The hard rock and heavy metal band Metallica is an American musical group that is extremely popular all around the globe due to its legendary works and emotional performances. In 2019, the group organized a separate concert that was included in the global WorldWired Tour and which drew fans from all over the world. The reputation of the band is believed to be associated with musical flexibility, drive, power, and aesthetic excellence. In this paper, it is obligatory to describe the concert performed by the musical band Metallica which appeared to be the culmination of the global tour in support of the new album.
Metallica is considered to be an American hard rock and heavy metal group founded in Los Angeles by frontman and musician James Hetfield and percussionist Lars Ulrich. The band and its members have spent the major part of their history in San Francisco (Metallica.com). Rapid tempos, instrumentalists, and intense musicianship were encompassed by the band, and Metallica, along with Megadeth, Anthrax, and Slayer, is one of the pioneering groups of thrash metal.
Hetfield and Ulrich, the band’s original members and key composers are joined by veteran lead guitarist Kirk Hammett and bass musician Robert Trujillo in the current roster. Kill ‘Em All, the group’s debut album, was issued in 1983 and succeeded by Ride the Lightning in 1984 (Metallica.com). Metallica’s next album, Master of Puppets, was hailed as a masterwork and a triumph by reviewers and proceeded the selling process with more than three million album copies worldwide (Metallica.com). The group was accepted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2009 (Metallica.com). Heavy metal, grunge metal, rock music, and hard rock have all been used to define Metallica’s style. Original heavy metal and classic rock groups and performers such as Kiss, Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, Queen, Led Zeppelin, and AC/DC-inspired Metallica.
The specific concert that was selected for the paper is Metallica – Live in Berlin, Germany, 2019. Metallica returned to Berlin after an eleven-year absence and made their debut appearance at the Olympiastadion Berlin, which was a massive concert in the capital city of Germany (Metallica.com). It was an exciting evening due to the wide range of emotions provided by the band members to the public. The concert initially began with heavy rain and finished with more fireworks, pyrotechnics, and smashing guitars.
Concerning the analysis of the concert, firstly, it is obligatory to emphasize the global tour the concert was dedicated to. The Metallica WorldWired Tour was believed to be a live performance tour in promotion of their tenth separate album, Hardwired… to Self-Destruct which was originally released on November 18, 2016 (Metallica.com). In addition, it is considered to be their first major international tour since the World Magnetic Tour six years ago. The tour commenced on October 26, 2016, in Puerto Rico, with several additional Latin American appearances to comply (Metallica.com). The WorldWired Tour grossed an additional $67.9 million in 2018, with 37 performances across Europe and North America (Metallica.com). The group had planned to continue when the tour finished on August 25, 2019, in Mannheim, Germany; however, COVID-19 proved to be an obstacle (Metallica.com). Thus, the concert in 2019 in Berlin was included in the program of the WorldWired Tour and became a culmination due to the increased number of visitors and substantial infrastructure facilities.
The Metallica band performed Hardwired, The God That Failed, Here Comes Revenge, Moth Into Flame, and Spits Out the Bone in a live show in front of the Berlin crowd for the first occasion. Furthermore, Metallica reminded its fans about its long heavy metal history for two hours and thirty minutes, promising not to wait eleven years for the following concert. Metallica’s first performance in Berlin occurred on August 27, 1991, at the Waldbühne, and it was their 12th visit to Berlin (Metallica.com). Consequently, this concert can be called long-awaited and certainly interesting for the audience since it took place after a long break.
Highlighting the major aspects of the concert, the band performed many new pieces due to the presentation of the new album and pleased the fans by playing Metallica’s best-known songs. It is essential to underline the sequence of the works during the concert since there was a mixture of old and classical songs and new ones (Metallica). The order of the works was established in the manner that the culmination of the performance, which started approximately after the middle part, was devoted to the best songs of the band. For instance, some of the well-known works were Master of Puppets and Enter Sandman. Hence, the band and the organizers of the event selected a proper tactics variant for a massive concert in the capital city of Germany. Simultaneously, the group introduced and promoted new original songs that required audience interaction and pleased the fanbase with classical hits (Metallica). Moreover, the concert can be described as memorable due to the original and emotional behavior of the performers, who, despite their solid age, still hold concerts in the best traditions of rock music.
The artists demonstrated creativity by doing the unexpected by suddenly improvising, for example, speaking directly with the audience and adding original melody parts, which are not found in the records, to the songs. The final climax was successfully built with the help of the best-known songs that were performed in the second part of the concert. In addition, it is possible to state that the band was able to create an outstanding musical atmosphere. The audience was singing along with the musicians, and dancing parts were present in the crowd (Metallica). Furthermore, it is feasible to emphasize that there was a sense of community and social bonding at the Metallica concert due to the substantial support and admiration from the visitors.
Concerning the views, opinions, and reactions to the music related to the concert of the Metallica band in Berlin, to my mind, this event can be named a high-quality and well-organized one. It is necessary to highlight the quality of the sound that was great, and all listeners were capable of enjoying the clarity of the sound and melody. The group was not performing as an old and experienced band that exclusively symbolically organized the event. A full-fledged and legendary heavy metal band performed on stage, which was able to satisfy all the desires of the fans.
To summarize, Metallica is a hard rock and heavy metal band from Los Angeles, California, created by vocalist and guitarist James Hetfield and percussionist Lars Ulrich. Metallica – Live in Berlin, Germany, 2019 is the concert that was chosen for publication. Metallica made their first appearance in Berlin after an eleven-year hiatus at the Olympiastadion Berlin, which was a big show in Germany’s capital city. The vast variety of emotions shown by the band members to the audience made for an interesting evening. The event began with torrential rain and ended with more fireworks, pyrotechnics, and guitar smashing.
Works Cited
Metallica.com. “History.” History | Metallica.com, 2022.
Metallica. Concert. 2019. Olympiastadion, Berlin.