Metallica kicked off the North American leg of their M72 World Tour on Friday at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, with support from Pantera and Mammoth WVH.
You can see set lists, videos and photos from all three acts below.
Mammoth WVH had plenty of new material to showcase during their opening slot, as the Wolfgang Van Halen-led band just released its sophomore album, Mammoth II. Pantera, who reunited last December, was up next, playing 11 songs from across their catalog.
Then came the stars of the evening, Metallica, who took the stage around 9 p.m. and tore through a 16-song set which included the live debut of “Shadows Follow” from 72 Seasons. (So far, the band has played seven of its 12 songs in concert.)
“We are so grateful to be up there kicking ass and celebrating life with you,” frontman James Hetfield said to the crowd [via Billboard]. He also thanked them for “remembering my birthday” — Hetfield turned 60 the day before on Aug. 3. “My seventh decade on the planet…I can’t believe it,” he said. “Younger me would be saying, ‘You made it. You effing made it.'”
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Hetfield previously described the 72 Seasons’ concept in an official statement: “Seventy-two seasons. The first 18 years of our lives that form our true or false selves. The concept that we were told ‘who we are’ by our parents. A possible pigeonholing around what kind of personality we are. I think the most interesting part of this is the continued study of those core beliefs and how it affects our perception of the world today. Much of our adult experience is reenactment or reaction to these childhood experiences. Prisoners of childhood or breaking free of those bondages we carry.”
The M72 World Tour will continue on Sunday at the same venue with support from Five Finger Death Punch and Ice Nine Kills. Metallica is employing a “No Repeat Weekend” in each city, playing entirely different sets on each night. The trek will barrel across North America through November before resuming in Europe next May.
Watch Mammoth WVH Perform ‘Mammoth’ on Aug. 4, 2023
Watch Pantera Perform ‘This Love’ and ‘Fucking Hostile’ on Aug. 4, 2023
Watch Metallica Perform ‘Shadows Follow’ on Aug. 4, 2023
