Review + Photos: Metallica Make a Massive Return to Philadelphia at Lincoln Financial Field

The heavy metal legends are still touring behind their successful eleventh album ’72 Seasons’

For Whom the Liberty Bell Tolls.

The mighty Metallica made their triumphant return to Philadelphia for a massive Memorial Day Weekend filled with metal. It was the first time in seven long years since the rock icons made an appearance in the city, when they hit Wells Fargo Center on the second leg of their WorldWired Tour back in 2018. The band has a storied history in South Philly, highlighted by their infamous parking lot gig on November 11, 1997. Now – nearly three decades later – Metallica are back for the biggest tour stop of their career in the City of Brotherly Love.

Check out our full live photo galleries and setlists below.

The Takeover

The M72 World Tour isn’t your typical tour – it’s much more. With this run, Metallica have curated a massive fan experience that sees the band take over every city with multiple fan experiences in addition to the two stadium concerts. Over at The Fillmore on Saturday, Metallica guitarist Kirk Hammett chatted on stage in front of fans about his new guitar book, The Collection. Upstairs in The Foundry, longtime Metallica collaborator Squindo held an exhibition of artwork he’s done for the band over the years, and answered fans’ questions. Up in Bucks County, the band gave fans a preview of their forthcoming film, Metallica Saved My Live, at the AMC Theater in Neshaminy.

Metallica also made sure to give back a bit, hosting a blood drive and wrangling fans to volunteer at Philabundance through their All Within My Hands Foundation.

The main attraction of the takeover, though? The merch. In addition to the standard merch booths at the show, Metallica have been opening pop-up merchandise stores in every city on the tour. The shops feature exclusive tour gear and collectibles A highlighted is a limited edition 72 Seasons splatter vinyl in the colors of the city’s professional football team.

Even more sought after are the posters. Each tour stop features three posters – a city poster, a two gig posters – one for each show that play off of each other to form a full image. City posters are available exclusively at the pop-up shops sporadically throughout the weekend, while the show posters are available at the stadium only on show days. In Philly, fans began camping out as early as 4:30am at the pop-up shop. The line grew to a few hundred fans before the shop opened its doors at 10am. On show days, fans began lining up at the merch booths outside the stadium around 9am for a chance at a poster and to grab some tour merch. The booth didn’t open until noon, and just 60 of the edition’s 950 prints were available before the show – an extremely limited run considering the estimated nearly 70,000 fans that would be in attendance later in the evening.

The collecting gets cutthroat, too. Many fans follow the band around from city to city, hoping to collect the city-specific merch from every tour stop. Local diehards are just hoping for that exclusive souvenir with their home town’s name on it. While this is all well and good, you can always count the worst kind of concert goers to come in a ruin the fun – the merchandise flippers. It’s all a part of the game we suppose, but then there are some people like this asshat that literally put a poster on eBay while still standing in front of the merch booth. Somewhere behind them in line, a true fan didn’t get their souvenir. Significant others run a solid operation as well, splitting up and each grabbing a poster – one to be framed at home, and the other to be sold for profit.

Hopefully, Metallica and other highly collectible artists will start making an unlimited amount of unnumbered posters available in their web stores the day after the show, so that true fans who just want their souvenir from the show can get it without the hassle. Hardcore collectors can still lineup at the crack of dawn for their shot at a numbered piece of memorabilia, and hopefully having generic versions available to anyone and everyone will significantly shrink the market for flippers, and maybe even eliminate flipping all together.

The Main Event

Ice Nine Kills kicked off the evening’s festivities. The talented young band leans heavily into the horror genre, building on showmanship of storied acts like Alice Cooper, Rob Zombie, as well as the on-stage theatrics of bands like Iron Maiden. Boston natives Ice Nine Kills are still focused on their latest album, 2021’s Welcome to Horrorwood: The Silver Scream 2. They pulled six tracks from the record, a bulk of their 10-song set. Highlights included “Rainy Day,” “A Work of Art,” “The American Nightmare,” “and “Welcome to Horrorwood,” which served as the set’s finale. While they might not be everyone’s cup of tea, no one can deny their musical talent, or their creativity. Seeing acts like Pantera, Limp Bizkit, and Suicidal Tendencies is great – but it’s very cool that Metallica are continuing to give Ice Nine Kills a big platform to expand their audience.

As dark clouds started to roll in, Limp Bizkit took the stage. Perhaps initially thought of as an odd choice as an opener for Metallica at this point, the crowd was very much here for it. They starting off nice and easy with their fan favorite “My Way” from their 2001 chart-topping album Chocolate Starfish and the Hot Dog Flavored Water. From there, they launched right into their 1999 smash hit “Nookie.” As DJ Lethal and drummer John Otto jammed on the intro, Fred Durst counted down, “3-2-ROCK THE FUCK OUT” just before guitarist Wes Borland came ripping in with the main riff – and the place exploded.

Most special guests hype up the headliner by simply asking the crowd if “they are ready for [headliner].” Limp Bizkit took a different approach. Throughout their set, they sprinkled in snippets of Metallica’s “Master of Puppets” and “Creeping Death.” As unconventional as it was, the crowd seemed to dig the tributes as it made them all the more anxious for Metallica to take the stage.

Other highlights included “Break Stuff,” “Rollin’,” “Hot Dog,” “Eat You Alive,” “My Generation,” and the rarity “Take a Look Around.” They wrapped things up with their infamous cover of George Michael’s “Faith” from their deput LP, and then sent fans into a frenzy again with a repeat performance of their smash hit “Break Stuff.”

One thing in particular that stands out during a Limp Bizkit set is Wes Borland. He is undoubtedly one of the most criminally underrated guitar players of all time. The band’s style often times doesn’t make the best use of Borland’s talent, but make no mistake – he has some serious chops. His ability to change tempo and tone on a dime is remarkable, and seeing him play live is something to be appreciated.

Earlier this spring, Limp Bizkit hit the UK for a quick arena run. The band’s latest album Still Sucks (Suretone) was recently released for the first time in two different CD configurations. There is a “Gold Disc” edition, which is a strictly limited-edition numbered run, and a “Silver Disc” edition. Both versions will feature the album’s 12 songs including “Out Of Style,” “Dad Vibes,” and “Don’t Change,” plus a bonus track.

They are reportedly working on new music for their next record.

Formed in 1994, Limp Bizkit have sold over 40 million records worldwide. They achieved their greatest commercial success with 1999’s Significant Other and 2000’s Chocolate Starfish and the Hot Dog Flavored Water. Both records hit No. 1 on the Billboard 200. In 2000, the group won the a Billboard Music Award in 2000 for Top Modern Rock Artist. The three-time GRAMMY® Award nominees have appeared at some of the biggest music festivals around the world over the last 25 years.

Enter Sandmen

The anticipation of Metallica taking any stage is an experience in and of itself. Before their actual intro, AC/DC’s poignant “It’s a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock ‘N’ Roll) blasts through the speakers with a highlight reel of photos from across Metallica’s storied career. Then you know it’s really time to roll when “The Ecstasy of Gold” begins to play.

Metallica opened with one of their more high-profile hits – “Creeping Death.” A fantastic choice to start things off, especially when the choice is such an impossible one. Not giving the capacity crowd one second to breathe, the immediately launched into “Harvester of Sorrow.” The song feels like more of a deep cut, but it was actually the lead single from their eight-times platinum outing, …And Justice for All. That says a lot about Metallica’s catalog as a whole.

Never a band that uses their back catalog as a crutch, Metallica pulled two tracks from their latest effort, 72 Seasons. They tore through the title track, as well as “If Darkness Had a Son.” Another big hit from the record that has been going over quite well live has been “Shadows Follow,” but we the band’s current “no repeat” format, that song might get broken out on Sunday. Arguably, they are the three best songs off the record, which definitely holds its own fighting in the heavyweight class with the rest of Metallica’s best efforts. When 72 Seasons arrived, it was pretty much everything fans expected – a solid 77 minutes of pure heavy metal, continuing their “return-to-form” streak since 2003’s experimental St. Anger.

Speaking of the album which shall not be spoken of, this needs to be shouted for the folks in the back – it ain’t a bad record, it’s just being held to the Metallica Standard. Since 1988, every Metallica album has been met with a certain amount of, “well, it’s good – but it’s not [insert classic album title here].” If you think about it, any number of popular hard rock acts put out Load, Reload, or St. Anger, they would have received immense praise. For whatever reason(s), starting with 1991’s monumental Black Album, Metallica have felt the need to adjust their creative course and stray from their classic thrash path. They needed to make these albums in order to keep on being Metallica, especially St. Anger, which was a massive catharsis for the band. Who knows, if they would have stuck to the same exact formula, Metallica may have imploded on themselves a long time ago. It is remarkable, that after over four decades, that this band is still churning out high-quality albums and touring on them at this level.

The rest of the set didn’t contain any massive surprises. If you had to use labels, I suppose you could call “Holier Than Though” and “King Nothing” ‘deep cuts.’ Two Death Magnetic tracks made the set – “The Day That Never Comes” and “Cyanide” – which were played back-to-back. In all, the set could very well be considered career-spanning, as the band pulled tunes from nine out of their eleven studio efforts.

Beautiful renditions of “Orion” and “Nothing Else Matters” garnered a great reaction from fans.

Then, frontman James Hetfield asked the age-old question, “Do you want heavy?”

The capacity crowd erupted, knowing exactly what song was coming.

“Metallica gives you heavy, baby.”

Then they tore into the 1991 headbanger “Sad but True,” which features one of the greatest riffs in their entire catalog. From there, they kept the amps cranked up for a barrage of their biggest anthems to close out the night. They tore through the blistering “Fight Fire with Fire” followed by “Fuel” which had plenty of pyro.

There was plenty of singing along from the crowd throughout the entire evening, and before “Seek and Destroy, Hetfield said, “Alright, Philly, let’s do this together – LOUD!” The audience obeyed, and “SEEK AND DESTROY” may have been the loudest sing-along moment of the night.

Actually, I take it back.

That moment may very well have come on the grand finale, with the entire stadium screaming, “MASTER! MASTER!”

While the setlist changes every night, seeing Metallica close out with perhaps their most finely-crafted song “Master of Puppets” is always treat, especially for younger and newer fans.

The concept of this tour is a cool one, and has given the band a lot of range to mix things up. With two completely different sets every night, it has allowed the metal veterans to expose fans to a lot more of their storied catalog. However, with so many hits and fan favorites, plus a new record to push, those pre-show meetings where the setlist is decided on must be a real bitch at this point in the game. There are some tremendous tunes like “Spit Out the Bone,” “Dirty Window,” “Fixxxer,” and many more that we wish would see the lights of a stage more. Hell, ripping through the shortened single version of “Some Kind of Monster” would be killer. Oh, and whatever happened to “- Human”? Let’s give that one another shot. But, hey – overall, there’s not much room to complain at all.

Of course, there’s rarities – then there’s a handful of tracks that Metallica have never played live. The full list can be found HERE. With plenty more touring scheduled for this album cycle, it will be interesting to see just how deep Metallica are willing to dig for these No Repeat Weekends.

When this tour was announced, we thought for a second that maybe Metallica might try and replicate the album cover. A massive charred crib in the middle of the round, burnt up instruments and toys scattered about the stage. But, the days of a giant Lady Justice or huge white crosses seem to be behind them. The band seems to be focused on a sleeker, more stylish production. They simply walk on stage, and start playing – and that’s not a bad thing at all. Another great thing to see is that Metallica have aged gracefully, and it’s great to see because it’s relatable for a majority of their fan base. Sure, the hair is a little more gray. But, they’re still the same for dudes who come on stage and let it fuckin’ rip. Their music has reflected it, too. Themes of death pulling you closer and closer, to the impending doom of total self-destruction. In fact, after Death Magnetic when the album title Hardwired… to Self-Destruct was announced, part of me thought that it was Metallica’s way of telling us they were done after this. Thankfully, they have a lot more gas left in the tank.

Last summer, The Rock Revival was in Foxborough, Massachusetts as Metallica kicked off the second North American leg of their M72 run. Just a few hours before Metallica were set to hit the stage at Gillette stadium, rock icons Aerosmith announced that their reschedule final tour was definitely canceled for good. The band released a statement announcing their retirement from touring, another heartbreaking moment that furthers the fact that our rock heroes are getting older. Given the physicality needed to perform most of Metallica’s behemoth songs, it’s unclear just how long they’ll be able to keep this train rolling.

For now, though, the band is still performing at peak levels with new music to tour behind.

Over the last few years, we’ve seen some of the biggest acts in rock history like Slayer, KISS, and Aerosmith retire from the road. One of the biggest musical acts of all time – The Who – recently announced their final concert tour plans, while Black Sabbath are performing together one last time later this summer. In the midst of all this, Metallica have launched a massive stadium tour behind a commercially successful new album. While their influences and contemporaries are hanging it up, there’s plenty of young and hungry acts doing big things. Shinedown are headlining major festivals and shattering chart records. In addition to announcing sold out arena tours, Ghost and Sleep Token both topped the Billboard 200 (U.S.) this month with new albums and scored No. 1 spots in other countries around the globe. Greta Van Fleet, who supported Metallica over the last few years and were special guests on the first leg of this M72 Tour, embarked on a massive global arena tour behind their hit album Starcatcher. Gojira, who are set to tour with Metallica next year across Europe and the UK, performed during the Opening Ceremonies at the 2024 Olympics in Paris.

Rock music is going through another renaissance. Young bands are having success, and pushing the genre forward. With all this going on, though, the mighty Metallica are in their third year of a monstrous tour that is selling out stadiums around the globe behind a relevant, hit new album. Lots of bands are eating now, but make no mistake about it – Metallica are still sitting at the head of the table.

Next year, Metallica are returning to Europe and the UK for another leg of their massive M72 World Tour. The trek will feature very special guests Gojira, Pantera, Knocked Loose, and Avatar. The trek will be hitting London, Cardiff, Dublin, Berlin, Bucharest, Athens, and more. The trek will see Metallica play 16 shows across 9 countries. They will be hitting London, Cardiff, Dublin, Berlin, Bucharest, Athens, and more. Select cities will feature Metallica’s No Repeat Weekend format across two shows.

Recently, Metallica announced a massive reissue of Load slated to commemorate the record’s 30th anniversary. The remastered album arrives on June 13. It will be available as a Deluxe Box Set, 2-LP, 3-CD Expanded Edition, Standard CD, Cassette, and via digital download. Dubbed “The Whole Kitchen Sink,” the box set includes more than ten pounds of content across six pieces of vinyl, 15 CDs, four DVDs, a 128-page book, and reproduced memorabilia.

All versions are available for pre-order now.

This summer, Metallica are heading overseas to take part in Black Sabbath’s massive final concert in Birmingham, England. Also slated to perform are Slayer, Guns N’ Roses, Tool, Anthrax, Pantera, Lamb of God, Alice In Chains, Mastodon, and Halestorm. Other featured musicians include Billy Corgan (The Smashing Pumpkins), David Draiman (Disturbed), Fred Durst (Limp Bizkit), Jake E Lee (ex-Ozzy Osbourne), Jonathan Davis (Korn), KK Downing (ex-Judas Priest), Mike Bordin (Faith No More), Rudy Sarzo, Sammy Hagar, Sleep Token ii (Sleep Token), Papa V Perpetua (Ghost), Tom Morello (Rage Against The Machine), Wolfgang Van Halen (Mammoth WVH) and Zakk Wylde (Ozzy Osbourne, Black Label Society).

Metallica’s eleventh studio album 72 Seasons arrived in April of 2023 via the band’s own label, Blackened Recordings. Produced by Greg Fidelman alongside frontman James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich, 72 Seasons is Metallica’s first full length collection of new material since 2016’s Hardwired…To Self-Destruct. The 12-track album clocks in at just over 77 minutes. It debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 and No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Rock and Top Hard Rock Albums Charts. It also topped the UK Albums and UK Rock & Metal sAlbums charts, and went No. 1 in several other countries around the world. It was released in formats including 2-LP 140-gram black vinyl and limited edition variants, CD and digital download.

The album garnered the band a 2024 GRAMMY® Award nomination for Best Rock Album, while the lead single “Lux Æterna” was nominated for Best Rock Song. The band won the GRAMMY® for Best Metal Performance for the title track, “72 Seasons.” They beat out Disturbed, Ghost, Slipknot and first-time nominees Spiritbox.

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