Metallica sanitarium full#

Other than their Lightning Bolt–style cover of “Eleanor Rigby,” their set consisted mostly of heavy, arty rock & roll that went over well with the crowd. About half of the crowd wore Metallica T’s and took video of the band, which sounds a bit like Jack White fronting noise rockers Big Business, since Layne sings and plays distorted bass while the frilly haired Myles, whom Layne introduced as “lead drums,” wilds out behind the kit. “And on behalf of the City and County of San Francisco, I want to officially declare today ‘Metallica Day.'” She also presented Ulrich and Trujillo with a letter from California Governor Gavin Newsom, who wrote, “Metallica has been a shining example of the ingenuity and excellence that make our state so special.”Īt another anniversary-related gig Thursday night, Taipei Houston - a duo comprising Layne and Myles Ulrich (drummer Lars’ sons) - opened up a gig for poppy garage-rockers White Reaper at August Hall. “When you talk about San Francisco, you talk about cable cars and then you talk about Metallica,” Breed said. The festivities kicked off Thursday with a press conference in which San Francisco Mayor London Breed commended the group with a special declaration. When they finished, they stood in the middle of the stage and basked in the adoration, as each band member stepped up to a mic to thank the crowd, which had poured in from all over to spend a weekend in Metallica’s hometown.

The band has promised to play a totally different set list when they return for the second show Sunday, leaving the door open for more of their go-to material, as well as more curiosities. The band closed the night with “Spit Out the Bone,” the crushing final number of its most recent album, 2016’s Hardwired … to Self-Destruct, another deep cut that worked just as well as “Enter Sandman” or “Seek and Destroy” would as the set closer at a “regular” Metallica concert. “After 40 years, there’s still firsts,” Hetfield told the crowd, which wholeheartedly embraced the rarity.

Metallica sanitarium full#

They had not played Ride the Lightning’s “Trapped Under Ice” since a full play-through of the album in 2012, and they had never played Reload’s moody “Fixxxer” before, period. They played a handful of their biggest hits - “One,” “Sad but True,” “Nothing Else Matters” - but largely indulged more obscure songs. The band opened with “Hit the Lights,” the first song Hetfield and Ulrich wrote and recorded together, before shifting into “Creeping Death,” one of their first collaborations with Hammett.

“We were blessed to have them in the band.” As it happens (and as should be expected), Hetfield, lead guitarist Kirk Hammett, bassist Robert Trujillo, and drummer Lars Ulrich can handle a set perfectly fine on their own. “Hopefully you got to see live at some point in your lives,” he said. A decade ago, Metallica marked their 30th anniversary with a run of concerts that focused on special guests (Ozzy Osbourne, Lou Reed, former Metallica members Dave Mustaine and Jason Newsted.) On Friday, after a montage that showed some of the band’s former members, Hetfield gently broke it to the crowd that there would be no cameos. Perhaps the most surprising aspect of the concert was how straightforward it was.