Last Thursday (Oct. 1), Metallica started their 24-date Life Burns Faster residency at Las Vegas’ Sphere with a tremendous show featuring “Sad But True,” “Master of Puppets” and “Nothing Else Matters” among other classics. As promised, they returned to the venue last night (Oct. 3) with an entirely different set that included a performance of a Reload deep cut for the first time in 18 years!
What Did Metallica Play at Their Second Sphere Show?
Just as Metallica kicked off their first Sphere show with a song they hadn’t opened with since 2014 (“Battery”), they began last night’s concert with another track that’s not received the initial spotlight in 12 years: “Blackened” (via setlist.fm).
From there, they similarly took the crowd through a sizable portion of their catalog and history, ranging from older staples such as “For Whom the Bell Tolls,” “One,” “Fuel” and “Welcome Home (Sanitarium)” to newer offerings such as “72 Seasons” and “Hardwired.” It’s worth noting, too, that although they didn’t represent 2008’s Death Magnetic last night, they did pull out “The Day That Never Comes” on Thursday night.
Naturally, they revived a few tunes that hadn’t made it to the stage in several years as well. In addition to …And Justice for All’s “Blackened,” and per setlist.fm, the quartet also did Loadcloser “The Outlaw Torn” for the first time since 2019 (to at least one fan’s delight) and Reload deep cut “Devil’s Dance” for the first time since 2008! In fact, “Devil’s Dance” is among Metallica’s least-played songs in general, with only 45 performances over the last 30 years…