Metallica @ Twickenham Stadium, London (20th June, 2019)

w/ Ghost and Bokassa

WORDS: Ross Donald

This show took place at Twickenham Stadium in London and I have came all the way from Glasgow to watch some of my musical heroes playing, so this is a pretty big deal for me. This is an open-top stadium and I was a bit worried after the Manchester show was struck by a downpour, but thankfully the weather stayed pretty nice with only some spitting rain during Ghost’s set.

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The first band on at 5:15 was Bokassa, a Norwegian stoner punk band that Lars Ulrich apparently loves. I did feel a bit band for the band as most of the arena was still filing in when they came out and the crowd where I was standing really didn’t seem to give a damn about them, although a few of the faster tracks did get the crowd bobbing their heads along. I did enjoy them though and they were energetic enough to get the night off to a fun start with 'Walker Texas Danger' and 'Hellbilly Handfishin' being particular highlights of the set. I would have left out that impression of a Victorian chimney sweep from them though. Cringey to say the least. A better band within a more intimate setting, I think.

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Next up was Ghost, one of my favourite bands of the last year and one I was very much looking forward to seeing. They lived up to the hype in my eyes and may have even converted a few of the casual fans in the crowd. Everyone seemed to be into them by the time that 'Faith' and 'Cirice' came around. Tobias Forge’s voice was practically perfect here and you could see that he and the Nameless Ghouls were having fun running around the stage.

The set looked great as well with a stained glass window that looked like it had come straight from hell. We were even treated to pyro effects which I definitely didn’t expect. The setlist was great as well, although I do think that 'Mummy Dust' needs to be cut from future sets as it’s really not a crowd pleaser like the other tracks on offer. I also really don’t think it’s as heavy as the band believes.

Still, the rest of the set was a blast and apparently everyone knows 'Dance Macabre' as it’s the only track everyone sang along to. The band also played their latest instrumental 'Miasma' complete with saxophone solo which freaking rocked the place. 'Square Hammer' finished the set in epic singalong fashion and I could have went home happy at this point. But we still have the main event to go.

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'Ecstasy of Gold' began to play and the crowd lost their collective minds. Metallica appeared on the stage and rocked the place to the ground with 'Hardwired'. This was followed by 'The Memory Remains'.  Hearing a stadium full of people singing along to the Marianne Faithfull section is just surreal and was an absolute spine-tingling moment. Metallica have been switching the setlist up each night and this was the case here. Manchester was treated to 'Disposable Heroes' and 'The God That Failed', whereas we were given the (in my opinion) better choice of 'Ride The Lightning' and 'Harvester of Sorrow'. Both of which went down superbly well.

The always epic ballad 'The Unforgiven' was followed by 'Here Comes Revenge' which is a song I never really got on board with when it comes to the new album. The live version definitely won me over though and everyone in my area seemed to know every word. The cool music video playing in the background definitely helped as well. I should say that every song played had its own special video playing in the background for an awesome little effect. 'Moth Into Flame' kept the new material coming and this is one that I think should be part of every setlist, as the song is just an absolute banger. And those pyro effects! My god, it was hot.

'Sad But True' kept the heaviness going until we got an unexpected surprise in the form of 'No Leaf Clover' a rare song from the band for the anniversary of the S&M live album. I dug the hell out of this even if only myself and one other guy around me knew the words. Right after the song’s conclusion, Kirk and Rob proceeded to the front of the stage for a bit of a solo act. They covered Iron Maiden’s 'Killers' (drool everywhere), played a bit of the instrumental from 'ManUNkind', and then Rob played a bit of solo bass from 'Orion' with a video of late Metallica bassist Cliff Burton playing in the background. A nice tribute to a fallen comrade.

After another rare showing with the underrated 'Frantic', it was time for the classics to come out, starting with ...And Justice For All's 'One'. Words cannot do justice to how this epic track came across live and this was an absolute highlight in a show full of them. Directly following are a string of more classics with 'Master of Puppets', 'For Whom The Bell Toll', 'Creeping Death', and 'Seek and Destroy' to really exhaust the crowd and get the circle pits going.

Thankfully, the encore started with 'Lords of Summer' to give us a breather, as I don’t think anyone really cares about that track. They then finished things up with 'Nothing Else Matters' and 'Enter Sandman'; during which I think I ruptured a vocal chord singing along too hard.

Needless to say, this was an absolutely epic night and a dream come true for me personally as this was my first time getting to see one of my all time favourite bands. They delivered on all fronts, showing that they still have the might to rock the world, providing a pretty much perfect setlist to do so. A special night indeed.

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Thanks to Ross for writing this review (especially only having just travelled all the way to London and back), and thanks to you for reading as well!

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