A little more than 40 years ago 鈥 Jan. 19, 1985, to be exact 鈥 an upstart young band from Northern California nearly burned Toronto鈥檚 Concert Hall to the ground due to the friction caused by how fast they played their guitars.
They were inspired by a new wave of British metal, played heavier and more frantically; who ever thought it would have so much staying power? That band was of course Metallica, and by the next winter they were headlining their own tour with a stop at Maple Leaf Gardens.
Fast-forward to 2025, and the thrash metal pioneers now need a full four days in Toronto 鈥 to host an art exhibition inspired by their music, launch a coffee-table book and screen a preview of a documentary about how they鈥檝e saved fan鈥檚 lives. Not to mention play a pair of sold-out concerts at Rogers Centre.
As grizzled as James Hetfield, Kirk Hammett, Lars Ulrich and Robert Trujillo may now seem, they haven鈥檛 missed a beat. They still know how to put on a bombastic headbangers鈥 ball.
At the first night of shows, there were more interludes and rest periods than in the good ol鈥 speed demon days, just as the dates on the tour are more spread out. The newest wrinkle for the ongoing M72 World Tour, which began with the release of their 11th studio album, 鈥72 Seasons,鈥 in 2023, is that no two setlists in the same city are the same, no songs are repeated. Which makes sense given their extensive body of work dating back to 1983, but can make things expensive for even their most loyal of fans.
Words can鈥檛 really do justice to the transformation Rogers Centre underwent shortly after the Blue Jays wrapped their latest homestand in anticipation of Metallica鈥檚 海角社区官网takeover. The entire field was covered and eight towers were erected with cylindrical video screens atop each one projecting images, including a cool montage of ticket stubs from the nearly 20 Toronto-area shows played over their Canadian concert history.
There were also plenty of close-ups of the four of them doing what they do best, while the band made full use of the not-quite-circular stage; drummer Ulrich had his kit moved around so as many people as possible on the floor could get a good look at his playing prowess.
The set featured an eclectic mix of compulsory cuts off of 鈥72 Seasons鈥 including the title track, 鈥淚f Darkness Had a Son鈥 and 鈥淪hadows Follow鈥 relatively early on. I don鈥檛 know if they鈥檇 be considered deep cuts, but I was surprised to hear 鈥淗olier Than Thou鈥 over other potential choices from Metallica鈥檚 breakthrough 1991 self-titled album as well as 鈥淩ide the Lightning鈥濃檚 鈥淔ight Fire With Fire鈥 with its misleadingly gentle acoustic opening. And from 2008鈥檚 鈥淒eath Magnetic,” 鈥淭he Day That Never Comes鈥 was a welcome inclusion.
There was even an impressive mosh pit that broke out during the prolonged instrumental 鈥 and tribute to late former bassist Cliff Burton 鈥 鈥淥rion.鈥 It was not as impressive, however, as the amplified singalong that commenced during 鈥淣othing Else Matters.鈥 And if the older attendees thought of nodding off around the 10:30 p.m. mark, 鈥淔uel,鈥 with Hetfield鈥檚 rapid and loud delivery of 鈥淕imme fuel / Gimme fire / Gimme that which I desire鈥 definitely woke everyone up.
I don鈥檛 know if I鈥檒l get the image of giant yellow and black beach balls dropped from the towers and bouncing through the stadium during the 鈥淜ill 鈥橢m All鈥 classic 鈥淪eek and Destroy鈥 anytime soon, but that鈥檚 Metallica in 2025, I guess.
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