Metallica covered The Proclaimers’ ‘I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles)’ in Glasgow and The Pogues‘ ‘Dirty Old Town’ in Dublin this week – check out footage below.
The metal icons played Glasgow’s Hampden Park on Thursday (June 25) as part of their ongoing ‘M72 World Tour’, where guitarist Kirk Hammett and bassist Robert Trujillo used their mid-set ‘Kirk and Rob Doodle’ section to pay tribute to two Scottish acts.
The pair first played Nazareth’s ‘Hair Of The Dog’, before leading the crowd through a rendition of The Proclaimers’ ‘I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles)’.
Check out fan-shot footage here:
Four days earlier, Hammett and Trujillo played Ewan MacColl’s ‘Dirty Old Town’ during the second of Metallica’s two shows at Dublin’s Aviva Stadium on Sunday (June 21). Although the song was written by MacColl about Salford, it has long been associated with Irish music through versions by The Dubliners and The Pogues.
Watch footage here:
The ‘Kirk and Rob Doodle’ has become a regular part of Metallica’s live shows in recent years, giving Hammett and Trujillo a mid-set slot to play loose bass-and-guitar jams, often paying tribute to local musical heroes. In the past, they have played Rammstein’s ‘Sonne’ in Berlin, ABBA’s ‘Dancing Queen’ in Sweden and a-ha’s ‘Take On Me’ in Norway.
At their first show in Dublin on June 19, Hammett fell from the stage during ‘Seek & Destroy’, with the guitarist losing his footing near the edge of the stage, before being helped back up and continuing the song. He later joked about the moment on Instagram, captioning a clip: “Slip & Destroy.”
That came days after Hammett drew criticism from Taylor Swift fans for wearing a T-shirt reading “Taylor Swift Is A CIA Psyop” at a June 13 show in Budapest. Hammett appeared to address the controversy in a recent interview, criticising the current state of popular music by claiming: “Right now, songwriting and pop music is crap.”
“I’m hoping that all these great musicians who can teach themselves through the internet step up and put all that great learning and all that great inspiration into creating new stuff, new songs, the future of music, and at a higher standard than what it is now,” he added. “Because I’ll say it again, K-R-A-P. Crap. Sorry for all you pop fans out there.”
Metallica are currently on the UK and European leg of their ‘M72’ world tour, which began in 2023 in support of their 11th studio album ‘72 Seasons’. Remaining UK and European dates are:
JUNE
28 – Cardiff, Principality Stadium
JULY
3 – London, London Stadium
5 – London, London Stadium
Find any remaining tickets here.
In a four-star review of Metallica’s ‘M72’ tour opener in Amsterdam, NME wrote: “Metallica have always been a gateway band for heavy music, but there’s a renewed excitement around them now. Tonight’s surprising, ambitious and giddy gig matches that energy at every turn.”
“From the gorgeous ‘Nothing Else Matters’ through to the unifying ‘Seek & Destroy’, the majesty of heavy music is on full display throughout the gig as Metallica prove why they’re clearly still the greatest metal band around.”
Elsewhere, Metallica recently teamed up with UK blood services to urge fans to donate blood and plasma around their UK tour dates. The band also released ‘Reload (Remastered)’, an expanded reissue of their 1997 album featuring previously unreleased demos, rough mixes, live performances and more, yesterday (June 26).