Metallica: S&M 2 @ Cineworld, Glasgow (10th October 2019)

Tim Mosenfender/Getty Images

WORDS: Ross Donald

On Wednesday 10th October, I was able to attend a cinema screening of one of the biggest metal events of the year: Metallica’s 20th Anniversary re-do of their 1999 S&M show/album. This was a pretty big deal for me as I’ve been a massive Metallica fan for over 10 years now, and the S&M live album is one that’s always been dear to my heart. Both for personal reasons and because it is just lovely to hear Metallica’s classics played with a fantastic orchestra. I will admit that I had my worries that this might just be a cash-in by the band and would feel like a pale imitation of the original with nothing new to offer. I needn’t have worried.

From the intro video that started the show, you can tell that everyone from the band, to every member of the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra was ready to put 100% of their heart and soul into this project. It really shows throughout the gig. Edwin Outwater was the director and conductor of the orchestra on this occasion, taking over from the late Michael Kamen who did the same back in 1999. He does a wonderful job here as he thrashes along with the band and makes every transition between tracks appear seamless. The staging was gorgeous as well. Both the band and the orchestra were circled in the centre of the arena for a very unique, engaging look with the similarly shaped video screens hanging above them adding to the effect. The band themselves were on top form too. In 1999, they may not have been at their best, performance-wise, but here they’re playing like it’s their last show. There's also some career best moments that I’ll get into soon.

The more I think about it, the more I adore the setlist they played that night. No matter what you like or don’t like from Metallica, there was pretty much something for everyone here. Every studio album they've released all had at least one song performed here, and that might be the first time the band have ever done this with all ten albums. While they did bring back a few gems from the original show, there was a lot of new stuff here too and that’s what I was most interested in. Of course, they had to start off with ‘Ecstasy of Gold’ which just sounds spectacular coming from the orchestra and is pretty much the perfect intro. It was also a genius move to kick things off in the same way as the original show with ‘Call of Ktulu’. The 1999 performance of this song managed to win a Grammy for Best Rock Instrumental Performance and it’s not hard to see why, as it’s such an enrapturing track that sounds like it was made specifically for this purpose. Right after after that, the band blasted into ‘For Whom the Bell Tolls’ and pretty much never looked back.

The first of the newer tracks was ‘The Day That Never Comes’,  a pretty much forgotten Metallica gem at this point. While people seem down on it because it’s similar in formula to ‘One’, I still think it stands out on its own and it’s place on this show was proof of that. The opening sequence performed entirely by the orchestra was gorgeous. Once the band then kicked in, it all just came together in astounding fashion. Next up was ‘The Memory Remains’ which was about ten times better than the original S&M version of it due to the crowd participation alone. Even once the song was over, the crowd continued to sing in a wonderful moment where Lars Ulrich tried to get them to stop so they could move on. ‘Confusion’ was another newer track made up my only real criticism of the show as the track is one of the more forgettable inclusions on the 2016 Hardwired album. While it did sound a lot nicer with the orchestra supporting it, the song itself still came across as a skippable one. I did wish they’d gone with ‘Dream No More’, which would have made more sense given the H.P Lovecraft connection to 1986's ‘The Thing That Should Not Be’.

Thankfully ‘Moth Into Flame’ was next though and this modern Metallica classic came across as an absolute beast of a track with the orchestra only raising its impact. It’s just such a fan track and it was hard to sit in a cinema seat without thrashing along beside it (plus my popcorn would have gone everywhere, and that’s just not good for anyone...). ‘The Outlaw Torn’ proved once again that it may be Metallica’s most underrated track ever with some hellaciously great vocals from James Hetfield to bring it all home. ‘No Leaf Clover’ was then played once again 20 years later in the way it was meant to be played. The first part of the show was finished off with ‘Halo on Fire’ which was another track that showed itself to be a modern Metallica stunner with those fiery last 2 minutes really feeling like something special.

As we came back from the intermission, the Orchestra was allowed to play a track called ‘Scythian Suite, Op.20, Second Movement’ in a nice little break from the hard rocking tracks. Metallica even joined the orchestra in a piece called ‘Iron Foundry’ which is worth seeking out if you can find it. Next up was one of my favourite moments from the show, as ‘The Unforgiven III’ was performed only with the orchestra and James Hetfield on vocals. The poor guy didn’t know what to do with his hands without a guitar... Not only was the orchestra on form here though, but this may have been the single best vocal performance I’ve heard out of Hetfield. This was definitely a career highlight. After this, the red-headed stepchild of the Metallica album family, St Anger got a look in with an acoustic performance of the often overlooked ‘All Within My Hands’, providing another unique moment for the set.

What came next though may have been the show stealing moment and Metallica as a band were barely even involved. In a tribute to the late, great Cliff Burton, we were treated to a performance of ‘Anesthesia (Pulling Teeth)’ by bass player Scott Pingel who was apparently an old friend of Cliff’s. This performance was just something else, as it almost sounded exactly like the original track. I swear was enough to bring a tear to even the most ardent metalhead in a tribute worthy of the man. This was just magic. For the last few tracks, it was back over to the band to kick everyone’s ass. Ending the show with songs like ‘Wherever I May Roam’, ‘One’, ‘Master of Puppets’, ‘Nothing Else Matters’, and ‘Enter Sandman’, it is easy to see why Metallica are the biggest metal band on the planet. I also thought that each track here happened to be even better than their 1999 counterpart as well...

Overall, this was just a spectacular show. While I have been a fan of 1999's original performance for over a decade now, I can still easily say that this updated show surpassed the original in almost every aspect. From the setlist, to the performances, to the stage setup, everything just came across larger and crisper than ever before. The fact that it was only shown in cinemas for one night added to the sense of occasion as well. I’d urge all Metallica fans to give this a watch as well as any other music fans that just want a damn good show. I pray that Metallica release this performance soon as it is one which needs to be re-lived over and over again.