Live Review: Metallica – Olympiastadion, Munich (Night 1)
24th May 2024
Support: Mammoth WVH, Architects
Words: Tim Finch
Metallica are the biggest metal band in the world right now, and the release of ’72 Seasons’ last year just cemented their position. Whilst they may have their naysayers, or fans stuck in 1986 who refuse to accept a band can develop their sound beyond their first three albums, for the rest of us Metallica can do little wrong.
Last April we were in Amsterdam as they kicked off their two year long "M72" tour, tonight we head to Munich's famous Olympiastadion for the opening of the second leg of the tour.
Once again Metallica return to “the round” giving a full 360 degree view on the band at the centre circle of the stadium. Many bands have done this format, but none have pulled it off to extent and success that Metallica have.
The Munich authorities added a second safety barrier on the floor at the last minute, resulting in thousands of fans turning up early to gain their spot, all for the benefit of Mammoth WVH who had a massive crowd to kick off the event. The band, featuring Wolfgang, the son of the late great Eddie Van Halen opens the show. Having opened for Slash in arena's across Europe just a month ago, their trek across the continent continues this evening in this open air stadium in Munich.
The band utilise every second of their stage time, ‘Another Celebration at the End of the World’ and ‘You're to Blame’ opening their rock assault and Planet Rock regular ‘Don’t Back Down’ closing it out. The outfits' sound in the stadium is huge, they are louder and heavier than ever. They may have been unfamiliar to many prior to this evening, although with their growing stature how can this be, but they leave the stage with a growing fan base, safe in the knowledge it will grow further across this jaunt.
Mammoth have a scattering of headline shows this summer, in amongst the Metallica dates, check them out, it will be wild!
British warriors Architects, a band who have gone from strength to strength in recent years, take to the stadium like they’ve done it all before. Last years run on the first leg saw their fan base swell, but they return to the tour this year without Josh Middleton who departed late last year. The band use this run as a build up to their Bloodstock Festival headline show in August.
With a hour long set to warm the fans up they hit the ground running with a barrage of blistering tunes. ‘Black Lungs’, ‘Doomsday’ and ‘When We Were Young’ all feature in a set rounded out by ‘Animals’. Metalcore may not be to everyones tastes, but the drive and energy behind the band helps them win over even the most ardent of naysayers. Roll on Bloodstock...
With the formalities out of the way, there is only one band we are all really here to see tonight, the Metallica machine is a well-oiled behemoth and 60,000+ fans wait in anticipation as the hint of sunlight dies behind the clouds, the sky growing ever darker above the stadium. Questions abound, how will the set differ from last years offering? Do Metallica have any surprises in store for opening night? We are about to find out.
As the atmosphere builds and smoke billows across the eight huge digital screens the opening notes of ‘Whiplash’ play out, a blistering number to kick off a frantic night. Following on we have 'For Whom The Bell Tolls' and the rarely played 'Of Wolf and Man' keeping the energy levels high both on stage and in the crowd. From here ‘memory Remains’ concludes the opening salvo and a magnificent one it is too.
Next it’s into the newer segment of the set. Three new songs feature tonight including ‘Lux Æterna’, ‘Too Far Gone’ and ‘Shadows Follow’, the trio split by classic ‘Fade To Black’.
The classic instrumental 'Orion' leads us into the 'Black Album' duo ‘Nothing Else Matters and 'Sad But True' see the warm German night take a turn as the heavens open. A wet crowd is led into the emotional 'The Day That Never Comes' and 'Hardwired’.
As the pyro of 'Fuel' kicks in the sky is lit up by a magnificent fork of lightening, if only they had been playing "Ride...' at that moment, the brilliant backdrop for the fiery song the band are warming the crowd with before we head through the classics 'Seek and Destroy' and 'Master of Puppets'.
The fans wait expectantly for an encore that never comes but with the next show less than 48 hours away we have not got long to wait for our next Metallica fix.
For night one of this second leg of the tour it was a resounding success. There were no tracks from ‘And Justice For All’ tonight and notably big guns ‘One’ and ‘Enter Sandman’ were omitted. But with the promise that night two will not repeat any songs from night one, we have an idea of what Metallica will come armed with on Sunday.
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