A little more than 40 years ago — Jan. 19, 1985, to be exact — an upstart young band from Northern California nearly burned Toronto’s Concert Hall to the ground due to the friction caused by how fast they played their guitars.
They were inspired by a new wave of British metal, played heavier and more frantically; who ever thought it would have so much staying power? That band was of course Metallica, and by the next winter they were headlining their own tour with a stop at Maple Leaf Gardens.
Fast-forward to 2025, and the thrash metal pioneers now need a full four days in Toronto — to host an art exhibition inspired by their music, launch a coffee-table book and screen a preview of a documentary about how they’ve saved fan’s lives. Not to mention play a pair of sold-out concerts at Rogers Centre.
As grizzled as James Hetfield, Kirk Hammett, Lars Ulrich and Robert Trujillo may now seem, they haven’t missed a beat. They still know how to put on a bombastic headbangers’ ball.
At the first night of shows, there were more interludes and rest periods than in the good ol’ speed demon days, just as the dates on the tour are more spread out. The newest wrinkle for the ongoing M72 World Tour, which began with the release of their 11th studio album, “72 Seasons,” in 2023, is that no two setlists in the same city are the same, no songs are repeated. Which makes sense given their extensive body of work dating back to 1983, but can make things expensive for even their most loyal of fans.
Words can’t really do justice to the transformation Rogers Centre underwent shortly after the Blue Jays wrapped their latest homestand in anticipation of Metallica’s Toronto takeover. The entire field was covered and eight towers were erected with cylindrical video screens atop each one projecting images, including a cool montage of ticket stubs from the nearly 20 Toronto-area shows played over their Canadian concert history.
There were also plenty of close-ups of the four of them doing what they do best, while the band made full use of the not-quite-circular stage; drummer Ulrich had his kit moved around so as many people as possible on the floor could get a good look at his playing prowess.
The set featured an eclectic mix of compulsory cuts off of “72 Seasons” including the title track, “If Darkness Had a Son” and “Shadows Follow” relatively early on. I don’t know if they’d be considered deep cuts, but I was surprised to hear “Holier Than Thou” over other potential choices from Metallica’s breakthrough 1991 self-titled album as well as “Ride the Lightning”’s “Fight Fire With Fire” with its misleadingly gentle acoustic opening. And from 2008’s “Death Magnetic,” “The Day That Never Comes” was a welcome inclusion.
There was even an impressive mosh pit that broke out during the prolonged instrumental — and tribute to late former bassist Cliff Burton — “Orion.” It was not as impressive, however, as the amplified singalong that commenced during “Nothing Else Matters.” And if the older attendees thought of nodding off around the 10:30 p.m. mark, “Fuel,” with Hetfield’s rapid and loud delivery of “Gimme fuel / Gimme fire / Gimme that which I desire” definitely woke everyone up.
I don’t know if I’ll get the image of giant yellow and black beach balls dropped from the towers and bouncing through the stadium during the “Kill ’Em All” classic “Seek and Destroy” anytime soon, but that’s Metallica in 2025, I guess.
