Metallica continued their tradition of performing a local classic at each show on their Australian tour. For Melbourne, they paid tribute to hometown heroes The Living End with a cover of Prisoner of Society.
These Aussie tributes, featuring Kirk Hammett on guitar and Rob Trujillo on bass and vocals, have popped up early in each Australian show. In Perth, Metallica took on John Butler’s Zebra, while in Adelaide they ripped through The Angels’ Am I Ever Gonna See Your Face Again. (Keen ears may notice a little of INXS’ Don’t Change at the start of the Melbourne one.)
It’s been 12 years since Metallica last played in Australia. When James Hetfield asked for a show of hands from those seeing Metallica for the first time, plenty went up but it’s fair to say most of Marvel Stadium’s 40,000-plus crowd were long-time fans returning for more.
At one point, an image of a 1989 Festival Hall ticket flashed up on the big screens, a nod to Metallica’s first-ever Melbourne show on 4 May 1989. Festival Hall held just over 5,000 back then. This Marvel Stadium crowd was ten times that number, Metallica’s biggest single-night audience ever in Melbourne.
Previous Melbourne visits included Rod Laver Arena in 1993, 1998 and 2010, Big Day Out and a Sidney Myer Music Bowl sideshow in 2004, and a Soundwave headline slot in 2013.
Since then, technology has evolved dramatically. The lighting, video screens and robotic cameras – including drones – created a visual spectacle unlike anything we’ve seen from Metallica before. During One, the stage transformed into a hyper-realistic war zone, pushing 2025 concert visuals to their limits.
Visually, it was stunning. Sonically, it was flawless. Metallica sounded enormous, a band still at the peak of their powers. James Hetfield and Kirk Hammett are now 62, Lars Ulrich and Robert Trujillo 61 and still ferocious. For context, Frank Sinatra was 54 when he recorded My Way.
This was also one of Metallica’s most fan-friendly setlists ever, light on newer tracks (just three from the 21st century) and stacked with classics. All five of the band’s biggest songs from the 1991 Black Album made the cut, along with five from their first four records. Add in selections from Reload, Death Magnetic and Hardwired…To Self-Destruct, and you’ve got a setlist that’ll send fans revisiting every era of the band’s catalogue.
Metallica have only ever made one bad album – Lulu, their 2011 collaboration with Lou Reed. Even the band doesn’t mention that one anymore.
Metallica now head to Brisbane on 12 November. Any guesses on which Aussie song gets the nod there? The Saints, maybe? Sydney gets its turn on 15 November.
-
- Metallica by Mary Boukouvalas
-
- Metallica by Mary Boukouvalas
-
- Metallica by Mary Boukouvalas
-
- Metallica by Mary Boukouvalas
Metallica Melbourne Setlist – 8 November 2025
Creeping Death (Ride The Lightning, 1984)
For Whom the Bell Tolls (Ride The Lightning, 1984)
Fuel (Reload, 1997)
The Memory Remains (Reload, 1997)
The Unforgiven (Metallica, 1991)
Wherever I May Roam (Metallica, 1991)
Kirk and Rob Doodle (The Living End’s “Prisoner of Society”)
The Day That Never Comes (Death Magnetic, 2008)
Moth Into Flame (Hardwired…To Self-Destruct, 2016)
Sad But True (Metallica, 1991)
Nothing Else Matters (Metallica, 1991)
Seek & Destroy (Kill ‘Em All, 1983)
Lux Æterna (72 Seasons, 2023)
Master of Puppets (Master of Puppets, 1986)
One (…And Justice For All, 1988)
Enter Sandman (Metallica, 1991)
Stay updated with your free Noise11.com daily music news email alert. Subscribe to Noise11 Music News here
Be the first to see NOISE11.com’s newest interviews and special features on YouTube. See things first—Subscribe to Noise11 on YouTube
Follow Noise11.com on social media:
Bluesky
Facebook – Comment on the news of the day
