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Metallica played an intimate LA show at The Fonda theater on Thursday night (12/15), which was one of a few intimate shows they’ve done to hype their new album Hardwired…to Self-Destruct. I caught the show, and I can’t fully explain how crazy of a thing it was to see Metallica for the first time in an environment like that. It was an experience, to say the least.
As Andrew noted when they played Webster Hall in September, it’s surreal to hear these iconic songs up so close, to realize that it’s literally just four dudes playing them instead of, uh, some kind of monster. These songs are just…they’re engraved in rock somewhere. “Creeping Death,” “Seek and Destroy,” “Metal Militia,” “Fade to Black,” “For Whom the Bell Tolls,” “Master of Puppets,” all got played, and all had the (good-natured, decidedly un-LA) crowd in pure hysterics. Metallica are inhumanly tight and heavy as a live unit–you feel Lars’s every drum hit in your gut–and in that up-close context the whole spectacle was even more impressive.
Basically, Metallica know, perhaps better than anyone, how to absolutely flatten a crowd, and they do not need the pyrotechnics that they break out at their larger-scale shows. They’re a rock and roll band, and they seemed to relish the opportunity to crush such a small place. The setlist was lean and mean–along with the aforementioned classics, they naturally hit some Hardwired stuff. “Moth Into Flame” and the title track fit in particularly well, along with the requisite airing of “One” (which I could have done without, especially because we didn’t get “Battery”) and “Enter Sandman” (which was entirely sick). It was a great show, and a situation where I feel like I probably don’t need to tell you how great it was. You already know what I’m talking about.
Metallica have another small show in the Bay Area this weekend. They’ve also hinted that they’ll do a bigger tour in 2017. Until then, check out some instagrams from LA and the setlist below.
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Metallica — 12/15/16 Fonda Theater LA Setlist
Breadfan (Budgie cover)
Creeping Death
Metal Militia
Sad But True
Fade to Black
Atlas, Rise!
Harvester of Sorrow
Moth Into Flame
One
Master of Puppets
For Whom the Bell Tolls
Enter Sandman
Encore:
Whiskey in the Jar ([traditional] cover)
Hardwired
Seek & Destroy