How can a band possibly put 40 years’ worth of songs onto one concert setlist?
If you’re Metallica, the answer is to split the concert into two nights.
For the second last weekend of June, it was the heavy metal giants who “brought the heavy” to the Aviva Stadium.
The San Francisco (plus one Dane) band last played Irish shores in 2019 with their triumphant Slane Castle show, but haven’t played Dublin since 2009.
On that occasion, the group were promoting their then-recent album Death Magnetic, and packed out Marlay Park.
Nearly 20 years since they last played our fair city, the band took up residency of the Aviva for two nights and showed why they are still (mostly) the kings of heavy metal.
But first, a word about the support acts: Friday night saw Swedish group Avatar and Texan metal icons Pantera warm up for Metallica, and Sunday night saw Kentucky hardcore group Knocked Loose and French metal titans Gojira entertain those who got there early.
The crowd who arrived early on Sunday got the better deal; Knocked Loose managed to prove they are just as adept at starting up a circle pit at the Aviva as they are at the Academy, while Gojira proved, once again, that they are France’s best cultural export since Eric Cantona.
Hardcore punk and thrash metal are cousins, which makes sense for Knocked Loose to be on the road with Metallica, but Gojira’s complex, technical compositions got the crowd geared up for another night of Metallica.
The sound mix on both nights wasn’t quite what it should have been; the sound during Pantera’s set was especially muddy, meaning that Phil Anselmo’s screams didn’t quite have the same punch as they do on their albums.
The Friday night gig was somewhat sloppy by Metallica’s high standards.
A triple barrage of Creeping Death, Harvester of Sorrow and Leper Messiah was enough to scare the crows gathered on the roof of the Aviva, but complacency set in.
Two tracks from their most recent album, 72 Seasons (the entire reason for the tour), sapped the momentum and saw the queue for the drinks increase.
There was a sense of “do we really have to play this” with the album tracks, and it sapped the energy built up from the barn-burning opening.
It could be explained that the audiences aren’t as familiar with these songs – they were first released in 2023, and it’s not like Metallica are getting radio airplay these days anyway – but there was a whiff of contractual obligation to those performances.
A well-meaning but awkward cover of Black Rose by Thin Lizzy was followed by the group attempting two tracks from 2008’s Death Magnetic, Cyanide and The Day That Never Comes.
Metallica brought the heavy (and pyro) to the Aviva
Those two performances revealed that Metallica is indeed composed of four men in their 60s.
It was interesting that the band could breeze through their 1980s stuff without a sweat, but when they tried to play newer, technical stuff, they struggled; perhaps it’s down to playing the older stuff more often.
The momentum recovered in the second half with the crowd-pleasers Nothing Else Matters, Sad But True, Battery and Fuel, before the now-infamous viral moment.
During Seek and Destroy, it was Kirk Hammett who sought to nearly destroy his knees by falling into the crowd.
With nearly 50,000 smartphone cameras in the vicinity, the fall was recorded from every angle; the guitarist was recorded accidentally standing on a stage cover, thinking it was solid, and taking a tumble into the crowd.
It can happen to the best of us, and Hammett carried on playing as if nothing happened, but it felt like an apt metaphor for seeing Metallica in 2026.
Night one finished with the showstopper, Master of Puppets.
The final song ushered in massive Metallica-branded beach balls falling from the roof, turning the Aviva into a heavy metal beach party.
At the end of night one, there was a sense that the show was good, but not great; because the shows were advertised as being a no-repeats weekend, we headed into Sunday evening waiting to hear the heavy hitters.
The Sunday show, by most metrics, was a major improvement over the first night.
The show opened with the one-two-three punch of Whiplash, For Whom The Bell Tolls, and Ride The Lightning.
Yes, Lars Ulrich was still half a beat off the tempo as usual, and Kirk Hammett was struggling with the solo during Ride The Lightning, but the driving bass of Robert Trujillo helped paper over the cracks.
Then, it became really noticeable – why is the bass louder than the guitars? Why can’t we hear James Hetfield’s rhythm guitar?
For the first time in Metallica’s history, there are now complaints about the bass being louder than the guitar; Jason Newsted will be very vindicated if he watches clips from this show.
Having a ball: Metallica ended the sets with massive beach balls
The cover version Hammet and Trujillo chose for night two was much better than their Black Rose cover – a cover of Dirty Old Town.
Trujillo joked that they “had to cover it”, and the crowd was much more receptive to their efforts this time around.
Following that, strong performances of Fade to Black and Wherever I May Roam led to a treat; a performance of Call Of Ktulu.
For all the talk that Metallica became a sell-out, singles band in the 1990s, they showed a willingness to play older material and throw the hardcore fans a bone.
Call Of Ktulu is the best track on their best album (which is to say, the best thing they ever did), but the band hadn’t performed it since 2023; there were whispers that they had played it on other dates, but not all, meaning that the Aviva crowd got bang for their buck.
Their cover of Whiskey In The Jar soon followed – with James Hetfield paying tribute to Phil Lynnott – and joked that the band “had” to play the song because they were in Dublin.
As the set drew to a close, Metallica saved the best for last.
When Metallica played Slane in 2019, the pyrotechnics show that precluded One was like a Hollywood film; for a minute, a field in Meath felt like Saving Private Ryan.
Considering the Aviva Stadium is in leafy Dublin 4, Metallica wouldn’t have gotten away with such a show of pyrotechnics, but it was a suitably epic intro for One.
With the crowd at fever pitch, the final song plays – Enter Sandman, the lead single to the Black Album.
Enter Sandman was Metallica’s signal of intent that they were ready to join the big leagues, and Bob Rock, the same producer who turned Bon Jovi, The Cult and Motley Crue into mainstream successes, helped them realise their vision.
The track is 35 years old this year, and its ability to make a crowd bounce is still second to none.
The sun had just set on the longest day of the year when the opening notes of Enter Sandman played, and it was a perfect end to a rock and roll weekend.
For fans who shelled out for both nights, it was great value for money; of the 32 tracks played across the weekend, just four were from the most recent album that people didn’t really care for.
In addition, getting tracks like Blackened, Call Of Ktulu, Harvester of Sorrow, and Whiplash was a treat for the fans who prefer the band’s earlier, heavy stuff.
Coupled with well-chosen, energetic opening acts, the weekend was proof that Metallica are still the biggest rock band in the world for good reason.
Yes, the bass was almost overwhelming in the sound mix, and they could have stood to maybe practice some of the faster songs, but when Metallica are in the pocket, they are as untouchable as ever.