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Five decades into their illustrious career, Metallica hasn’t lost a step.

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame group stopped by East Rutherford, NJ’s MetLife Stadium for a pair of concerts on Friday, Aug. 4 and Sunday, Aug. 6 as part of their ‘M72 Tour.’

As you may have expected, they didn’t disappoint.

Ryan Murphy, the New York Post’s resident Metallibanger, attended both shows and said the band “played everything you’d want to hear with no repeats over the two nights.”

“Even though they’re promoting their new record,” he continued, “they played all the fan favorites.”

For Murphy that included “Creeping Death,” “Seek and Destroy” and “Master of Puppets” on night one.

Night two’s standout tracks were “For Whom The Bell Tolls,” “One” and “Enter Sandman,” which many New Yorkers may recall was Yankees closer Mariano Rivera’s menacing entrance song over the course of his storied career.

Two songs truly stood out though. All Murphy could say about “Whiplash” and “Ride The Lightning” were “wow.”

For those wondering about the show’s layout, Metallica performed in a circular stage on the 50-yard line with a General Admission crowd — known as The Snake Pit — in the middle.

“This allowed the very active James Hetfield, Kirk Hammett and Rob Trujillo to move the drum set to the four corners of the stage,” Murphy shared. “No matter where you were, you got a decent view of the band.”

If you aren’t up close, Murphy noted that he “counted eight huge pillars with cylindrically-shaped monitors for more viewing.”

The concert experience

Other than the music, the 31-year-old Murphy observed that the crowd was made up of people in their 50s.

“A ton of dads with their kids, myself included. Yeah, I went with my dad.”

Metallica may have taken their fanbase into account when plotting this multi-day residency tour.

“Every show has a rest day in between, which is needed,” Murphy said. “The entire show plus their openers —  Pantera (with Zakk Wylde!) and Mammoth WVH on night one and Five Finger Death Punch and Ice Nine Kills on night two — is roughly five and a half hours.”

As a result, Murphy had an easier time than usual getting into the show since most fans trickled in closer to the evening’s headliner.

Still, “the merch lines were ridiculously long. That being said, the custom shirts they had for each show were cool.”

Want to see what they played live?

Check out the set lists for both of Metallica’s Garden State gigs at Set List FM .

Metallica 2023-24 tour schedule

The tour is far from over.

Metallica still has two-day stays lined up  at venues all over the U.S. and Canada this year and next.

Want to find out if they’re coming to a city near you?

Check out  Metallica’s complete 2023-24 tour calendar here  for a closer look.

Power Trip Festival

The heaviest festival of the year is coming to  Indio, CA  this fall.

From Oct. 6-8, Metallica will join forces with AC/DC (performing live for the first time since 2016!), Judas Priest,  Tool ,  Guns N’ Roses  and  Iron Maiden  at the Empire Polo Grounds.

Need tickets for the three-day extravaganza?

You can pick Power Trip tickets up here .

Metallica opening acts

Here’s a little background on each of Metallica’s opening acts for nights one and two of the M72 Tour.

Pantera  are major headliners in their own right as well. Formed in 1981, the group has sold approximately 20 million records worldwide and has received four Grammy nominations over the past four decades. Just a few of their biggest hits include “Walk,” “Cowboys From Hell,” and “Cemetery Gates.”

Mammoth WVH  is Wolfgang Van Halen’s rock band. For those wondering, yes, Van Halen is the son of guitar legend Eddie Van Halen. In 2021, the group released its first album, “Mammoth WVH.” Prior to this run, the group co-headlined a tour with Dirty Honey in early 2022.

Five Finger Death Punch , originally from Las Vegas, slays. Active since 2005, the five-member outfit recently toured with Megadeth, The Hu, and Fire from the Gods. They’re not going anywhere anytime soon, either. Lead singer Ivan Moody recently said, “I can’t quit…I ain’t going anywhere,” in an interview with  Revolver .

Ice Nine Kills  has released six albums since their 2000 inception. In the 22 years since they got their start, the band has made a name for itself with their “horror-inspired lyrics.” Literature fans, in case you were wondering, the answer is yes. The group’s name is a reference to Kurt Vonnegut’s seminal 1963 novel “Cat’s Cradle.”

Huge hard rock tours in 2023

Although no tour this year will rock quite as hard as Metallica’s, many of the biggest names in metal will be on the road these next few months.

Here are just five tours that should turn the volume up all the way up to 11 in the near future.

•  Rob Zombie with Alice Cooper

•  Mötley Crüe & Def Leppard

•  Avenged Sevenfold

•  Disturbed

•  Mudvayne

Want to see who else is touring these next few months? Check out our list of the  52 biggest concert tours in 2023 here .

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M72 Live in Cinemas review: Metallica's 2-night global concert event captures pure heavy metal magic

The legendary rockers' recent shows in Arlington, Texas were broadcast in theaters in more than 75 different countries.

Emlyn Travis is a news writer at  Entertainment Weekly  with over five years of experience covering the latest in entertainment. A proud Kingston University alum, Emlyn has written about music, fandom, film, television, and awards for multiple outlets including MTV News,  Teen Vogue , Bustle, BuzzFeed,  Paper Magazine , Dazed, and NME. She joined EW in August 2022.

Heavy metal legends Metallica took the stage on a recent sweltering night in Arlington, Texas to the rapid-fire riffs of their 1984 hit " Creeping Death ." The track, which details the plagues of Egypt, includes a standout moment in which fans are encouraged to chant the word "die" at the top of their lungs, a long-standing tradition the concertgoers packed into AT&T Stadium upheld with gusto. But they weren't alone — more than 1,500 miles away in New York City's Lower East Side, another mighty crowd was screaming it too, this time at a movie theater screen as they tuned into the band's two-night global livestream, M72 Live in Cinemas .

For the past four months, the San Francisco quartet — lead singer James Hetfield , drummer Lars Ulrich , guitarist Kirk Hammett , and bassist Robert Trujillo — have been throwing their own outrageously badass metal festival each weekend with the help of Five Finger Death Punch, Ice Nine Kills, Mammoth WVH, and more on their ongoing M72 Tour. The two-night concert event, billed as a "No Repeat Weekend," features an ever-changing setlist handpicked by Ulrich that sees the group performing more than 30 different songs from their sensational discography, keeping the material fresh for all, even those who had attended previous stops. And while no concert film can ever completely capture the live-wire sensation of getting absolutely pummeled by 200 beats per minute at a Metallica concert, Live in Cinemas still succeeded in delivering a rip-roaring romp filled with old friends, time-tested tunes, a horde of black-and-yellow beach balls getting launched into the sky, and a few unexpected moments of sheer joy.

Inside the theater, the crowd was split into two categories: those who had recently caught Metallica's weekend stint in New Jersey earlier in August (as evidenced by many of their T-shirts), and those who hadn't. For those who weren't able to see them live (or have plans to see them in the forthcoming year), Live in Cinemas was an excellent way to not only catch up with their favorite band and feel a part of the Metallica Family festivities, but also to witness a crew of world-class artists still dedicated to delivering an unforgettable show more than 40 years into their storied careers. Multiple camera angles ensured that viewers got as up close and personal to the group's musical mayhem as those packed into the stadium's Snake Pit — the interior circle within Metallica's donut-shaped stage — throughout their electrifying, two-hour-plus performance. That proximity was a gem for concert and theater attendees alike, and proved to be particularly relatable whenever a gaggle of onscreen fans — from earmuff-wearing infants to wizened, battle-vest-sporting rockers — began howling and raising their hands skyward whenever Hetfield, Trujillo, Ulrich, or Hammett stomped in front of them.

The theater offered plenty of fun, too. Fans of all ages transformed the events into their own private Metallica festivals by headbanging, singing along, and gleefully running across the aisles as the band tore through classics like "Leper Messiah" and "Harvester of Sorrow" as well as deeper cuts like "No Leaf Clover" and "Dirty Window." In turn, the theater cranked their set up to 11, Spinal Tap –style, with crystal-clear audio quality that allowed viewers to take in all of Hetfield's signature snarls, Trujillo's punishing basslines, Ulrich's furious pounding, and Hammett's wailing guitar solos just as the metal gods intended.

Live in Cinemas also gave their disciples who'd spent a weekend with Metallica IRL the ability to take in some of the show's finer details, like the way Ulrich's four drum kits rise and sink beneath the stage throughout the evening, or how Hammett's fingers fly across the fretboard of his million-dollar guitar Greeny, which once belonged to Fleetwood Mac's Peter Green. The event also included a glimpse of the crew member tasked with crouching down in front of Ulrich's dual kick drums to prevent them from being knocked over by the wave of massive beach balls that bounced around the stadium as Metallica ripped through their 1983 hit "Seek and Destroy" and their rendition of "Whiskey in the Jar," the traditional Irish song popularized by Thin Lizzy, toward the end of their set. It also yielded several heartwarming moments between them and their fanbase, including Trujillo jamming alongside a peace-sign-waving toddler and Hetfield signing someone's cast and giving them his armband at the end of the gig.

In case it wasn't obvious: Metallica sounds and performs superbly whether on screen or in the flesh. Following the release of their 11th studio album, 72 Seasons, and the cultural resurgence of "Master of Puppets" thanks to Stranger Things , their passion for the craft was plainly visible on all of their faces as they danced around each other while plugging away on their instruments, smiled and waved at kids in the crowd, and repeatedly affirmed their love for their fans throughout the evening. And, lest audiences forgot, it was occasionally — and charmingly — obvious that the band was really was playing live, as demonstrated by a moment on the second night during which Hetfield accidentally omitted a section of their 2023 hit "If Darkness Had a Son" and, by the time he realized it, it was too late.

"F---ed that one up, sorry!" he said through laughter. "We'll do it again at the next show." The legends then proceeded to shred their parts as originally intended, with Hammett and Ulrich grinning and staring straight into the livestream camera like it was an episode of The Office .

At times, even multiple cameras couldn't properly keep up with the rollicking party playing out on stage. Certain angles would temporarily turn blurry, or unexpectedly cut to another member just before a particular solo audiences would have killed to see. These kinks were largely ironed out by the second night, but at the sacrifice of smaller snippets of crowd interaction and any footage of the mosh pits that bubbled up around the stage. At one point, during the second screening, the Snake Pit was a swirling vortex of bodies, but cinemagoers, sadly, barely caught a glimpse of it.

Still, if you can't make it out for the M72 Tour, or just wished to revisit what is arguably one of the best shows on the road right now, then Live in Cinemas was the perfect feel-good cure-all for any Metallica fan — pure heavy metal magic. B+

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Master of Puppets: Metallica rocks 80,000 at MetLife Stadium. Here's the review

3-minute read.

There was nothing small about Metallica’s show Friday, Aug. 4 at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford.

The band had a big sound on a big, circular stage, surrounded by eight big circular video screen towers. There was a big crowd, too. Eighty thousand, said drummer Lars Ulrich, who also reminisced about the band’s roots in Old Bridge.

“Forty years ago in 1983 Metallica came out to the East Coast for the very first time and we landed about 20 miles south of here in Old Bridge,” Urlich said. “Here we are, the biggest show we ever played in the New York area. Eighty thousand people -- you look beautiful MetLife!”

Metallica, whose first record label was Megaforce Records in Old Bridge, is a band in its prime. Lead singer James Hetfield sang with supple tones and growled with the best of them. Guitarist Kirk Hammett laid down sweet notes on his Gibson Les Paul, and also shred like a cyclone. Robert Trujilo attacked his bass like an explosive percussive instrument, and drummer Ulrich played big, precise and powerful. The effect is stadium-shaking and often exalting.

The show was the kickoff for the North American leg of Metallica's M72 World Tour, named after the group's new album, “72 Seasons.” The band played three songs from the new album, “Shadows Follow,” “If Darkness Had a Son," and “72 Seasons,” which had an extra dose of menace at MetLife, thanks to Hetfield’s snarl.

“Creeping Death,” from the 1984 album “Ride the Lightning,” started the show with plenty of fist pumping and head banging from the audience. There were more outward displays of appreciation by the crowd through the night, including a few mosh pits in the general admission area, and at least one crowd surfer, who almost, but not quite, made it to the stage during “King Nothing.”

The stage was a big and winding circle with multiple microphones and audience members inside what’s called the Snake Pit.

Urlich’s drums were placed at four different spots on the circle throughout the show. The effect was less like watching a band on stage and instead like experiencing a massive metal jam session.

There are benefits to having four guys in one place, feet planted and energy concentrated, instead of everyone wandering around. You don’t mind seeing Beyonce, who played MetLife last week, walk across large expanses of stage. Metallica, on the other hand, you want to see stand and deliver.

Also, the beach balls coming out during “Seek and Destroy” toward the end of the set did not seem metal, even if the band has done it in the past. Big black and yellow “M72 Metallica” balls suddenly appeared, and there were a lot of them. Hetfield had to punch a few away as he played, and the crew members desperately tried to keep them off the stage. One crew member smacked a ball off the stage and it knocked down a mic stand — there were no members of Metallica on it when it happened.

More: Metallica concert 2023: Everything you need to know for MetLife show

More: Metallica and the Old Bridge Metal Militia: The untold story

There were a few big hits missing on Friday, including “Enter Sandman” and “One.” The show was part of the band’s “No Repeat Weekend” with different opening acts and two completely different setlists, so look for them on Sunday. Pantera, featuring Jackson’s Zakk Wylde on guitar, and Mammoth WVH, featuring Wolfgang Van Halen, opened the show on Friday. Five Finger Death Punch and Ice Nine Kills open Sunday. Tickets start at $90 plus fees through Ticketmaster.

Prong played in Lot G on Friday before the show and Overkill plays there 3 p.m. on Sunday. Attendees need a Metallica ticket to see the pre-show parking lot performance.

If you’re going on Sunday, stick around after the music as the band circled the stage after the show on Friday to say hello to fans.

Metallica MetLife setlist

Creeping Death

Harvester of Sorrow

Holier Than Thou

King Nothing

If Darkness Had a Son

Fade to Black

Shadows Follow

Nothing Else Matters

Sad But True

The Day That Never Comes

Seek & Destroy

Master of Puppets

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Chris Jordan, a Jersey Shore native, covers entertainment and features for the USA Today Network New Jersey. Contact him at @chrisfhjordan; [email protected]

• Cover Story

What happened on the first night of Metallica’s M72 World Tour

K! was there for the first night at Amsterdam’s vast Johann Cruyff Arena to witness the kicking-off of Metallica’s career-spanning, globe-trotting M72 Tour…

Do you want heavy? 'Cause Metallica gives you heavy, baby. Some truly incredible bands – Iron Maiden , Rammstein , Tool – have delivered some awe-inspiring moments over the past few years, but none felt quite as substantial as tonight’s earth-shuddering return of The Four Horsemen.

It's King's Day in Amsterdam, and the city is wreathed in the Dutch Royal Orange, but the legendary Johann Cruyff Arena is besieged by Metallica's black-clad masses from lunchtime. It's the first date on the San Francisco giants' two-year M72 World Tour and a whole host of festivities – pop-up shops, tribute bands – have been keeping an international congregation of the Metallica Family entertained, but shit only gets real as we file inside to be levelled by the wall of sound.

Mammoth WVH are first-up in the early evening glow. Bolstered by an ear-busting PA, the emotion and undeniable virtuosity of songs like Mr. Ed and Another Celebration At The End Of The World have never sounded more emphatic, but they’re held back somewhat by Wolfang Van Halen and the band being apparently rooted to one spot on Metallica’s sprawling, circular in-the-round stage, meaning there's not quite the 360 energy required of a show of this scale.

Architects , by comparison, strive to own the space. "These next two years are going to be fucking incredible," gasps Sam Carter mid-set. "We're going to be playing stadiums every night, full of people who love loud, heavy fucking music."

The unfamiliar, partisan crowd still take some winning-over, but between canny tributes to Dutch footballing legend/current Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag and the legendary Cruyff, and dropping no-nonsense bangers like Doomsday and Impermanence, they’re not too long getting onside. By the time "the best song we've ever written" Animals brings the hour-long set to a raucous close, the stadium is (momentarily) theirs.

This is very much Metallica’s night, though, and they make short work of winning it back. The mystery in this first night of an unheralded two-night, no-repeats world tour stokes anticipation beyond fever pitch. As AC/DC ’s It’s A Long Way To The Top (If You Wanna Rock ‘N’ Roll) blares out over the PA and the eight enormous pillars topped with cylindrical video screens burst into life with photos of the band meeting fans, it ratchets up again. Then Ennio Morricone’s The Ecstasy Of Gold sends the atmosphere through the greenhouse-like closed roof. Excitement bleeds into a mixture of disbelief and euphoria as the band emerge not toting one of their new singles, but revered eight-and-a-half-minute instrumental Orion to kick off the whole damn tour.

This can’t be that good, can it? Really? Yes. For Whom The Bell Tolls and Holier Than Thou drop like bombs as the 50,000-plus in attendance find full voice. King Nothing sees James Hetfield address the audience for the first time, dedicating the Load highlight to the Dutch national holiday. By the time they get to a salvo of new songs – 100mph NWOBHM throwback Lux Æterna, the snarling Screaming Suicide on live debut – the crowd are more than warmed up enough to give them their all. Fade To Black overcomes some inconsistencies in the mix, with Kirk Hammett’s lead guitar sporadically going AWOL, by strength of sheer emotion. Then Sleepwalk My Life Away brings the first half to a stomping close.

It’s clear, already, that Metallica are operating at a level above where they’ve been in recent years. Looking lean, mean and clad in damn-near-skintight black shirt and jeans, Hetfield has dropped the ‘Metallica Famileh’ shtick, reverting back to more bombastic classic banter: “Are you alive? How does it feel to be alive?!” The production, meanwhile, subtly overcomes the aesthetic shortcomings of the in-the-round format with a colossal lightshow and orchestral segues accompanied by tasteful animated video clips on the screens filling gaps between songs. It’s a meticulously-planned, well-drilled, perfectly executed stadium metal masterclass.

As they tip over into the second half of the set (the second quarter, remember, of this two-night extravaganza) it’s natural to expect another box-fresh 72 Seasons song or a catalogue-trawling deep cut. Instead, we get all-time anthem Nothing Else Matters. Sad But True rocks the space to its foundations, Hetfield laughing-off a minor tuning fluff (“This is our first time on this stage; we're only human...”) with a sparkle in his eye that says he knows there’s no need to apologise here. The Day That Never Comes (the only post-2000 track not on the new album aired tonight) stokes a different kind of nostalgia, with plenty of punters shocked to think it’s already 15 years old.

Then all hell breaks loose. Having already confirmed that they’d be playing 16 tracks tonight, and presumably saving any setlist-extending surprises for Saturday, there is no fucking about with an encore. Rather, they slam the pedal to the metal with five all-time thrash classics in a row that detonate the audience into a frenzy of pumped fists and spinning pits.

Ride The Lightning and a rare full run-through of Battery get the chaos underway. Fuel sees the stage erupt in flames: the decision to reserve pyro for that point making its arrival all the more effective. The start of Seek & Destroy is fluffed as the crowd are going so wild the band can’t hear drummer Lars Ulrich count them in, but ends with Kirk and bassist Rob Trujillo sprinting round the circular stage together as if caught in some massive, invisible mosh. Mercilessly piling on into closer Master Of Puppets, with its timeless blend of bittersweetness and savagery, it’s actually somewhat difficult even for hardened Metallica veterans to comprehend the brakes-off brilliance of what we’re seeing.

It’s a neck-wrecking, goosebump-lifting classic set from heavy music’s greatest band. And there's still a whole other one to look forward to in two nights’ time...

READ THIS: Metallica: “In the past every single thing had to be fought over… now the band is a safe space and everyone is very protective of it”

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Metallica live in Amsterdam: still the greatest heavy metal band around

Kicking off their ambitious ‘M72’ world tour, the four-piece celebrate the communal power of their music

“EVERYONE is welcome in the Metallica Family. Whether you’ve been a fan for 40 hours or 40 years, we all share a bond through music.”

That’s the statement the metal titans issued last summer, shortly after that  guitar-wailing scene towards the end of Stranger Things season four. As well as causing a surge in streams , that epic ‘Master Of Puppets’ moment introduced a new generation to the sheer emotional power of heavy music. Between that and 2021’s eclectic, encompassing celebration of their seminal classic ‘The Black Album’ , it’s little wonder that Metallica’s recent album ‘72 Seasons’ feels like a love letter to the genre, as well as the community it’s still inspiring.

• READ MORE: Metallica: “We’re still trying to figure all this shit out”

Continuing that all-in family vibe, Metallica’s ‘M72’ world tour is more a travelling heavy metal circus than your typical stadium run. As well as playing two unique live sets across two nights in every city on the tour, the band have also organised pop-up shops, book signings, meet-ups and side-gigs to really complete their takeover.

Tonight (April 27) that global, two-year tour kicks off at Amsterdam’s Johan Cruijff ArenA, with Metallica at the very heart of the action. The band play on a giant ring in the middle of the stadium, meaning they are surrounded by fans on all sides for the duration of the two-hour show while Lars Ulrich ’s drum kit manages to pop up in four different locations, revolving on the spot after every track. It’s a set-up designed to maximise crowd interaction and makes the gig feel surprisingly cosy, despite taking place in a 71,000-capacity stadium.

That sense of intimacy starts before the show even begins, with a video montage of fan photos being displayed on the seven gigantic video towers that circle the pit as AC/DC ’s ‘It’s A Long Way To The Top (If You Wanna Rock ‘N’ Roll)’ provides the first of tonight’s many scream-a-longs. Metallica then walk through the crowd to take to the stage before diving straight into a pair of fan-favourite tracks: ‘Orion’ and ‘For Whom The Bell Tolls’. James Hetfield’s grin couldn’t be wider as he launches into the first blistering solo, while Kirk Hammett and Robert Trujillo manage to create a two-person circle pit on the opposite side of the stage. If there are any first-night nerves, the band aren’t showing it.

“I’m glad you all came here to celebrate heavy music with your friends in Metallica,” Hetfield says before a shuddering ‘King Nothing’. “Because we are Metallica, and so are you.”

The decision to deliver two unique sets across each double-header on the tour gives Metallica space tonight to delve into their extensive back catalogue and mix things up. Live staples like ‘One’ and ‘Enter Sandman’ are replaced by the rarely played ‘The Day That Never Comes’, a complete ‘Battery’ and plenty of material from the brilliant ‘72 Seasons’. Who knows what night two on Saturday (April 29) will bring?

Alongside a brutal run-through of ‘Lux Æterna’, the thundering menace of ‘Screaming Suicide’ and ‘Sleepwalk My Life Away’’s heavy funk are both given their live debuts. The “energetic and playful” spirit of ‘72 Seasons’ is perfect for joyous occasions like these. “We’re in love with this album,” admits Hetfield at one point, and, judging by the reaction from their fans, Metallica aren’t alone in feeling that.

Apart from a scorching display of flames during ‘Fuel’ and a smattering of fireworks at the end of the night, there are none of the usual stadium rock gimmicks. This entire show is instead built around the four members of Metallica, their bond with the crowd and one another. After spending the whole gig apart, the band finally come together to address the audience at the very end of the show, before giving away fistfuls of plectrums and drum sticks – a kid no older than nine years old is personally handed Hetfield’s orange bandana.

“Just about 39 years ago, Metallica rolled into the Netherlands,” says Ulrich. “Tonight, we’re back stronger and feeling better than ever, thanks to you.” Hetfield adds: “We don’t take that for granted.”

Metallica have always been a gateway band for heavy music, but there’s a renewed excitement around them now. Tonight’s surprising, ambitious and giddy gig matches that energy at every turn. Their closing crossover track ‘Master Of Puppets’ naturally goes off, but then so do all of the songs on the setlist. From the gorgeous ‘Nothing Else Matters’ through to the unifying ‘Seek & Destroy’, the majesty of heavy music is on full display throughout the gig as Metallica prove why they’re clearly still the greatest metal band around.

Metallica played:

‘Orion’ ‘For Whom The Bell Tolls’ ‘Holier Than Thou’ ‘King Nothing’ ‘Lux Æterna’ ‘Screaming Suicide’ ‘Fade To Black’ ‘Sleepwalk My Life Away’ ‘Nothing Else Matters’ ‘Sad But True’ ‘The Day That Never Comes’ ‘Ride The Lightning’ ‘Battery’ ‘Fuel’ ‘Seek & Destroy’ ‘Master of Puppets’

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Metallica, a stadium warhorse, freshens its onslaught at SoFi

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As the lush and foreboding sound of Ennio Morricone’s “The Ecstasy of Gold” filled the air inside SoFi Stadium on Sunday night, the four members of Metallica strode onstage with the practiced swagger of gladiators, took their positions around Lars Ulrich’s drum kit and promptly tore into “Whiplash,” a frenzied invitation to bang one’s head from Metallica’s 1983 debut, “Kill ’Em All.”

Well, one of Ulrich’s drum kits, that is: Half an hour or so after the band began Sunday’s concert, the drummer’s set disappeared through a trap door and a second set emerged a couple of hundred feet away on the stage, which was shaped like a ring on the stadium’s floor; ditto half an hour after that, then again half an hour after that . By the end of the two-hour show, Ulrich had played four different kits facing four different directions, his bandmates looping around him as they made use of microphones placed at intervals around the ring.

This — along with a set list the group says changes every night — is how Metallica keeps itself amused on the road more than four decades into its career as the biggest heavy metal band of all time.

“Thanks for putting up with our antics,” frontman James Hetfield told the crowd at one point. “We’re still having fun after 42 years.”

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Metallica is ostensibly touring behind its 11th studio album, “72 Seasons,” which came out in April to typically robust sales-and-streaming numbers and respectful reviews. But Hetfield seemed almost sheepish about playing new material at SoFi. “Like that song?” he asked after “If Darkness Had a Son.” Then he spoke in what he imagined as the voice of the audience: “Not your best — keep trying.”

No matter: As with any band with a history as long as Metallica’s, the real reason to play live is to showcase the old hits, which in this case meant the bludgeoning yet still-crisp likes of “For Whom the Bell Tolls,” “Wherever I May Roam,” “One” and “Enter Sandman.” Within two minutes of the start of “Whiplash” on Sunday, at least five mosh pits had broken out on the floor, including one among the fans who took in the show from the center of the ring.

What separates Metallica from many other A-list hard-rock acts — several of which, including Guns N’ Roses and Tool, will share the bill with Metallica at October’s Power Trip festival in Indio — is its insistence on mixing up how it presents those hits. This was the second of two SoFi dates on a tour that has the band playing two shows in every city it visits; the gambit is that it’s not repeating any songs from Night 1 to Night 2.

Which meant that, unlike Friday’s crowd, Sunday’s missed out on hearing “Orion” and “Nothing Else Matters,” not to mention “Master of Puppets,” the 1986 classic that got a huge boost last year after it was prominently featured in the season finale of Netflix’s “Stranger Things.” (Each SoFi concert drew approximately 78,000 fans, the most for any single gig at the Inglewood stadium that opened in 2020.)

Yet the appeal of the band’s approach is that it seems unusually engaged in a minute-to-minute sense in the work of bringing these well-worn riffs and grooves alive.

One minute they were onstage at Cook’s Corner playing ‘Rhiannon.’ Then came a hail of gunfire

M Street, a classic-rock cover band, were a few songs into their set at Cook’s Corner when a gunman opened fire. ‘We were fish in a barrel,’ they told The Times.

Aug. 24, 2023

“Welcome Home (Sanitarium)” was ferocious but oddly sensual too; “Fight Fire with Fire” attained a kind of weightlessness atop Ulrich’s pulverizing double-time beat. Everyone in the building had likely heard “One,” Metallica’s vivid account of a horrifically injured soldier that became the band’s breakthrough at MTV in 1989, dozens of times; still, the switch from the song’s pretty opening section to its artillery blast of a climax somehow registered as a shock.

Roughly halfway through the show, guitarist Kirk Hammett and bassist Robert Trujillo performed an instrumental piece they said they’d composed from scratch earlier Sunday — a recurring bit on this tour that further emphasized Metallica’s deep commitment to musicianly values.

The band didn’t withhold the visual spectacle demanded by a stadium setting recently vacated by Taylor Swift and soon to be occupied by Beyoncé. There were giant towers with video screens floating 50 or 60 feet in the air; there were pyrotechnics; there were black-and-yellow beach balls that went bouncing across people’s heads during a festive and snarling “Whiskey in the Jar.” During “Ride the Lightning,” a spotlight caught Hammett at precisely the right moment to illuminate his silhouette in smoke pouring from a machine — a gorgeous image no one could have guaranteed would materialize.

There were also comforting reminders, in contrast with all the adventure, of Metallica’s endurance despite rock’s having long since ceded its place at music’s center to pop and hip-hop: Ulrich’s backward ball cap, his standing up every now and then to hit his cymbals, Hetfield’s barking at the audience (in a friendly way) about what it means to be a member of this band’s devoted core.

Dressed in a form-fitting vest and matching sweatbands around his wrists, he introduced “Moth Into Flame” as a song about addiction, then joked that “nobody here would know anything about that.” The Metallica family, he added, welcomes everybody. “But it helps if you’re a f—up or a misfit.”

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Live Review: Metallica – Amsterdam (Night 1)

Live Review: Metallica – Johan Cruijff Arena, Amsterdam (Night 1) 27th April 2023 Support: Mammoth WVH, Architects Words: Tim Finch

Metallica are the biggest metal band in the world right now, and the release of ’ 72 Seasons ’ last week just cemented their position. Whilst they may have their naysayers, or fans stuck in 1986 who refuse to accept a band can develop their sound beyond their first three albums, for the rest of us Metallica can do little wrong.

Last November they announced a two year tour that would take in 23 cities (24 if you include Download Festival which was announced ahead of time and didn’t appear on the tour poster). The unique aspect of the tour… each city would host two shows across two nights. Different opening bands each evening and the promise of two different sets across those dates.

So five months after that tour announcement The Razor’s Edge team find themselves in Amsterdam for the opening night of the tour at the Johan Cruijff Arena, the stadium home to the once mighty Ajax.

Once again, for the stadium shows at least, Metallica return to “the round” giving a full 360 degree view on the band at the centre circle of the stadium. Many bands have done this format, but none have pulled it off to extent and success that Metallica have.

Mammoth WVH , featuring Wolfgang, the son of the late great Eddie Van Halen opens the show. Closing out 2021 with an arena tour alongside Alter Bridge, this summer see’s Wolfgang’s solo project step up to the stadiums.

The band utilise every second of their stage time, ‘Mammoth’ and ‘Mr. Ed’ opening their rock assault and Planet Rock regular ‘Don’t Back Down’ closing it out. The bands sound in the stadium for the band is huge, they sound louder and heavier than ever. They will have been unfamiliar to many prior to this evening, they leave the stage with a growing fan base, safe in the knowledge it will grow further across this two year trek!

British warriors Architects , a band who have gone from strength to strength in recent years, take to the stadium like they’ve done it all before. We last saw them in the very intimate setting of KK’s Steel Mill , today as the chill of the early Amsterdam evening swirls through the stadium they play in front of 60,000 rabid Metallica fans!

With a hour long set to warm the fans up they hit the ground running with a barrage of blistering tunes. ‘Black Lung’, ‘Doomsday’ and ‘Mortal After All’ all feature in a set rounded out by ‘Animals’. Metalcore may not be to everyones tastes, but the drive and energy behind the band helps them win over even the most ardent of naysayers. Where will they go from here!

With the formalities out of the way, there is only one band we are all really here to see tonight, the  Metallica  machine is a well-oiled behemoth and 60,000+ fans wait in anticipation as the hint of sunlight dies behind the clouds, growing ever darker above the stadium. As Ennio Morricone's ‘The Ecstasy of Gold’ starts to play the hairs stand on the back of every single persons neck. There is electricity in the air, Metallica are about to step onto the stage once more!

As the atmosphere builds and smoke billows across the eight huge digital screens the opening notes of ‘Orion’ play out, a song no one expected the band to open with, but it works wonderfully. After the eight minute instrumental ‘For Whom the Bell Tolls’ follows, with its atmosphere building two minute intro the band have been on stage a full ten minutes before James Hetfield’s rasping voice rings out. From here ‘Holier Than Thou’ concludes the opening salvo and a magnificent one it is too.

As James addresses the crowd, noting that is it ‘Kings Day’ here in Amsterdam, it only seems fitting that ‘King Nothing’ should be next.

From here it’s into the newer segment of the set. Three new songs feature tonight including ‘ Lux Æterna ’, ‘Screaming Suicide’ and ‘Sleepwalk My Life Away’, the trio split by classic ‘Fade To Black’.

After a handful of post 1990 tunes including ‘Nothing Else Matters’, ‘Sad But True’ and ‘The Day That Never Comes’ we’re into the final furlong and the band are on fire.

‘Ride The Lightning’ leads to ‘Battery’ and the pits fire up all around the stage. Things get heated as the pyros flare during ‘Fuel’ and then its up to the real classics to round out the show ‘Seek and Destroy’ and ‘Master of Puppets’. Which brings the house down.

The fans wait expectantly for an encore that never comes but with the next show less than 48 hours away we have not got long to wait for our next Metallica fix.

For night one of a two year tour, it was a resounding success. There were no tracks from ‘And Justice For All’ tonight and notably big guns ‘One’ and ‘Enter Sandman’ were omitted. But with the promise that night two will not repeat any songs from night one, we have an idea of what Metallica will come armed with on Saturday.

For all the latest news , reviews , interviews across the heavy metal spectrum follow THE RAZORS'S EDGE on facebook , twitter and instagram .

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Metallica’s “No Repeat Weekend” Tour Is a Monumental Metal Event: Review, Photos, Setlists

30 most anticipated metal & hard rock tours of 2024.

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The post Metallica’s “No Repeat Weekend” Tour Is a Monumental Metal Event: Review, Photos, Setlists appeared first on Consequence .

Metallica kicked off the North American leg of their “M72 World Tour” with shows Friday (August 4th) and Sunday (August 6th) at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. In each city, the metal legends are presenting a “No Repeat Weekend,” in which they play two nights with completely unique sets. Heavy Consequence reporter-photographers Johnny Perilla (Friday) and Kevin Wilson (Sunday) were there to cover all the action. 

“We are here, and so are you,” frontman James Hetfield told the crowd at the start of Metallica’s performance of “King Nothing,” the fourth song played Friday night during the kickoff show of their 2023-2024 North American tour ( get tickets here ). “We are here to kick some ass. How about you?”

And that’s exactly what Metallica did during their “No Repeat Weekend” at New Jersey’s MetLife stadium. Not only did the festivities include Metallica’s headlining sets on Friday and Sunday, along with performances by various support acts, the weekend “takeover” also included a club show by OTTTO (featuring Robert Trujillo ’s song Tye) and Bastardane (featuring Hetfield’s son Castor) in nearby New York City, plus a book signing by Metallica photographer Ross Halfin (attended by Trujillo and Kirk Hammett ), and other festivities.

Friday at MetLife got started with a parking lot set by metal veterans Prong, offering early arrivers and tailgaters a headbanging show before they even entered the massive football stadium. Once inside, fans were treated to an opening set by Mammoth WVH, as frontman Wolfgang Van Halen rocked through songs from the act’s 2021 self-titled debut and recently released sophomore album, Mammoth II .

In many ways, fans got a double headliner on Friday when the mighty Pantera took the stage next. The lineup of classic members Philip Anselmo and Rex Brown alongside Zakk Wylde and Charlie Benante rocked through a 10-song set that featured all favorites, including “A New Level,” “I’m Broken,” “5 Minutes Alone,” and “Walk.”

For this tour, Metallica and their support acts are performing in the round, from the center of the stadium. Fans who are lucky enough to score “snakepit” tickets get to watch the bands from the center of the circle, while those in the upper seats can get a close-up view from eight towering LED video walls throughout the venue.

At roughly 8:45 p.m., Metallica took the stage, kicking things off with “Creeping Death,” and soon showcased three songs from their latest album, 72 Seasons : the title-track, the epic “If Darkness Had a Son,” and the live debut of “Shadows Follow.” Addressing the crowd, Hefield inquired, “ 72 Seasons , you like it?” In reply, the audience roared in approval.

Following “If Darkness Had a Son,” Kirk Hammett and Robert Trujillo treated the audience to a unique jam session they called “Rose Avenue,” a musical creation conjured up by the two just moments before hitting the stage. “Kirk and I, we’ve whipped up a little jam for you,” said Trujillo. “So, every show, we go backstage and we put something together, customized for this city. This is for you, and only you.”

Prior to performing “Fade to Black,” Hetfield thanked the crowd for remembering his birthday, which took place a day earlier. “60 years old, I can’t believe it. The young me would be saying, you made it, you freaking made it, dude.”

Perhaps the only hiccup of the night was Hammett flubbing the intro to “Nothing Else Matters,” only to quickly recover as the band restarted the song.

Toward the end of the evening, as the band was playing  “Seek & Destroy,” massive beachballs descended from the sky, flooding both the general admission audience and the band’s circular stage. The band playfully kicked the balls back to the audience, and the set then wrapped up with a rousing performance of “Master of Puppets.”

Two days later, Metallica fans descended upon MetLife once again, with many still buzzing from the Friday night show. Sunday’s festivities were started by Jersey’s own thrash metal icons Overkill, who set the stage on fire with an electrifying performance in the parking lot outside the stadium. Despite the summer heat, fans packed the penned-in area to witness Overkill’s explosive act, and lined up to buy the band’s T-shirts at a nearby merch stand.

As the day progressed, the excitement continued to build. The atmosphere in the stadium was electric as fans engaged in tailgating activities, turning the concert into a day-long celebration. The parking lots buzzed with anticipation as concert-goers arrived early. It was a testament to the dedication and passion of Metallica’s fanbase, who transformed the pre-concert experience into a vibrant gathering of the metal community.

At 6 p.m., Ice Nine Kills took the stage with their theatrical performance, offering a horror-themed show that included chainsaws and axes. Shortly thereafter, Five Finger Death Punch unleashed a hard-hitting 12-song set, as frontman Ivan Moody and company performed hits like “Life Me Up,” “Under and Over It,” and “The Bleeding.”

Then it was time for Metallica’s second show of the weekend, with their “no repeat” setlist offering a whole new experience for those who had attended the Friday concert. The band didn’t waste any time playing the classics, launching the show with “Whiplash,” “For Whom the Bell Tolls,” and “Ride the Lightning.”

Another three songs from 72 Seasons made their way into the Sunday set, with “Too Far Gone?” getting its live debut this time around. While completely different from Friday’s show, the Sunday setlist once again took the audience on a journey through Metallica’s extensive catalog, culminating with “One” and the set-closing “Enter Sandman.”

During both nights, the entire stadium was engulfed in a sea of headbanging, fist-pumping fans who sang along to every lyric. Metallica’s stage presence was magnetic, with a highly-energized Hetfield engaging in cheery banter, drummer Lars Ulrich firing up the crowd from behind his kit, and Hammett and Trujillo captivating both audiences from start to finish.

Get Metallica Tickets Here

If the kickoff concerts at MetLife Stadium were any indication, fans at upcoming North American shows can look forward to a monumental event that showcases the power and enduring appeal of heavy metal.

Photo Gallery – Metallica and support acts at MetLife Stadium August 4th and 6th, starting with the Sunday pics first (click to expand and scroll through):

Metallica Setlist (Aug. 4): Creeping Death Harvester of Sorrow Holier Than Thou King Nothing 72 Seasons If Darkness Had a Son (followed by Kirk & Rob doodle) Fade to Black Shadows Follow (Live debut) Orion Nothing Else Matters (Kirk messed up intro, song restarted) Sad but True The Day That Never Comes Battery Fuel Seek & Destroy Master of Puppets

Metallica Setlist (Aug. 6): Whiplash For Whom the Bell Tolls Ride the Lightning The Memory Remains Lux Æterna Too Far Gone? (Live debut) Welcome Home (Sanitarium) (preceded by “Murf Da Surf” Kirk & Rob doodle) You Must Burn! (preceded by Burn intro riff by Deep Purple) The Call of Ktulu (preceded by S&M orchestral score) The Unforgiven Wherever I May Roam Moth Into Flame Blackened Whiskey in the Jar (preceded by Outlaw Torn bassline) One Enter Sandman

Pantera Setlist (Aug. 4): A New Level Mouth for War Strength Beyond Strength Becoming (With ‘Thrones of Rejection’ outro) I’m Broken (With ‘By Demons Be Driven’ outro) Video Tribute to Dimebag Darrell and Vinnie Paul (soundtracked by “Cemetery Gates”) 5 Minutes Alone This Love Fucking Hostile Walk Domination / Hollow Cowboys From Hell

Mammoth WVH Setlist (Aug. 4): Mammoth Mr. Ed Like a Pastime I’m Alright You’re to Blame Another Celebration at the End of the World Don’t Back Down

Five Finger Death Punch Setlist (Aug. 6) Lift Me Up Trouble Wash It All Away Jekyll and Hyde Inside Out Bad Company (Bad Company cover) IOU Wrong Side of Heaven Burn MF Welcome to the Circus Under and Over It The Bleeding

Ice Nine Kills Setlist (Aug. 6) SAVAGES Rainy Day Hip to Be Scared Ex-Mørtis Welcome to Horrorwood Wurst Vacation The Shower Scene Stabbing in the Dark

Metallica’s “No Repeat Weekend” Tour Is a Monumental Metal Event: Review, Photos, Setlists Johnny Perilla and Kevin RC Wilson

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Concert review: Metallica communes with devoted fans at the Big O

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A simple truth hits me over the head at the implausibly loud Olympic Stadium on Friday. That truth is this: Metal people are loyal. They don’t follow trends and they don’t care what you think. And among this steadfast tribe, there are none quite like Metallica fans, more than 60,000 of whom emphatically express their devotion at the first of two weekend concerts.

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Concert review: metallica communes with devoted fans at the big o back to video.

It wasn’t always certain to be this way. Cast your mind back to 2004 and Metallica: Some Kind of Monster, the you-are-there, in-the-studio film that overdid the second word in cinéma vérité and became a real-life This Is Spinal Tap. Here was a band that looked utterly lost: making bad artistic decisions left, right and centre, soliciting advice from a life coach and taking absolutely everything extremely seriously. They appeared in imminent danger of becoming figures of fun. (Q: What do the Beatles and Metallica have in common? A: They both made documentaries about the making of their weakest album. Boom-boom!)

Ultimately, though, it was a false alarm. Metallica got through it all with minimal long-term reputational damage. If anything, they’ve been somehow enhanced by the Monster debacle; it has invested their narrative with an endearing hint of fallibility. Turns out they’re not an imperious, all-devouring juggernaut, shrugging off death and defection among their membership, temporary unannounced breakups, and rehab stints for leader James Hetfield. Turns out what they do is hard.

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It has been 40 years since Metallica announced themselves with their groundbreaking thrash-metal debut, the demurely titled Kill ‘em All, and inevitably the ideas of age and durability are increasingly central to their story. You know you’re talking about a senior band when even the “new guy” — bassist Robert Trujillo — has been in the lineup for 20 years. But still, the last two decades arguably haven’t added a single new song to the top tier of the Metallica canon.

Before the start of Friday night’s proceedings, while circulating in the stadium’s teeming mezzanines, I seize the opportunity to ask a few attendees a simple question: What’s your favourite Metallica album? Here are their responses.

“It’s got to be Master of Puppets. I mean, come on.” (James, 27, Montreal. His birth was a decade in the future when Master of Puppets was released.)

“Can’t choose between the first four, man. They’re all perfect. Take your pick.” (Dylan, 28, Plattsburgh, N.Y. He was attending the concert with his father and his daughter. All three generations looked completely thrilled to be there.)

“Are you being serious right now? Dude, it’s Ride the Lightning.” (Marc, 53, Montreal. I might have guessed — he was wearing a Ride the Lightning shirt.)

“… And Justice for All. Why? Because it’s a double. Twice as much Metallica.” (Nathalie, 52, Trois-Rivières.)

Granted, it’s a small sample size, but it’s interesting that no one mentions 1991’s eponymous release, universally known as the Black Album, the one that took Metallica from thrash flag-bearers — big, but still niche — to full-blown popular phenomenon. It’s among a select circle of albums that not only dominated their era, but have never stopped selling: Dark Side of the Moon, Led Zeppelin IV, Rumours, Back in Black, Appetite for Destruction. When Metallica heralds Friday’s show with a PA airing of AC/DC’s It’s a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock ’n’ Roll), it occurs to you that they’re doffing their collective cap to some of the very few inhabitants of Earth who can relate to what they’ve achieved and where they are.

It’s interesting too, then, that an undoubted highlight of the night is the mid-set, one-two punch of a pair of Black Album warhorses, Nothing Else Matters and Sad but True. The former was an outlier in the oeuvre in 1991, the first expression of emotional vulnerability to pierce the metal facade, and all these years later it remains affecting. The latter is piledriving Metallica nonpareil.

The night is full of such first-principle restatements. Around the time of 1996’s Load, some may recall, Metallica strove to inject more of a groove — even, dare it be said, a “bluesy” feel — into their sound. But it never really worked; the strain was all too apparent. No, they were far better off sticking to their signature lockstep, unison-staccato-riffing style, all underpinned by Lars Ulrich’s pummelling double bass drum, the beat not so much a groove as a marching order.

Friday’s set (Sunday night’s would be completely different, we’re told) sees the band doggedly perform several songs from the new, lukewarmly received 72 Seasons album, even when it’s clear that no one, bar perhaps a hardy few down front, specifically wants to hear them. There’s an awkward moment when Hetfield asks the throng “How many of you have the album?” and the response is … well, muted.

Does currency really matter, though? At this point in Metallica’s history, a concert is not about newness. It’s not even specifically about music per se. And that’s not a putdown. It’s about communally celebrating the familiar, about demonstrating commonality, keeping a tradition alive, in many cases passing that tradition’s torch into new hands.

All of this calls up some fascinating paradoxes and contradictions: feeling nostalgia for songs of the apocalypse, looking back wistfully to a time when the young feared they had no future. Fear, or at the very least widespread apprehension, is making a comeback, of course, and it’s hard not to think Metallica is doing us all a solid in letting us blow off some steam.

Metallica has, of course, been here before. Many in the building for this show have first-hand memories of the 1992 co-headlining concert with Guns N’ Roses that culminated in a riot . Your reporter wasn’t living in Montreal then, but wouldn’t have been at that show regardless. In 1992 there was simply no viable aesthetic that could accommodate both Metallica and R.E.M., and I was firmly with Team R.E.M.

But the passing of time and the bumps and scrapes of living a life have a way of smoothing out such identity-driven issues. One becomes more accepting, less doctrinaire. Hetfield refers at a couple of points to “the Metallica family.” He’s including everyone in the building in that category, and it’s not unctuous showbiz glad-handing — he looks and sounds genuinely surprised and grateful for how things have turned out for him. So while I can’t really claim family membership — call me an interloper if you will — respect runs deep nonetheless.

Finally, some random musings in the din:

• It probably goes without saying, but let’s say it anyway: the acoustics in Olympic Stadium are brutal, indeed abominable. (Is this the biggest room in the world, of any kind? That’s a serious question. Does anyone know?)
• Abandon any notion you may ever have had about metal being a male preserve. Women were out in enormous numbers. Girls-night-out groups filled entire rows of seats.
• Spare a thought for opening acts Mammoth WVH and Pantera. It can’t be easy performing to tens of thousands of people who manifestly aren’t there to see you, but both bands — Pantera especially, a venerable metal institution in its own right — do as well as can be reasonably expected.
• Kirk Hammett is a sorely underrated lead guitarist. There are moments Friday when it feels like the spirit of the late Jeff Beck is among us, albeit fighting to be heard through the din.
• Would they do anything from their Lou Reed collaboration Lulu, a misbegotten work that constitutes one of rock’s grand follies? The answer turns out to be no, but to be fair, Mr. Reed is no longer around to take his part.

Metallica’s M72 World Tour No Repeat Weekend continues Sunday, Aug. 13 at Olympic Stadium, with Five Finger Death Punch and Ice Nine Kills. Gates open at 4 p.m. For tickets and more information, see evenko.ca .

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Metallica cut their set short in Phoenix Night 1 but kills 'em all regardless

Fresh from breaking an attendance record set by Taylor Swift’s The Eras Tour at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles, Metallica drew a massive crowd to State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, to kick off a No Repeat Weekend with an awe-inspiring show of force on Friday, Sept. 1.

These are Metallica’s first Valley concerts since  2017, when the Worldwired Tour played that same stadium.

If they’ve aged a day since that last tour, it didn’t show in their performance, from the time they crashed the gate with “Creeping Death” and segued into “Harvester of Sorrow" to the dropping of those giant beach balls on the set-closing “Seek & Destroy” from their debut.

Night 1 setlist: Every song Metallica played on their M72 tour stop at State Farm Stadium

40 years after 'Kill 'Em All,' Metallica still delivers

Lars Ulrich was a force of nature. How a man who’s pushing 60 drums the way he drums is something scientists should study and hopefully bottle. Kirk Hammett’s guitar heroics were a thrill to witness. Robert Trujillo may remain “the new guy” after 20 years, but holy hell, those basslines thundered with authority.

And James Hetfield commanded the room with all the gravity and charm at his disposal while giving each song the delivery required, from the snarl of “Creeping Death” to the emotional heft of “Fade to Black” and the drama of “Nothing Else Matters.”

It’s kind of wild to think that it’s been 40 years since Metallica thrashed their way to the forefront of the heavy metal underground with “Kill ‘Em All,” a seminal debut that hasn’t lost an ounce of urgency with time.

And it’s probably wilder to think they’re still out there riding the lighting, touring on a new release that somehow effortlessly taps into the essence of their most electrifying work, a point made especially clear by the punkish intensity of “Lux Æterna.”

Sunday's show postponed: Metallica reschedules 2nd Phoenix concert due to COVID-19 after ending early Friday

Did Metallica cut their set short in Phoenix?

Metallica did appear to play a shorter set than they’ve been doing, though. Every opening night since this tour hit the States has been a 16-song performance following “Seek & Destroy” with a set-closing “Master of Puppets.”

We got 14 songs and no “Master of Puppets.” Normally, I hesitate to overuse a word as ripe for overuse as “tragedy.” But what else would you call it? Especially after Hetfield toyed with our affections for what seemed like an eternity, egging us on to scream for one more song?

They also appeared to roll tape on the intro to "The Day That Never Comes" before switching to "Hardwired."

I had no idea why they cut those songs. It didn’t sound like they were having problems. We don’t Snapchat and/or send each other telegrams, so I could only guess.

Hetfield did appear to relinquish his lead-singing duties to the audience more often as the night wore on, but I thought it was just to make the crowd feel more like part of the performance.

Now, of course, we know that Hetfield tested positive for COVID-19, and Metallica has now rescheduled Sunday's concert for Saturday, Sept. 9.

Metallica's Phoenix concerts: Everything to know if you're going to State Farm Stadium

Metallica's set at State Farm Stadium was nearly 2 hours

Here’s the thing, though. They were still onstage for an hour and 50 minutes. That’s a longer set than you will ever get from most headlining acts. We only know we got a shorter set because the internet. And now, this review.

Perhaps what matters — more than nothing else — is that the 14 songs they played in that performance sounded great, from “Creeping Death” to the electrifying climax of “Nothing Else Matters” (Hetfield’s vocal giving way to the soaring lead guitar break) and perhaps my favorite moment, the thrash-metal splendor of “Seek & Destroy.”

It’s to their credit that the new songs didn’t feel like reasons for a beer or bathroom run surrounded by such classics. If anything, the new songs did their legend proud.

But it's a DRY heat: All the concerts canceled by extreme heat in Phoenix this summer, from 50 Cent to Disturbed

Metallica brought an in-the-round design to their 2023 tour

They’ve taken an interesting approach to staging on this tour, with an in-the-round design that relocates the Snake Pit to center stage with Metallica performing on a ring around those fans. The view down front, surrounded by the members of Metallica, was probably amazing.

You could see it in the faces of fans when they flashed on the video towers hanging from the ceiling, which is where I watched a large part of the action unfolding on faraway stages from my fairly decent seats.

I’m sure the people in the nosebleed section thought they had it worse.

Perhaps the most surprising part of the production was the pyro going off on “Fuel,” the 13 th song of a 14-song performance. I hadn’t even noticed there had been no pyro until they spent the night’s entire pyro budget on a single song. And this was followed by the beach balls, which I loved.

The reason they call it a No Repeat Weekend is twofold. 1. They’re not repeating any songs. And 2. They’re not repeating any openers.

Wolfgang Van Halen and Mammoth WVH opened for Metallica

Friday’s show opened with Mammoth WVH. As in Wolfgang Van Halen, who broke into the business filling in for Michael Anthony on bass in a band that, as it turns out, shared his last name.

He’s playing guitar these days. And it didn’t take long to establish that the finger-tapping apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.

His playing would’ve done his father proud while his aesthetic takes a relatively more contemporary route, from the post-grunge power ballad “You’re to Blame” to the psychedelic grunge of “Like a Pastime” and the Gary Glitter beat of “Don’t Back Down.”

Pantera also opened for Metallica in Phoenix on Night 1

Pantera followed Mammoth WVH with a set that offset their vulgar displays of power with bittersweet tributes to their fallen comrades.

Guitarist Dimebag Darrell was murdered onstage by a deranged fan on Dec. 8, 2004, the 24 th anniversary of John Lennon’s murder and his brother, drummer Vinnie Paul, died in 2018 of dilated cardiomyopathy and coronary artery disease.

Lead singer Phil Anselmo and bassist Rex Brown have recruited two amazing substitutes — Ozzy Osbourne guitarist Zakk Wylde, who also fronts his own band, Black Label Society, and Anthrax drummer Charlie Benante.

They hadn’t played a concert since 2001, officially disbanding in 2003, until December 2022. And as Anselmo told the crowd, “Everything we do up here is for Dimebag and Vinnie.”

If it felt weird seeing them continue on this path without two members who did so much to define what this band means, Anselmo did his best to make it feel like honoring their legacy while also giving his own legacy another shout-out. And as long as he can do their legend proud with the conviction he mustered in Phoenix, he should keep Pantera going.

Overall, it was a brilliant night for metal in a room so big, proving that this remains the music of the people after all these years.

Metallica 2023 setlist: Every song in Phoenix on Night 1

Here’s every song Metallica played at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, on Sept. 1, 2023:

• "It's a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock 'n' Roll)" recording (AC/DC)
• "The Ecstasy of Gold" recording/video (Ennio Morricone)
• “Creeping Death”
• “Harvester of Sorrow”
• “Holier Than Thou"
• “King Nothing”
• “Lux Æterna”
• “Too Far Gone?”
• "Cactus and Graffiti" (Kirk Hammett and Robert Trujillo jam)
• “Fade to Black”
• “Shadows Follow”
• “Nothing Else Matters”
• “Sad but True”
• “Hardwired”
• “Seek & Destroy”

Reach the reporter at  [email protected]  or 602-444-4495. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter)  @EdMasley .

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Metallica: 72 Seasons review – a poignant if protracted nostalgia kick

(Blackened) With weighty lyrics referencing James Hetfield’s ongoing recovery and harking back to the band’s formative British influences, 72 Seasons has the edge of Metallica’s 80s heyday – albeit one blunted by overlong songs

M etallica frontman James Hetfield has said their 11th studio album is rooted in the past, its title a reference to “the first 18 years of our lives, that form our true or false selves … Much of our adult experience is re-enactment or reaction to those childhood experiences”. You could take this as the talk of a man who has spent a lot of time in therapy. In 2019 Hetfield entered rehab again, an experience that clearly informs a chunk of 72 Seasons’ lyrics. “Temptation, temptation,” he keeps repeating as If Darkness Had a Son kicks in. Too Far Gone? draws on the Alcoholics Anonymous principle of approaching recovery one day at a time. Chasing Light has him “down and out”, shaking with “deep withdrawals”. “Come on, give the boy a break,” he pleads, “or he will break.”

But students of Metallica ’s musical roots may also find a different undercurrent in Hetfield’s statement. At the end of the time period he mentions, the band’s drummer Lars Ulrich had saved up his paper-round money and decamped to England in search of the new wave of British heavy metal: he ended up in Stourbridge, glomming on to Diamond Head, the NWoBHM’s luckless nearly-weres. Ultimately left for dust commercially by Iron Maiden and Def Leppard, Diamond Head nevertheless became a key influence on Metallica: Ulrich claimed the band simply “wouldn’t exist” without them.

And 72 Seasons was trailed by the single Lux Aeterna, essentially a Diamond Head homage, its lyrics simultaneously hymning the brotherhood of the heavy metal community, nodding to Metallica’s debut album (“full speed or nothing” sings Hetfield, recalling the mission statement of Motorbreath) and retelling the saga of Ulrich’s teenage trip to Britain, and the warm welcome afforded him: “A sea of hearts beat as one, unified … kindred alliance connected inside.” Should anyone have missed the point, there’s a line about “amplification lightning the nation”, a grammatical fudge that only makes sense as a reference to the title of Diamond Head’s debut album.

But the Metallica fan who takes Hetfield’s statement as suggesting 72 Seasons features a back-to-basics approach might note that that’s also how Metallica trailed their last two albums, a reaction to spending the 90s and early 00s exploring avenues some distance from their roots: the influence of blues and southern rock, country and Soundgarden; even banning guitar solos entirely on 2003’s St Anger. Metallica have vociferously defended that era ever since, but clearly something about it didn’t sit right with a band who initially set themselves up as saviours of real metal amid the hairspray, makeup and MTV-friendly hitmaking of the glam era. With the release of 2008’s Death Magnetic, they effectively began doing what a lot of artists do 25-plus years into their career: returning to the sound that made them popular in the first place – albeit without the dramatic commercial slump that usually precipitates such a decision.

Which brings us back to 72 Seasons, an album that displays the advantages and the drawbacks of such an approach. It would be a sour Metallica diehard who doesn’t feel their heart lift a little as Lux Aeterna powers along, or as Screaming Suicide erupts into a series of compact, effect-laden Kirk Hammett solos, or as the band knowingly reference their own past: whatever you make of the evil-priests-smiling-as-the-witch-is-immolated lyrics of You Must Burn!, it’s hard to miss that its musical DNA is equally composed of the final single from 1991’s Metallica, Sad But True, and Harvester of Sorrow from 1988’s …And Justice for All. Without wishing to minimise Hetfield’s personal torment, the tracks that deal with his recent problems carry a weight and an edge that serves as a decent replacement for the hunger and testosterone that potentiated their 80s work.

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Equally, there are issues: moments when said edge appears to be blunted, or when you find yourself wishing the band – who are audibly enjoying themselves – had been a little more judicious with the editing, a recurring problem with latter-day Metallica. The closing Inamorata goes on for 11 minutes, but seems to be that long primarily to evoke past Metallica epics by dint of its dimensions, rather than because the track warrants it. Some of the (relatively) shorter songs could have used a nip and tuck as well: there’s nothing terribly wrong with the muscular Sleepwalk My Life Away bar a paucity of melody about its blues riffing that means it outstays its welcome. Or perhaps 72 Seasons feels every bit of its 77 minutes because of a lack of variety: no ballads, not a huge number of dynamic shifts.

There’s enough worthwhile stuff to ensure that fans will be happy – you can overlook its shortcomings while the title track rages – and that touring won’t seem entirely like an exercise in running through the back catalogue. Equally, no one hoping to convince a non-believer of Metallica’s greatness will reach for it over the classics.

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Explore Past Shows, Set Lists, Photos & More

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Metallica’s “No Repeat Weekend” Tour Is a Monumental Metal Event: Review, Photos, Setlists

The metal icons kicked off their North American tour with two shows at New Jersey's MetLife Stadium

Metallica kicked off the North American leg of their “M72 World Tour” with shows Friday (August 4th) and Sunday (August 6th) at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. In each city, the metal legends are presenting a “No Repeat Weekend,” in which they play two nights with completely unique sets. Heavy Consequence reporter-photographers Johnny Perilla (Friday) and Kevin Wilson (Sunday) were there to cover all the action. 

“We are here, and so are you,” frontman James Hetfield told the crowd at the start of Metallica’s performance of “King Nothing,” the fourth song played Friday night during the kickoff show of their 2023-2024 North American tour ( get tickets here ). “We are here to kick some ass. How about you?”

And that’s exactly what Metallica did during their “No Repeat Weekend” at New Jersey’s MetLife stadium. Not only did the festivities include Metallica’s headlining sets on Friday and Sunday, along with performances by various support acts, the weekend “takeover” also included a club show by OTTTO (featuring Robert Trujillo’s song Tye) and Bastardane (featuring Hetfield’s son Castor) in nearby New York City, plus a book signing by Metallica photographer Ross Halfin (attended by Trujillo and Kirk Hammett), and other festivities.

Friday at MetLife got started with a parking lot set by metal veterans Prong, offering early arrivers and tailgaters a headbanging show before they even entered the massive football stadium. Once inside, fans were treated to an opening set by Mammoth WVH, as frontman Wolfgang Van Halen rocked through songs from the act’s 2021 self-titled debut and recently released sophomore album, Mammoth II .

In many ways, fans got a double headliner on Friday when the mighty Pantera took the stage next. The lineup of classic members Philip Anselmo and Rex Brown alongside Zakk Wylde and Charlie Benante rocked through a 10-song set that featured all favorites, including “A New Level,” “I’m Broken,” “5 Minutes Alone,” and “Walk.”

For this tour, Metallica and their support acts are performing in the round, from the center of the stadium. Fans who are lucky enough to score “snakepit” tickets get to watch the bands from the center of the circle, while those in the upper seats can get a close-up view from eight towering LED video walls throughout the venue.

At roughly 8:45 p.m., Metallica took the stage, kicking things off with “Creeping Death,” and soon showcased three songs from their latest album, 72 Seasons : the title-track, the epic “If Darkness Had a Son,” and the live debut of “Shadows Follow.” Addressing the crowd, Hetfield inquired, “ 72 Seasons , you like it?” In reply, the audience roared in approval.

Following “If Darkness Had a Son,” Kirk Hammett and Robert Trujillo treated the audience to a unique jam session they called “Rose Avenue,” a musical creation conjured up by the two just moments before hitting the stage. “Kirk and I, we’ve whipped up a little jam for you,” said Trujillo. “So, every show, we go backstage and we put something together, customized for this city. This is for you, and only you.”

Prior to performing “Fade to Black,” Hetfield thanked the crowd for remembering his birthday, which took place a day earlier. “60 years old, I can’t believe it. The young me would be saying, you made it, you freaking made it, dude.”

Perhaps the only hiccup of the night was Hammett flubbing the intro to “Nothing Else Matters,” only to quickly recover as the band restarted the song.

Toward the end of the evening, as the band was playing  “Seek & Destroy,” massive beachballs descended from the sky, flooding both the general admission audience and the band’s circular stage. The band playfully kicked the balls back to the audience, and the set then wrapped up with a rousing performance of “Master of Puppets.”

Two days later, Metallica fans descended upon MetLife once again, with many still buzzing from the Friday night show. Sunday’s festivities were started by Jersey’s own thrash metal icons Overkill, who set the stage on fire with an electrifying performance in the parking lot outside the stadium. Despite the summer heat, fans packed the penned-in area to witness Overkill’s explosive act, and lined up to buy the band’s T-shirts at a nearby merch stand.

As the day progressed, the excitement continued to build. The atmosphere in the stadium was electric as fans engaged in tailgating activities, turning the concert into a day-long celebration. The parking lots buzzed with anticipation as concert-goers arrived early. It was a testament to the dedication and passion of Metallica’s fanbase, who transformed the pre-concert experience into a vibrant gathering of the metal community.

At 6 p.m., Ice Nine Kills took the stage with their theatrical performance, offering a horror-themed show that included chainsaws and axes. Shortly thereafter, Five Finger Death Punch unleashed a hard-hitting 12-song set, as frontman Ivan Moody and company performed hits like “Life Me Up,” “Under and Over It,” and “The Bleeding.”

Then it was time for Metallica’s second show of the weekend, with their “no repeat” setlist offering a whole new experience for those who had attended the Friday concert. The band didn’t waste any time playing the classics, launching the show with “Whiplash,” “For Whom the Bell Tolls,” and “Ride the Lightning.”

Another three songs from 72 Seasons made their way into the Sunday set, with “Too Far Gone?” getting its live debut this time around. While completely different from Friday’s show, the Sunday setlist once again took the audience on a journey through Metallica’s extensive catalog, culminating with “One” and the set-closing “Enter Sandman.”

During both nights, the entire stadium was engulfed in a sea of headbanging, fist-pumping fans who sang along to every lyric. Metallica’s stage presence was magnetic, with a highly-energized Hetfield engaging in cheery banter, drummer Lars Ulrich firing up the crowd from behind his kit, and Hammett and Trujillo captivating both audiences from start to finish.

Get Metallica Tickets Here

If the kickoff concerts at MetLife Stadium were any indication, fans at upcoming North American shows can look forward to a monumental event that showcases the power and enduring appeal of heavy metal.

Photo Gallery – Metallica and support acts at MetLife Stadium August 4th and 6th, starting with the Sunday pics first (click to expand and scroll through):

Metallica Setlist (Aug. 4): Creeping Death Harvester of Sorrow Holier Than Thou King Nothing 72 Seasons If Darkness Had a Son (followed by Kirk & Rob doodle) Fade to Black Shadows Follow (Live debut) Orion Nothing Else Matters (Kirk messed up intro, song restarted) Sad but True The Day That Never Comes Battery Fuel Seek & Destroy Master of Puppets

Metallica Setlist (Aug. 6): Whiplash For Whom the Bell Tolls Ride the Lightning The Memory Remains Lux Æterna Too Far Gone? (Live debut) Welcome Home (Sanitarium) (preceded by “Murf Da Surf” Kirk & Rob doodle) You Must Burn! (preceded by Burn intro riff by Deep Purple) The Call of Ktulu (preceded by S&M orchestral score) The Unforgiven Wherever I May Roam Moth Into Flame Blackened Whiskey in the Jar (preceded by Outlaw Torn bassline) One Enter Sandman

Pantera Setlist (Aug. 4): A New Level Mouth for War Strength Beyond Strength Becoming (With ‘Thrones of Rejection’ outro) I’m Broken (With ‘By Demons Be Driven’ outro) Video Tribute to Dimebag Darrell and Vinnie Paul (soundtracked by “Cemetery Gates”) 5 Minutes Alone This Love Fucking Hostile Walk Domination / Hollow Cowboys From Hell

Mammoth WVH Setlist (Aug. 4): Mammoth Mr. Ed Like a Pastime I’m Alright You’re to Blame Another Celebration at the End of the World Don’t Back Down

Five Finger Death Punch Setlist (Aug. 6) Lift Me Up Trouble Wash It All Away Jekyll and Hyde Inside Out Bad Company (Bad Company cover) IOU Wrong Side of Heaven Burn MF Welcome to the Circus Under and Over It The Bleeding

Ice Nine Kills Setlist (Aug. 6) SAVAGES Rainy Day Hip to Be Scared Ex-Mørtis Welcome to Horrorwood Wurst Vacation The Shower Scene Stabbing in the Dark

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James Hetfield Got Lemmy Kilmister’s Cremated Ashes Tattooed Into His Middle Finger

• By Kory Grow

The affection that James Hetfield feels for Motörhead’s late frontman, Lemmy Kilmister , is well documented: Metallica have covered “Overkill” dozens of times, the whole band once performed as “The Lemmys” at Kilmister’s 50th birthday bash, and Hetfield’s lyrics to Metallica’s “Murder One” is basically a string of Kilmister references . Now Kilmister will forever be a part of Hetfield since the singer blended some of the Motörhead frontman’s cremains into tattoo ink and got an Ace of Spades tat on his right middle finger.

“With the steady hand of friend and tattoo artist [Corey Miller] … a salute to my friend and inspiration Mr. Lemmy Kilmister ,” Hetfield wrote in an Instagram post via the band’s account. “Without him, there would be NO Metallica. Black ink mixed with a pinch of his cremation ashes that were so graciously given to me. So now, he is still able to fly the bird at the world.”

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Metallica (@metallica)

“In the summer of 1981, I followed Motörhead around on tour,” Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich said in the same interview. “That was what made me want to be in a band. When I came back to Southern California and called up James and said, ‘Listen, we’ve got to give this a shot,’ … Motörhead is the catalyst.”

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Hetfield also championed Motörhead for induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. “There’s no more rock & roll person on this planet than Lemmy and Motörhead,” he said in 2016.

A portion of Kilmister’s ashes were enshrined at the heavy metal festival Wacken last year.

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"Join us as we destroy all enemies!" Megadeth announce US tour with Mudvayne and All That Remains

Megadeth are hitting the road and bringing some major metal friends with them

Megadeth have announced a huge US tour set to take place later this year. The American thrash metal icons will be hitting up no fewer than 33 dates on their latest jaunt across the States, and will be bringing two powerhouse supports with them for the trip - reunited nu metal heavyweights Mudvayne and metalcore mainstays All That Remains.

"Our 'Crush The World' tour has been a tremendous experience for the four of us,” says Megadeth guitarist, vocalist and band leader Dave Mustaine. “We are all playing tight, and that has made it possible for me to really focus on solos and singing, we are playing more songs than ever before, and we are closer to each other, onstage and off. I'm excited to see Mudvayne, and All That Remains. Join us as we Destroy All Enemies!”

See the full list of dates below. Megadeth's latest album, The Sick, The Dying...And The Dead! , is out now. 

Megadeth Destroy All Enemies US tour dates 2024

Aug 2: Rogers, AR Walmart AMP Aug 3: Houston, TX 713 Music Hall Aug 5: Albuquerque, NM Isleta Amphitheatre Aug 6: Denver, CO Ball Arena Aug 8: Phoenix, AZ Talking Stick Resort Amphitheatre Aug 9: Los Angeles, CA YouTube Theater Aug 10: Concord, CA Toyota Pavilion at Concord Aug 12: Auburn, WA White River Amphitheatre Aug 13: Bend, OR Hayden Homes Amphitheater Aug 16: Las Vegas, NV Bakkt Theatre at Planet Hollywood Aug 17: Salt Lake City, UT Maverick Arena Aug 20: Irving, TX The Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory Aug 21: Austin, TX Germania Insurance Amphitheater Aug 23: Macon, GA Atrium Health Macon Amphitheater Aug 24: West Palm Beach, FL IThink Financial Amphitheatre Sept 3: Tinley Park, IL Credit Union 1 Amphitheatre Sept 5: Huntington, WV Marshall Health Network Arena Sept 6: Charlotte, NC PNC Music Pavilion Sept 7: Raleigh, NC Coastal Credit Union Music Park at Walnut Creek Sept 9: Reading, PA Santander Arena Sept 10: Albany, NY MVP Arena Sept 11: Boston, MA Leader Bank Sept 13:  Bethel, MY Bethel Woods Center For The Arts Sept 14: Wantagh, NY Northwell Health at Jones Beach Theater Sept 15: Richmond, VA Virginia Credit Union Live! Sept 17: Cincinnati, OH Riverbend Music Center Sept 18: Pittsburgh, PA Stage AE Sept 20: Noblesville, IN Ruoff Music Center Sept 21: Clarkston, MI Pine Knob Music Theatre Sept 24: Minneapolis, MN The Armory Sept 26: St Louis, MO Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre STL Sept 27:  Southaven, MS Bankplus Amphitheater at Snowden Grove Sept 28: Nashville, TN Nashville Municipal Auditorium       

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‘Lempicka’ Review: Broadway Musical Leaves a Visionary Artist Out of Focus

By Frank Rizzo

Frank Rizzo

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To the list of larger-than-life, survivalist women in musical theater, add Tamara de Lempicka — but with an asterisk.

The name of the Polish-born portraitist who died in 1980 might not be familiar to many, but you might recognize her paintings. Lempicka’s Art Deco-era images depict lustrous women with self-assured gazes, endowing “the new woman” with a mixture of luminosity and strength that’s at the heart of “Lempicka,” a long-in-development but still uneven musical which finally made it to Broadway following runs at Williamstown Theatre Festival in 2018 and La Jolla Playhouse last year.

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“History’s a bitch, but so am I,” Lempicka says slyly at the start of the show. She is an elderly woman sitting alone on a park bench in 1975 Los Angeles, all but forgotten save for her memories of a long-ago, glamorous — and turbulent — era. Though the line is snappy, the bitchiness, which might have enlivened the character after that scene, is largely absent.

But Espinosa’s presence, personality and stunning voice still manage to make the character captivating even as Lempicka becomes increasing contradictory: motherly while being self-absorbed; commercially driven while speaking grandly about art; a woman of vision as well as obliviousness; a person of both passion and calculation.

At first the song titles read like chapter headings: “Our Time” for the Russian revolutionaries; “Starting Over” for the now-expatriates Lempicka and her aristocratic husband Tadeusz (Andrew Samonsky); “Paris” for, er, Paris.

Finding themselves impoverished in the city of light, Lempicka develops her artistic skills. Befriended by a wealthy art patron (Nathaniel Stampley) and his wife (Beth Leavel), Lempicka begins studying with the founder of the Futurist art movement, Marinetti (George Abu), with whom she begins to find her artistic self, despite his dismissiveness. Meanwhile, her once-privileged husband sulks until he suddenly realizes in song that he’s been a jerk and decides to get a job.

But it’s not until Lempicka finds her muse — and lover — in the bohemian Rafaela (the charismatic Amber Iman ) that the artist discovers her destiny — and the musical comes to life.

That relationship propels the musical into its much stronger and more interesting second act, showing a marriage that has evolved into accommodation, a daughter who yearns to be seen, a lover who demands recognition and a nightclub owner, Suzy (Natalie Joy Johnson, terrific), whose celebration of queerness is soon crushed.

Director Rachel Chavkin (“Hadestown”) keeps things moving amid Riccardo Hernandez’ deconstructive set design featuring a mix of (Eiffel) tower girders and streamlined staircases. Paloma Young’s costumes are often striking, mixing the modern with the moderne. The show’s unfolding history is relayed by Peter Nigrini’s projections, but oddly Lempicka’s artworks only appears in glimpses. Raja Feather Kelly’s choreography veers from exciting to distracting, sometimes stealing focus from the show’s star.

Gould’s music and Kreitzer’s lyrics offer an appealing rock-pop score that brings an often contemporary sound to the story, connecting eras. But some of the show’s most memorable musical moments go to the featured performers, leaving Espinosa to belt out the earnest-but-lesser power ballads. The best numbers include: “What She Sees,” a clever duet with both Lempicka’s lovers; Iman’s sizzling “Don’t Bet Your Heart;” Abud’s dynamic “Pari Will Always Be Pari;” and Johnson’s playful “Women.” Leavel is delightfully droll throughout and touching in the 11 o’clock number, “Just This Way,” a poignant call for the artist to move on. The show ends on an upbeat note with the realization of the contemporary empowered woman that the artist envisioned.

Lempicka was previously depicted on stage in the play “Tamara” by John Krizanc, which had a five-year run beginning in 1987 at New York’s Park Avenue Armory. The musical no doubt will further enhance the artist’s prominence, which had waned over the decades. But even as it works to cast Lempicka in a new light, this complex artist still remains just beyond the frame.

Longacre Theater; 1091 seats; top non-premium $204. Opened April 14, 2024; reviewed April 11. Running time: 2 HOURS 30 MIN.

• Production: A presentation by Seaview, Jenny Niederhoffer, Roth-Manella Productions, FineWomen Productions, Benjamin Nelson, LD Entertainment, Marisa de Lempicka, Rowland Weinstein, InterparkTriple Corp, Oren Michels, Partners in Kind, Sony Music Masterworks, Karen Brooks, David Thomas Tao, John Gore Organization, James L. Nederlander, The Shubert Organization, Tom Kirdahy, Sonia Friedman Productions, Mike Karns, Eric Cervini / Dennis Trunfio and Anita Waxman; executive producers Sue Wagner, John Johnson and Jillian Robbins and produced in association with Williamstown Theatre Festival and La Jolla Playhouse of a musical in two acts with book, lyrics and original concept by Carson Kreitzer and book and music by Matt Gould.
• Crew: Directed by Rachel Chavkin; choreography, Raja Feather Kelly; sets, Riccardo Hernandez; costumes, Paloma Young; lighting, Bradley King; projections, Peter Nigrinio; sound, Peter Hylenski and Justin Stasiw; music director, Charity Wicks; music supervisor, Remy Kurs; orchestrator, Cian McCarthy; creative consultant, Peter Duchan; production stage manager: Cody Renard Richard; stage manager: Howard Tilkin.
• Cast: Eden Espinosa, Beth Leavel, Amber Iman, Andrew Samonsky, Nathaniel Stampley, Zoe Glick, George Abud, Nathalie Joy Johnson, Alex Aquilino, Lauren Blackman, Stephen Brower, Kyle Brown, Holli’ Conway, Khori Michelle Petinaud, Jimin Moon, Abby Matsusaka, Nicholas Ward, Ximone Rose.

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