{"id":673336,"date":"2026-07-04T11:42:08","date_gmt":"2026-07-04T11:42:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/673336\/"},"modified":"2026-07-04T11:42:08","modified_gmt":"2026-07-04T11:42:08","slug":"heres-what-went-down-when-metallica-kicked-off-the-first-of-their-two-no-repeats-shows-at-london-stadium","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/673336\/","title":{"rendered":"Here\u2019s what went down when Metallica kicked off the first of their two \u201cno repeats\u201d shows at London Stadium"},"content":{"rendered":"

Metallica<\/a> delivered an epic, career-spanning set last night (Friday July 3) as they played the first of their two \u201cno repeats\u201d shows at London Stadium.<\/p>\n

The metal pioneers took to the stage in the capital as part of the last UK and Ireland leg of their huge \u2018M72\u2019 world tour<\/a> \u2013 which kicked off back in April 2023 and celebrated the release of latest album \u201872 Seasons<\/a>\u2019.<\/p>\n

Following shows in Dublin, Glasgow and Cardiff over the past couple of weeks, James Hetfield and co. delivered a packed set last night at the first of their two shows planned for London Stadium in Stratford.<\/p>\n

After support slots from Knocked Loose<\/a> and Gojira<\/a>, Metallica launched their 16-song set with 1984 \u2018Ride The Lightning\u2019 cut \u2018Creeping Death\u2019, followed by \u2018\u2026And Justice For All\u2019\u2019s \u2018Harvester Of Sorrow\u2019, and both \u2018Holier Than Thou\u2019 and \u2018Of Wolf And Man\u2019 from their 1991 self-titled \u2018Black Album\u2019.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\u201cLondon, you better look out because Metallica is in a good mood tonight\u2026 and it\u2019s all your fault,\u201d the frontman quipped. \u201cThis is where we get to see the love and the care in your faces, and we get to give it right back\u201d.<\/p>\n

As well as breaking out favourites from their earlier discography, the rock pioneers also broke out \u2018Lux \u00c6terna\u2019 and \u2018If Darkness Had a Son\u2019 from their latest album, as well as \u2018Hardwired\u2019 from their 2016 record \u2018Hardwired\u2026 to Self-Destruct<\/a>\u2019.<\/p>\n

As with each show, bassist Rob Trujillo and guitarist Kirk Hammett broke out a unique \u201cdoodle\u201d specifically for the show, where they cover a couple of tracks that were written in the city that they are performing in.<\/p>\n

Following a cover of Tom Jones\u2019 \u2018Delilah\u2019 in Cardiff\u2019<\/a> \u2013 despite the song being banned from the Principality Stadium \u2013 for the first of the two London shows, they broke out a medley of Ian Dury<\/a>\u2018s \u2018Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll\u2019 and The Clash<\/a>\u2019s \u2018Guns of Brixton\u2019.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Once frontman Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich returned to the stage, they wrapped up the rest of the night with more fan favourites, including \u2018Fade To Black\u2019 \u2013 which they quipped was one of the few tracks they all agree is \u201cpretty good\u201d \u2013 as well as \u2018Cyanide\u2019, \u2018Orion\u2019, \u2018Nothing Else Matters\u2019 and \u2018Sad But True\u2019. Hammett borrowed the guitar of Gojira\u2019s Christian Andreu to break out the latter 1991 classic track, while Trujillo played the bass from inside the snakepit, surrounded by fans.<\/p>\n

Bringing things to a close, Metallica broke out back to back renditions of huge hits \u2018Fuel\u2019, \u2018Seek & Destroy\u2019 and \u2018Master Of Puppets\u2019.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have the best job in the whole world,\u201d Hetfield said at the end of the night, adding that they felt \u201cso blessed to still be here after 45 years\u201d. Check out more footage from the night and the full setlist below.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Metallica\u2019s London night one setlist was:<\/p>\n

\u2018Creeping Death\u2019
\u2018Harvester of Sorrow\u2019
\u2018Holier Than Thou\u2019
\u2018Of Wolf and Man\u2019
\u2018Lux \u00c6terna\u2019
\u2018If Darkness Had a Son\u2019
Kirk and Rob Doodle (Ian Dury\u2019s \u2018Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll\u2019 and The Clash\u2019s \u2018Guns of Brixton\u2019)
\u2018Fade to Black\u2019
\u2018Cyanide\u2019
\u2018Orion\u2019
\u2018Nothing Else Matters\u2019
\u2018Sad but True\u2019
\u2018Hardwired\u2019
\u2018Fuel\u2019
\u2018Seek & Destroy\u2019
\u2018Master of Puppets\u2019<\/p>\n

Up next, Metallica will perform at London Stadium again on Sunday night (July 5), and are expected to break out an entirely different setlist, as they have billed the shows as a \u201cNo repeats weekend\u201d. Find any remaining tickets here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

That show will be the last of the 2026 UK and European dates they have planned, and up next the heavy metal legends will be heading back over the pond for a run of residency dates at the Sphere in Las Vegas<\/a>. Those shows commence on October 1, and will run into 2027.<\/p>\n

The band have yet to release any new music since dropping \u201872 Seasons\u2019 in 2023, although they did recently rerelease their 1997 album \u2018Reload\u2019 (Remastered)\u2019<\/a>, with previously unreleased demos, rough mixes, live performances and more.<\/p>\n

In a four-star review of Metallica\u2019s \u2018M72\u2019 tour opener in Amsterdam<\/a>, NME wrote: \u201cMetallica have always been a gateway band for heavy music, but there\u2019s a renewed excitement around them now. Tonight\u2019s surprising, ambitious and giddy gig matches that energy at every turn.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom the gorgeous \u2018Nothing Else Matters\u2019 through to the unifying \u2018Seek & Destroy\u2019, the majesty of heavy music is on full display throughout the gig as Metallica prove why they\u2019re clearly still the greatest metal band around.\u201d<\/p>\n

As well as breaking out huge hits, Metallica have also covered The Pogues, The Proclaimers<\/a>, a-ha<\/a>, and ABBA<\/a> across their recent tour dates, drawn attention for Kirk Hammett wearing a \u201cTaylor Swift Is A CIA Psyop\u201d shirt<\/a>, urged fans to donate blood and plasma by becoming the first-ever metal group to collaborate with UK blood services,<\/a> and also donated \u00a320,000 to a foodbank in Cardiff.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Metallica delivered an epic, career-spanning set last night (Friday July 3) as they played the first of their…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":673337,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[96,5204,128,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-673336","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-music","tag-entertainment","tag-metal","tag-music","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/673336","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=673336"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/673336\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/673337"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=673336"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=673336"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=673336"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}