Metallica just lost their long-running legal battle against Lloyd’s of London, with a California judge acquitting the insurance company of all financial losses resulting from the forced postponement of six South American shows in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. But just one day after this disappointing ruling was announced, Metallica was in good spirits, back on stage and giving back, at the intimate Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles, for their third Helping Hands Concert & Auction fundraising event.
Frontman James Hetfield expressed his joy at being able to once again play for Metallica’s diehard fans, saying, “We’ve been together forever for 200 years. We are so grateful that we do what we do.”
Hetfield and company even treated Friday’s crowd to the live debut of a thrashy new song from Metallica’s COVID-delayed 72 seasons album, which will eventually be released in April 2023. “We thought this would be such a special performance here, playing ‘Lux Æterna’, the first single from [72 Seasons]. We’re playing it live here for the first time. How about that?” Hetfield asked rhetorically. A cymbal snafu caused the band to stop and restart the song, but the 7,100 elated concertgoers in attendance – including Rage Against the Machine’s Tom Morello and Guns N’ Roses drummer Matt Sorum – hardly seemed to notice.
While “Lux Æterna” was the only preview of the evening 72 seasons, the event, which benefited the band’s All Within My Hands foundation, had several other surprises. Metallica played their very first covers of Thin Lizzy’s “Borderline” (“Phil Lynott was writing that song about my life,” Hetfield joked) and the UFO deepcut “It’s Killing Me,” the latter at the request of drummer Lars Ulrich. “We keep playing covers because it is pleasureHetfield grinned.
Then “new friend” St. Vincent – who actually covered Metallica’s “Sad But True” on last year’s compilation of all-star covers, The Metallica blacklist – got out to jam on another Black album power ballad, “Sad But True.” The half-acoustic/half-electric concert also featured San Francisco folk singer/multi-instrumentalist and former AWMH intern Avi Vinocur, playing mandolin, acoustic, electric and 12-string guitars. (“All those things we don’t know how to do,” Hetfield noted.)
Jimmy Kimmel hosted Friday’s fundraiser and declared Metallica “one of the greatest bands in the history of the world” to thunderous applause, while Robert Downey Jr. and Tony Hawk also made surprise appearances to praise the band and express their own fandom. Up and coming hard rocker Greta Van Fleet opened the show.
Since Metallica founded All Within My Hands in 2017, the charitable initiative has raised $12 million to fight food insecurity, provide natural disaster relief and build sustainable communities through workforce and community college programs. This year’s AWMH memorabilia auction, which started on December 5, will run through December 20; 100% of the proceeds from both the auction and the benefit show will go directly to those in need. Friday’s concert was streamed live via Paramount+ and will be available in full on Monday, December 19.
As for what comes next for Metallica, after the lawsuit and after the pandemic, on April 27, 2023 – two weeks after the highly anticipated release of 72 seasons, the band’s first studio album since 2016 — they’re playing stadiums again on their two-year M72 World Tour. They will perform two performances in each city, with completely different setlists for each night. The full setlist for their Helping Hands concert on December 16 is below.
Acoustic:
Made black
Who are not forgiven
Boundary line
It kills me
Whiskey in the jar
Pause (introduced by Hetfield with: “We’ll be right back, take a little break then come back and kick some metal ass”)
Electric:
The call of ktulu
Harvester of sorrow
Holier than thou
All within my hands
Creeping death
Sandman in
Lux Aterna
Nothing Else Matters (with St. Vincent)
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