Ahead of their upcoming concert at Slane Castle, I take look at some of the most remarkable Metallica concerts in their history, I take a look at the series of acoustic concerts Metallica have played in their career.
Throughout their career, Metallica have been known for many things. Heavily drinking, suing Napster and putting on one of the best live shows on the planet. However, what some people may not know, is that from time to time, Metallica goes acoustic. These shows are usually for charity and bring about some of the most unique Metallica performances. They've played Neil Young's Bridge School benefit concert and at the beginning of November, Metallica put on an acoustic show for their charity foundation, All Within My Hands.
The Bridge School Benefit Gigs
1997
The late 90s was a unique period for Metallica. The double disc cover album entitled Garage Inc was released, they put on the stunning Symphony and Metallica shows and they popped their acoustic cherry by playing Neil Young's bridge school benefit concert in 1997. Neil Young organises this concert every year. A huge range of acts from Neil himself, Metallica, Pearl Jam, Tom Petty and many more. Part of proceeds go to the Bridge School, a school for children with disabilities.
Metallica's setlist was as follows
1. Low Man's Lyrics (original)
2. Helpless (Diamond Head cover)
3. Tuesday's Gone (Lynyrd Skynrd cover)
4. Poor Twisted Me (original)
5. Fade to Black (original)
6. The Four Horsemen (original)
7. Nothing Else Matters (original)
8. Last Caress (The Misfits cover)
Unfortunately, there isn't many pictures or videos that are high quality of this event. However, Metallica played all these songs acoustically on MTV or at different shows of which there are good bootlegs on youtube. The highlight of the event was the performance of Last Caress, a cover by the misfits and can be viewed below.
This performance is extremely catchy and very country-esque. It's a great example of how Metallica can sometimes pull off crazy experiments with music. The seeds for future acoustic shows were planted here. If you can put up with grainy footage, then the performance of Fade to Black is another recommendation from this show and is posted below.
2007
10 years on and Metallica make their second appearance at the Bridge School benefit. Luckily, technology had come on leaps and bounds and there is more footage to work with here.
The album artwork on livemetallica.com
A lot had changed in those 10 years. Jason Newsted left the band and was replaced by Rob Trujillo. James Hetfield was sober. The only original album that had been released was the much derided St.Anger. Metallica finally got over their issues and from 2006, the band had been reborn, especially from their early meetings and work with Rick Rubin, who got the band into shape with the release of Death Magnetic in 2008.
The setlist on the first night was as follows
1. I Just Want To Celebrate (Rare Earth cover)
2. Please Don't Judas Me (Nazareth cover)
3. Only Happy When It Rains (Garbage cover)
4. Brothers In Arms (Dire Straits cover)
5. Disposable Heroes (original)
6. All Within My Hands (original)
7. Turn The Page (Bob Seger)
8. Nothing Else Matters (original)
The setlist on the second night was as follows
1. I Just Want To Celebrate (Rare Earth cover)
2. Please Don't Judas Me (Nazareth cover)
3. Veteran Of The Psychic Wars (Blue Oyster Cult cover)
4. Brothers In Arms (Dire Straits cover)
5. Disposable Heroes (original)
6. All Within My Hands (original)
7. The Unforgiven (original)
8. Nothing Else Matters (original)
The choices of covers were surprising. Metallica had covered Blue Oyster Cult before with Astronomy on Garage Inc and Turn The Page by Bob Seger on the same album. Rare Earth, Nazareth, Dire Straits and Garbage were surprising choices but the Garbage cover was the best new cover they played at the 2007 concerts.
The most surprising element to the 2007 concerts were the versions of Disposable Heroes and All Within My Hands. Disposable Heroes is one of Metallica's more longer songs. The original clocks in at around the 8 and a half minute mark and is beastly in its nature. The acoustic version shines a whole new light on the song. Listed below are the two versions of the songs and the differences are stark but the quality in both is there for all to see and hear.
Original
Acoustic
St.Anger is Metallica's worst album. Lulu was a collaborative effort with Lou Reed so it wasn't a true full Metallica record. All Within My Hands is one of the worse songs on St.Anger. For them to turn into a creepy acoustic classic goes to show how good they can get it right, when they want to. The original is so bad, it won't be posted, but the acoustic is worth checking out.
2016
Metallica returned to the Bridge Show a month before Hardwired To Self-Destruct was released. In the nine years since they last played the benefit, they had been inducted into the Rock and Roll hall of fame, nearly lost all of their money and played all seven continents in 2013.
James Hetfield on stage - Photo credit: mercurynews.com
The setlist on the first night was as follows
1. Whiskey In The Jar (Thin Lizzy/The Dubliners cover)
2. When A Blindman Cries (Deep Purple cover)
3. Hero Of The Day (original)
4. Bleeding Me (original)
5. The Clampdown (The Clash cover)
6. Enter Sandman (original)
7. Hardwired (original)
8. Seek And Destroy (original)
9. Mr. Soul (Buffalo Springfield cover)
The setlist on the second night was the same but instead of Hero Of The Day, they played For Whom The Bell Tolls (original).
Bleeding Me is from the Load album and is up there along with The Outlaw Torn (Load) and Master Of Puppets (Master Of Puppets) as one of the best songs they've ever created. It's quite rare for Metallica to play Bleeding Me live, Load songs have been ignored in a live setting for a while now so it was extra special for Metallica to bust out two Load songs in 2016. Bleeding Me is a beautiful song originally and the acoustic spin on it, gives it a new dimension.
It's difficult to mention all the songs as all performances at the benefit in 2016 were incredible. However, considering The Clampdown is one of my favourite Clash songs, I will post it below, but the whole show is available on youtube.
All Within My Hands 2018
In the two years since they last played an acoustic show, Hardwired To Self Destruct was released and was critically acclaimed. Metallica are spending most of their time now touring that album, creating their own whiskey and raising money for their new charity foundation.
In February 2017, Metallica launched their charity foundation, All Within My Hands. It may be one of their worst songs ever, but is a great name for a charity foundation. The Foundation aims to assist and enrich the lives of members of the communities who have supported the band for years, as well as encourage participation from fans and friends. All funds raised will be donated to a cross-section of national and local charities and every penny from donations will go directly to their charity partners.
On September 20 this year, it was announced that Metallica would go acoustic again, with the support of Cage The Elephant for their charity foundation. An auction would also be held that night with special Metallica memorabilia and prizes up for grabs.
The setlist was as follows
1. Disposable Heroes
2. When A Blindman Cries
3. The Unforgiven
4. Please Don't Judas Me
5. Turn The Page
6. Bleeding Me
7. Veteran Of The Psychic Wars
8. All Within My Hands
9. Enter Sandman
10. The Four Horsemen
11. Hardwired
Out of all their acoustic concerts so far, this one is by far the best. Metallica were backed up by Cage The Elephant for their performance. Mandolins, keyboards and a press pedal were featured and they have been before for acoustic performances from Metallica, this time round it sounded better. Having another band play them made it better and the backing vocals were superior to boot as well.
Metallica and Cage The Elephant on stage - Photo credit: metallica.com
By not playing any new covers and just practising acoustic songs they already knew, Metallica sounded tighter and better. The performance of The Four Horsemen in 2018 is far better than in 1997. Unfortunately, there isn't a great video online of that, but you can buy the show here, it cost less than a tenner and goes to charity.
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