Metallica Burns Through Las Vegas Sphere Debut

Metallica kicked off their highly anticipated “Life Burns Faster” residency at Las Vegas’ Sphere on Thursday night (Oct. 1) with an electrifying, 16-song set matched to expectedly  eye-popping visuals. They were the first metal band to headline the venue.

Seek … And Display

Sphere’s staging placed the members on a circular platform surrounding the venue’s Snake Pit. Nine microphone positions were available, allowing singer James Hetfield, guitarist Kirk Hammett, and bassist Robert Trujillo to skulk freely around the platform. Drummer Lars Ulrich moved around, too, his drum kit appearing in multiple locations throughout the night.

And wherever they roamed, cameras followed. A high-def system whirled around the stage on a track above the members, capturing the band and audience in 360 degrees and projecting the images onto Sphere’s wraparound display.

Ride the Visual Lightning

Several songs featured distinct visual sequences tied directly to their themes or histories. “Sad But True” was accompanied by imagery of a Gothic cathedral interior, including stained‑glass windows containing guitars and symbols, along with large organ pipes.

“The Shortest Straw” used visuals of playing cards and slot machines. “The Day That Never Comes” included hourglasses rising from a barren landscape, with streams of sand falling through them as Ulrich appeared at another drum position.

“…And Justice for All” —appearing for the first time in a Metallica set since 2014 —featured Lady Justice bound and under surveillance, surrounded by guards, followed by visuals of the depicted environment collapsing.

“Ride the Lightning” included lightning effects in a blue‑violet sky and an electric chair materializing above Hetfield. And “The Call of Ktulu” included an oceanic environment in which a large creature rose from the sea and expanded until it filled the entire display. (Hetfield dedicated the instrumental to the band’s late bassist, Cliff Burton.)

Check out this fan video of the band performing “Wherever I May Roam.”

The Music

An AC/DC track, “It’s a Long Way to the Top,” preceded Metallica’s traditional intro, “The Ecstasy of Gold,” which signaled the band’s entrance at 8:48 p.m. The set’s first song, “Battery,” was also the first time Metallica had opened a show with it since July 11, 2014.

The show contained 16 songs drawing nine of the band’s 11 studio albums. (Load and St. Anger were the only ones not represented.) The Black Album contributed “Sad But True,” “Wherever I May Roam,” and “Nothing Else Matters.” And Ride the Lightning contributed “Creeping Death,” “The Call of Ktulu,” and “Ride the Lightning.”

The set concluded with “Master of Puppets,” and visuals that began with a red‑orange horizon and rows of white crosses extending from behind the stage toward a distant point, echoing the album’s cover art.

Metallica’s residency is structured around a two‑night format each week, with Thursday and Saturday performances built on completely different setlists. No songs repeat between the two nights, continuing the “No Repeat Weekend” approach the band has used during its “M72 World Tour,” which began in 2023 and ends in June 2027.

After seeing U2 open the Sphere in 2023, Ulrich stated at the time that he knew Metallica needed to perform there. Judging from the crowd reaction on Thursday night, their fans now share that opinion.

Oct. 1 Setlist

1. Battery
2. Creeping Death
3. Now That We’re Dead
4. Sad But True
5. The Shortest Straw
6. Wherever I May Roam
7. The Day That Never Comes
8. …And Justice for All
9. “Sleepwalk My Life Away” (Kirk Hammett and Robert Trujillo Doodle)
10. Nothing Else Matters
11. The Call of Ktulu
12. Lux Æterna
13. Ride the Lightning
14. The Memory Remains
15. Seek & Destroy
16. Master of Puppets