the Billboard charts, completes a thorough review of all data submissions used in compiling the weekly chart rankings. Luminate reviews and authenticates data. In partnership with Billboard, data deemed suspicious or unverifiable is removed, using established criteria, before final chart calculations are made and published.

30 May 2023

Lily-Rose Depp Gets ‘Brainwashed’ by The Weeknd in Official ‘The Idol’ Trailer: Watch

With The Idol‘s release less than a week away, HBO Max and The Weeknd have now dropped the highly anticipated show’s official trailer — and it’s steamy.

In the minute-and-a-half preview, viewers get a glimpse into how the “Blinding Lights” popstar’s character, a nightclub owner-turned-cult leader named Tedros, steadily takes over the life and career of Lily-Rose Depp’s co-starring character, a rising pop star named Jocelyn, throughout the series. “You’re the American dream,” he tells her in a voiceover in the trailer, which dropped Tuesday (May 30), over clips of the two making out and dancing under club lights. “Rags to riches. Trailers to mansions. You are f–king Jocelyn.”

“He’s brainwashed her,” says a concerned, offscreen voice later on, followed by a creepy clip of The Weeknd’s Tedros cackling.

“You’re not a human being. You’re a star,” he then tells Jocelyn at the end of the new trailer, which also includes scenes of the pair engaging in Fifty Shades of Grey-esque foreplay that Tedros insists will help her become a better performer.

Co-created by The Weeknd and Euphoria‘s Sam Levinson, The Idol made its world premiere last week at Cannes Film Festival, where it received a standard five-minute standing ovation from the audience but was afterward tanked by largely negative early reviews. The musical drama, which is billed as the “sleaziest love story in all of Hollywood,” will become available for streaming on HBO Max — now known as just Max after a recent name change — on June 4.

Suzanna Son, Rachel Sennott, Troye Sivan, Dan Levy, Mike Dean, Moses Sumney, Da’Vine Joy Randolph, Hank Azaria, BLACKPINK’s Jennie and more are also in the show’s cast, though the new trailer includes less of their characters than previous The Idol teasers.

Watch the new official trailer for HBO’s The Idol above.

30 May 2023

Kendrick Lamar & Baby Keem Deliver VHS-Style Video ‘The Hillbillies’: Watch

Baby Keem and Kendrick Lamar are back with new music. On Tuesday (May 30), the “Family Ties” tandem delivered a VHS-style visual for their latest collaboration, “The Hillbillies,” which shows outtakes from their time on tour together and features a cameo from Tyler, the Creator. 

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Produced by Evilgiane, the West Coast duo perform their best ping-pong impression over the 2020 Bon Iver sampled “PDLIF.” Going back and forth, Keem and Lamar take heavy swings, aiming for pure demolition. “5’7, I’m messy girl/ Gonna pass you to Neymar, he got time for your bestie girl/ N—as know that I’m best dressed, too high-profile to access,” raps Lamar.

Directed by Neal Farmer, Keem and Lamar clown around a private jet, a shopping mall and later outside Dodger Stadium with Tyler, the Creator. 

“The Hillbillies” is the latest reunion between Keem and Lamar, who previously joined forces on songs such as “Range Brothers” and their Grammy-Award winning effort “Family Ties.” Both tracks reside on Keem’s 2021 project, The Melodic Blue. 

For Lamar, this is his second verse in the same number of weeks after appearing on Beyonce’s “America Has a Problem (Remix).” The surprise drop marked Lamar and Bey’s third collaboration, including Bey’s 2016 “Freedom” and their 2019 Lion King Soundtrack song “Nile.” Aside from flexing his “honorary Beyhive” status, he also shouted out Billboard on his placement on the Greatest Rappers of All-Time List, rapping: “Billboard, they know/ After Hov, rightfully so.” Billboard revealed its top 10 earlier this year, with Lamar coming second behind Jay-Z. 

Check out “The Hillbillies” above. 

30 May 2023

Gorillaz Is Headed on The Getaway Tour With Kaytranada, Lil Yachty & More

Gorillaz is heading out on the road for a special tour this fall. On Tuesday (May 30), the group announced The Getaway 2023 tour, which is scheduled to take place in September.

The limited run of shows will take place across four dates in the United States — as explained in the tour’s official description “On The Run… One Band, One Bus, Four Cities…” — and will see the virtual group — which consists of members 2-D, Murdoc Niccals, Noodle and Russel Hobbs — traveling to Los Angeles, Austin, Chicago and Boston from Sept. 10 to 19. The group will play the BMO Stadium, Q2 Stadium, Credit Union 1 Amphitheatre and Fenway Park, respectively.

KAYTRANADA, Lil Yachty and Remi Wolf will be supporting Gorillaz on all four dates of the limited tour run. Tickets will be available via Live Nation through a presale beginning at 10 a.m. local time on Wednesday (May 31). General onsale tickets for the tour will begin on Friday, June 2, at 10 a.m. local time at Gorillaz.com.

The Getaway tour comes on the heels of Gorillaz’s back-to-back performances at Coachella in April. The trek follows the quartet’s 2022 World Tour led by Damon Albarn and a 14-piece live band, which featured multiple guest performers.

See the full list of dates and the official tour announcement in the video below.

‘The Getaway’ Shows Fall 2023

  • Sun Sept. 10 – Los Angeles, Calif. – BMO Stadium
  • Wed Sept. 13 – Austin, Texas – Q2 Stadium
  • Sat Sept. 16 – Chicago – Credit Union 1 Amphitheatre
  • Tue Sept. 19 – Boston – Fenway Park

30 May 2023

Sam Smith Has a New Collaboration Coming With Anitta: ‘We Connected Immediately’

Sam Smith may have declared that “I’m Not Here to Make Friends” — but that doesn’t mean they can’t work with rising Latin superstar Anitta.

In a new cover story on Anitta for Harper’s Bazaar, Smith confirmed that the pair are working on a new song together. “Anitta’s energy is amazing,” they said. “We connected immediately, and it just made the collaboration feel so special that there was genuine friendship there.” Smith went on to praise Anitta’s “clear vision” as an artist, while the outlet described the upcoming song as a “lusty duet” between the pair.

Commenting on her upcoming new music, Anitta added that she planned to use her crossover success in pop music to make songs that more directly represent her as a person. “I got big enough for people to pay attention to what I’m doing, so it’s a good moment for me to drop this album [that’s] finally something I believe and something I think, ‘OK, that is me,’ ” she said. “Now that I got this attention, I can really be myself.”

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Anitta is not the only artist that Smith will be collaborating with. In a mysterious tweet last week, the “Unholy” singer teased an audio clip that simply stated the words “Sam and Madonna,” leaving fans to wonder what the pair of pop stars were planning something together.

Meanwhile, Anitta also opened up to Harper’s Bazaar about her goals following her recent split with Warner Music after tweeting that she would have “auctioned off her organs” to get out of her contract. “I want to build a whole strategy because I don’t want to leave that in my label’s hands,” she said of her forthcoming album, which will be released under her new deal with Republic Records. “All the others I was leaving at their hands. That’s why it didn’t go that well … But this I want to go massive. So I’m going to do it myself.”

30 May 2023

Matty Healy Addresses Controversial Podcast Comments About Ice Spice: ‘It Doesn’t Actually Matter’

Matty Healy made a lot of people upset after he laughed at racist, body-shaming comments about Ice Spice in recent podcast appearance. But now, he thinks the controversy “doesn’t actually matter.”

“Nobody is sitting there at night slumped at their computer, and their boyfriend comes over and goes, ‘What’s wrong, darling?’ and they go, ‘It’s just this thing with Matty Healy,’” the 1975 frontman told The New Yorker in a Monday (May 29) profile. “That doesn’t happen.”

“You’re either deluded or you are, sorry, a liar,” he continued, addressing fans who claimed to be offended by the remarks. “You’re either lying that you are hurt, or you’re a bit mental for being hurt. It’s just people going, ‘Oh, there’s a bad thing over there, let me get as close to it as possible so you can see how good I am.’ And I kind of want them to do that, because they’re demonstrating something so base level.”

The controversy in question went down in February when Healy went on The Adam Friedland Show to promote The 1975’s latest album, Being Funny In a Foreign Language. After bringing up that Ice Spice had once said she was a big fan of the band, the show’s hosts proceeded to make jokes about the “Princess Diana” rapper sounding like an “Inuit Spice Girl” and a “chubby Chinese lady.” They went on to mockingly imitate Chinese and Hawaiian accents, and joked about what Healy should say when sliding into Ice Spice’s DMs. The podcast episode has since been removed from Apple and Spotify.

Healy later half-apologized for laughing at and engaging with the hosts’ remarks during a 1975 concert in Auckland, New Zealand. “I just feel a bit bad, and I’m kind of a bit sorry if I’ve offended you,” he said onstage. “Ice Spice, I’m sorry. It’s not because I’m annoyed that me joking got misconstrued. It’s because I don’t want Ice Spice to think I’m a d–k. I love you, Ice Spice. I’m so sorry. I don’t want it to be misconstrued as mean.”

Since then, Ice Spice has teamed up with Taylor Swift — whom Healy is rumored to be dating — for a blockbuster remix of the pop star’s Midnights track “Karma.” When announcing the remix, the pop superstar said of the rising star, “I’m a massive fan of this brilliant artist and after getting to know her I can confirm: she is THE ONE to watch.” The two have since released a joint music video for the project, and the “Munch” artist also joined Swift onstage for three nights in a row at MetLife Stadium to debut the remix live at the Eras Tour.

While some fans may be questioning the motives behind the remix, Jack Antonoff — who has collaborated with both Swift and The 1975 — he’s standing by Healy. “I think Matty is a deeply sincere person, who can, at different points, be misunderstood because of how much he enjoys a bit,” Antonoff said in the New Yorker piece. “If you don’t know him, if you don’t get him, because you’re not really tuned in to the work, you might assume a cynicism that is literally not there.”

30 May 2023

Big Freedia Announces 1st Album In 9 Years, ‘Central City’

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2023 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival

Source: Erika Goldring / Getty

Big Freedia is set to retake the stage as she announces her first album in nine years, accompanied by a brand new single from the project.

The “Queen of Bounce” announced the new album Central City, last Friday (May 26), also releasing the latest single from the album, “Bigfoot”. “Bounce has been through many iterations—from Triggerman to Sissy to Cash Money Bounce—but my new album is something I call Bigga Bounce,” she said in a statement accompanying the announcement. “Welcome to Central City, y’all, where I pay homage to my city, my roots, hip-hop, and to the art of creating a new sound.” The album will be released on June 23rd.

“Bigfoot” comes in as the third single from what is now the New Orleans native’s first full-length album since Just Be Free which was released in 2014. She describes it as “a powerful anthem of empowerment and motivation,” with the opening lines booming forth. “Call me Bigfoot stepping on these b—–s necks,” Freedia declares in the first lines of the track in her signature cadence, “I got a big foot but I’m getting bigger checks/They don’t see what’s coming next.” The first two singles were “Central City Freestyle” and “$100 Bill”, featuring Ciara. Central City will have sixteen tracks in total, with Lil Wayne, Kelly Price, and Faith Evans in addition to other artists making guest appearances.

Big Freedia will also be hitting the road this summer on tour beginning in Stanford, California on June 2nd as part of the Re: Set Festival with LCD Soundsystem, Jamie XX, and other artists. The nationwide tour will have Big Freedia be a headline performer at Pride concert events in Denver, Colorado, and Charlotte, North Carolina, and conclude at the Wonderbus Music and Arts Festival on August 25th in Columbus, Ohio. Tickets for the festival are available here.

Check out the single “Bigfoot” below.



30 May 2023

YouTuber Who Defamed Cardi B Files for Bankruptcy to Avoid Paying $4M Verdict

Bitch better have my money?

Spoiler alert: She doesn’t.

Eighteen months after Cardi B won a $4 million defamation verdict over salacious claims made by a YouTube host named Tasha K, the gossip blogger has filed for bankruptcy – and she says she has less than $60,000 in total assets to pay out.

In a petition filed Thursday in Florida federal court, Tasha K (real name Latasha Kebe) filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, claiming she is unable to pay more than $3.4 million in liabilities that she owes to a number of creditors.

At the top of that list? Belcalis Marlenis Almanzar (Cardi’s legal name), to whom Tasha says she owes $3,380,642 for a “judgment.” That’s because Cardi won a verdict in January 2022 that Tasha had legally defamed the superstar by making false claims about drug use, STDs and prostitution in her YouTube videos.

Shortly after Cardi B won that verdict, she tweeted “imma come for everything” along with the acronym BBHMM – “bitch better have my money.” But Thursday’s petition makes clear that the star is unlikely to see much of that money any time soon.

Tasha lists just $58,595 in total assets to her name, and the vast majority of that comes from a 2021 Chevrolet Silverado that’s tied as collateral to an unpaid auto loan. She listed only $11,750 in other property, including two Louis Vuitton purses, and just $95 in actual cash in her bank account. She counts the trademark to her “UnWineWithTashaK” YouTube channel as an asset, but says the value of the brand is “unknown.”

Attorneys for Cardi B, who have been legally pursuing the money for months, did not immediately return a request for comment.

Cardi sued Tasha in 2019, over what the rapper’s lawyers called a “malicious campaign” on social media and YouTube aimed at hurting Cardi’s reputation. The star’s attorneys said they had repeatedly tried – and failed – to get her to pull her videos down.

One Tasha video cited in the lawsuit includes a statement that Cardi had done sex acts “with beer bottles on f—ing stripper stages.” Others videos said the superstar had contracted herpes; that she had been a prostitute; that she had cheated on her husband; and that she had done hard drugs.

Following a trial in January, jurors sided decisively with Cardi B, holding Tasha liable for defamation, invasion of privacy, and intentional infliction of emotional distress. They ordered her and her company to pay than $2.5 million in damages and another $1.3 million in legal fees incurred by Cardi. Tasha appealed the verdict last summer, but a federal appeals court easily rejected that request in March.

Tasha has vowed to keep fighting the case “all the way to the Supreme Court if need be,” even if it “takes years” to do so. But Thursday’s bankruptcy will impose an automatic pause on all litigation while the insolvency proceedings are carried out. And given her lack of resources, it seems unlikely that she will be able to afford the expense of continuing to seek to overturn the verdict.

Tasha’s company, Kebe Studios LLC, is solely on the hook for $500,000 of the judgment. It does not appear that the company itself has yet filed for bankruptcy, or if such proceedings will be handled as part of Tasha’s case.

Beyond her assets and liabilities, Thursdays’ bankruptcy filing includes other interesting information about Cardi’s nemesis. The blogger says that $10,000 in her “Google account” – a reference to YouTube’s parent company – was already garnished last year by the superstar’s attorneys. She also says that she and her husband earned a combined income from their work (both are listed as “content creators”) of $156,021 in 2021 and $134,861 in 2022, and that they make more than $30,000 per month currently.

An attorney for Tasha did not immediately return a request for comment.

30 May 2023

With Towers of Speakers and No Repeats, Metallica Rocks Germany on M72 World Tour

Metallica may be the last, true Monster of Rock: one of the few massively popular rock bands whose tours aren’t self-consciously nostalgic. The group’s Black Album (1991’s Metallica) is the best-selling album in the U.S. since 1991 (the beginning of what was then called the SoundScan Era), and the outfit is popular, successful and independent enough to buy its own vinyl pressing plant. These days, young fans are more apt to discover the band from the Stranger Things scene that used “Master of Puppets” than radio airplay. But acts that stream many times as much can’t play multiple nights at stadiums, let alone in a way that brings back many of the same fans.

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Metallica’s M72 World Tour – which started in late April in Amsterdam but began in earnest on May 17 in Paris and runs through September 2024 – rewards the faithful with two-night stands at stadiums, and a “no repeats” promise not to do the same song twice in each city. Two-night ticket packages went on sale first, and a quick look around during the Friday (May 26) show at the Volksparkstadion in Hamburg, Germany, made it clear that this wasn’t the first show for most people there – and in more than a few cases, not one of their first half dozen. A substantial number of fans came from elsewhere in Germany to see both shows – some for one of six “enhanced experiences,” like a meet-and-greet or special seating. It was an audience that was eager but not easy to impress.

The staging for Metallica’s tour is built to do just that, though, on the kind of grand scale well-suited for football stadiums. The band performs in the round, on a big stage in the shape of a ring that surrounds fans with tickets to the VIP “snake pit.” That means anyone on the floor isn’t actually all that far from the band – but also that the traditional video screen setup doesn’t work. So the band put the screens, and most speakers, on eight massive towers to allow anyone to see them. During some songs, the colors were bleached out, making the footage one-hued to underscore the drama. Most bands would seem dwarfed by the scale, but Metallica rose to the occasion. More space just means more space to conquer.

The band opened with some ’80s favorites – “Creeping Death,” then “Harvester of Sorrow” and “Leper Messiah.” Only then did frontman James Hetfield actually say anything – the kind of welcome you give to an audience you’ve seen before. “Here’s a song you might not know,” he said. “I hope I know it.” It was “Until It Sleeps,” from Load, and he need not have worried – it sounded familiar to everyone. The band played three songs from its vital new album, 72 Seasons – the title track, “If Darkness Had a Son,” and “You Must Burn!” – but the focus was on early, heavier songs and classics from the Black Album. Some acts have eras, but Metallica has epochs, and every single one of them is heavy in its own way.

The only drawback to the band’s over-the-top staging was that the same scale that made it so spectacular drained a bit of the band’s chemistry. With multiple microphones and several drum sets for Lars Ulrich – one would disappear beneath the stage and another would come up so he could play while facing another part of the crowd – everyone could see everything, but not always at the same time. The ring was so big that “Wherever I May Roam” (stark and dramatic as ever, toward the end of the show) could have been self-referential. But Metallica wanted to out-do itself, and it did. This kind of maximalism is only silly if you can’t carry it off – and Metallica does.

By stadium standards, the band keeps the music fresh, too. Sure, it has enough classics to spread over two nights – “One” and “Welcome Sandman” on May 26, “Blackened” and “Master of Puppets” two days later – but it also pulled out “Whiskey in the Jar,” a traditional-by-way-of Thin Lizzy song that sounded very human even at this gigantic scale. For at least a few minutes, the stadium felt like the world’s biggest bar – if you can imagine a bar with eight 14-ton video towers – and if any crowd deserved a drinking song it was this one.

After “Whiskey” the band turned to “One” and then “Enter Sandman,” ferocious metal song that has acquired the patina of classic rock. There would be more surprises in two days at the next show, and the crowd pondered the possibilities as it filed out of the venue – more classics, a rarity, who knows? Like the best big rock shows, it would feel familiar but sound fresh. It was live but also, somehow, much bigger.