On a night that ended with a gregarious, grateful, 61-year-old James Hetfield saying “Metallica loves Denver” to around 75,000 adoring, no-doubt-satisfied metal fans, the only bummer was the traffic outside Empower Field at Mile High Stadium that, for many, made the trip home longer than Metallica’s set.
Billed as a No Repeat Weekend, Metallica brought two different opening acts each night—Ice Nine Kills and Limp Bizkit on Friday and Suicidal Tendencies and Pantera for the tour-closer on Sunday—along with its staggering in-the-round setup with giant sound-and-video towers and pyrotechnics, giving the shows the feeling that the battle for Mordor was interrupted by a fist-pumping metal show both sides could enjoy,
Sunday was for the hardcore Gen X rock fans who remember Suicidal Tendencies’ “Institutionalized” video as a left-field MTV sensation, Pantera’s 1992 Vulgar Display of Power juggernaut reminding the world where Metallica might’ve gone musically had Cliff Burton survived, and when and where they were when …And Justice For All blew our grade-school minds with joy and horror.
One of my showmates, wearing an old-school t-shirt with the art from 1983 Metallica debut single “Whiplash”, rightly predicted the Motörhead-style Kill ‘Em All thrash classic would open Sunday’s 8:30 p.m. set. “Whiplash”, a song about being in Metallica, is now over 40 years old and has the power to synthesize the meaning and impact of the San Francisco quartet. Close your eyes as Hetfield sings “We’re gathered here to maim and kill / ‘Cause this is what we choose” and you can see him standing next to Dave Mustaine in a sweaty little L.A. club in 1982, but open them when he belts the altered lyric “We’ll never quit / ‘Cause you’re Metallica” to more Coloradans than can fit at a Broncos game and see nearly half a century of heavy metal history flash before your eyes.
“Metallica is so blessed to be here after 144 years of playing heavy metal,” Hetfield joked at one point.
Metallica — Intro, “Whiplash”, “For Whom The Bell Tolls”, “Ride The Lightning” — 6/29/25
[Video: Curtisy565]
Metallica’s fierce, career-spanning set followed the ’80s nostalgia of Mike Muir and Suicidal Tendencies (with Robert Trujillo’s 21-year-old son, Tye, on bass) and Pantera 2.0, featuring Charlie Benante of Anthrax replacing the deceased Vinnie Paul on drums and Zakk Wylde, known for his decades-long tenure with Ozzy Osbourne, thrilling the sunset Denver crowd with his best impression of the late Dimebag Darrell. On pure musicianship, Wylde was easily Sunday’s MVP, but he also won the best-dressed award, playing volcanic solo after volcanic solo in a custom-made jacket with the late Vincent Paul Abbott and Darrell Lance Abbot depicted as saints.
Pantera’s set made one wonder if there’s any Gen X metal enthusiast in America who hasn’t listened to “Mouth for War” or “New Level” while working out, but hearing controversial singer Phil Anselmo sing ’90s teenage-angst lyrics “I’d kill myself for you / I’d kill you for myself” from “This Love” also brought up the question of whether he’s had the kind of therapy that’s clearly benefited Hetfield.
Metallica’s set ran the gamut from blazing new rocker “Lux Æterna” to Cliff Burton-era thrash gems like “Ride the Lightning” to mainstream-breakout throwbacks “Wherever I May Roam” and “Enter Sandman”. But old-school fans who were playing Metallica cassettes on Sony Walkmans in the backseat on family road trips as preteens were delighted to hear mighty deep cuts like “Blackened” and the creative instrumental “Call of Ktulu”, which includes songwriting by both Mustaine and Burton. Still, whoever had Kirk Hammet singing John Denver’s “Rocky Mountain High” on their bingo card was probably the happiest person in the stadium.
Kirk Hammett, Robert Trujillo — “Trapped Under Ice”, “Rocky Mountain High” (John Denver) — 6/29/25
[Video: The Squirrel]
As a Buddhist, I had to wonder as Hetfield sang “The less I have the more I gain” in “Wherever I May Roam” whether “Roam” or “Nothing Else Matters” is the most Buddhist-like Metallica song. But in the end the biggest question of the weekend (aside from what American group is currently anywhere close to as big as Metallica) was what to make—with approximately 75,000 diehard metal fans singing along—of the “Whiplash” lyric “Here on stage the Marshall noise is piercing through your ears” at a Metallica show in 2025.
Here’s the thing, Metallica now wanders its huge in-the-round stage without the need for Marshalls or cables, playing to every music lover in every direction with emulator technology, but “Here on stage the emulator noise is piercing through your ears” doesn’t have a great ring to it.
Sunday marked the last of the domestic dates on Metallica’s M72 World Tour. Up next, the band will travel to Birmingham, England for Ozzy Osbourne‘s Back To The Beginning farewell concert with Black Sabbath, Tool, Slayer, Alice In Chains, Pantera, and many more on July 5th. After that, Metallica will tour Australia in the fall. Find tickets and tour dates here.
Metallica — “Wherever I May Roam” — 6/29/25
[Video: Tom Hoffman Jr.]
Setlist: Metallica | Empower Field At Mile High | Denver, CO | 6/29/25
Set: Whiplash, For Whom the Bell Tolls, Ride the Lightning, The Memory Remains, Lux Æterna, Too Far Gone?, Kirk and Rob Doodle [1], Welcome Home (Sanitarium), Wherever I May Roam, The Call of Ktulu, The Unforgiven, Whiskey in the Jar (Traditional), Blackened, Moth Into Flame, One, Enter Sandman
[1] “Trapped Under Ice” and John Denver’s “Rocky Mountain High”