Concert Review: Metallica @ The Opera House

By: Curtis Sindrey –
Follow @aesthetic_mag

“Are you alive, Toronto? How does it feel to be alive?!”, screamed Metallica frontman James Hetfield at last night’s charity show at the Opera House in Toronto put on by the Grammy Award-winning quartet.

On the heels of the release of their tenth studio album, Hardwired… to Self-Destruct, which debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200, their sixth number one album, the thrash metal legends ripped through a blistering 15-song set that featured new album tracks, “Atlas, Rise”, “Moth Into Flame”, and “Hardwired”, along with fan favourites, “Enter Sandman”, “Master of Puppets”, and show closer “Seek & Destroy”.

“After 35 years we’re still making music that we like to listen to”, Hetfield said of the new album, which the band released on November 18^th via their own independent label Blackened Recordings.

Hardwired…  revisits vintage Metallica: loud, fast, and chaotic. Gone are the days of misguided “art” albums and southern rock-influenced LPs, and here to stay is a refreshed, refocused, and unrelenting band who seeks to reclaim their throne as the best metal band ever.

Having only announced the show last Monday, the 950 capacity venue sold out in minutes, with the face value price of $100 quickly skyrocketing to prices ranging from $1,500 to over $6,000. And despite a band like Metallica that can command over $1 million for live performances, all proceeds from ticket sales went to the local Daily Bread Food Bank, with audience members offering donations by the hundreds.

The bank is currently in the midst of its annual Holiday Drive, and aims to raise 1.5 million pounds of food, and $1.5 million. With Christmas right around the corner, it’s not too late to donate your time or non-perishable food items to a good cause.

Set-List
1. Breadfan (Budgie cover)
2. Creeping Death
3. Battery
4. Sad But True (followed by Kirk’s solo)
5. Fade to Black
6. Atlas, Rise!
7. Harvester of Sorrow
8. Moth Into Flame (followed by Rob’s solo)
9. One
10. Master of Puppets
11. For Whom the Bell Tolls
12. Enter Sandman

Encore
13. Whiskey in the Jar (Cover)
14. Hardwired
15. Seek & Destroy