There are enough Metallica t-shirts around the Mad Cool 2022 site on day one to leave you thinking that this could a convention for the hard rock icons – but there’s just been so much love in waiting for their return here in Madrid. As frontman James Hetfield offers up a very warm “welcome to the Metallica family”, let’s just call it a reunion.
Rounding up all the action from Mad Cool’s opening day, NME noted: “While you might think of metal as a cold and aggressive space, a Metallica show can only be described as a love-in and a celebration. From the outings of early favourites ‘Whiplash’ and ‘Seek And Destroy’ to the utterly iconic ‘Enter Sandman’, ‘Wherever I May Roam’ and ‘Nothing Else Matters’, the band exude an energy and familiarity that’s overwhelmingly inclusive. These are the songs that shaped the genre, and they are The Beatles of hard rock.”
And here’s what it looked like. Check out the setlist and our exclusive photos of Metallica’s headline set at Mad Cool 2022 below
Brothers
Kirt Hammett, James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich doing only what they’ve done best for the last 40-plus years.
‘Seek And Destroy…’
That’s what Lars does when he comes to town, and look how happy he is about it.
Throw them horns up
“Is the Metallica family here tonight?” asks Hetfield at one point. Yup, and this is what they look like.
“I love your singing, Madrid”
“Were you singing?” Hetfield asks the crowd. “I love your singing, Madrid. I need all the help I can get.” ‘Whiskey In The Jar’ follows, and we gladly oblige.
The ace of bass
It was recently revealed that bassist Rob Trujillo’s son Tye added guitar tracks to Metallica‘s ‘Master Of Puppets’ for the song’s inclusion in the fourth season of Stranger Things – proving that greatness certainly runs in this family.
All the hits
After delivering a brutal ‘best of’ set, Metallica left us hungry for new material. Sadly it feels like we could be waiting a while for the follow-up to 2016’s ‘Hardwired… To Self-Destruct’. Last year, Ulrich said of progress on new songs: “We’re on that path. I don’t know if it’s cohesive enough to call a record, but we’re dipping our toes.”
Ladies and gentlemen, Metallica
The best metal brings people together.
More love for ‘St Anger’
Introducing ‘Dirty Window’ from the divisive and often maligned ‘St Anger’, Hetfield teased that the record might “finally be starting to grow on people”. Well, we loved this tonight.
We’ve had worse Wednesdays…
It may be midweek, but ‘Tallica make it feel like a Friday.
Set it on fire
The final of many fireworks erupt as the band stand on stage taking bows well into the rumbling of Twenty One Pilots’ nearby set. “Metallica loves you,” Hetfield tells the hollering masses of Madrid, all one big, happy family now.
Metallica played:
‘Whiplash’
‘Creeping Death’
‘Enter Sandman’
‘Ride the Lightning’
‘Wherever I May Roam’
‘Nothing Else Matters’
‘Dirty Window’
‘Sad but True’
‘Whiskey in the Jar’
‘For Whom the Bell Tolls’
‘Moth Into Flame’
‘Fade to Black’
‘Seek & Destroy’
Encore:
‘Damage, Inc.’
‘One’
‘Master of Puppets’
Check back here at NME for the latest news, interviews, photos and more from Mad Cool 2022.
NME is an official media partner of Mad Cool Festival 2022