Metallica 2023 tour setlist: Every song from Phoenix concert at State Farm Stadium

Ed Masley, Arizona Republic
Updated ·2 min read
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The Metallica Weekend Takeover hit metro Phoenix like a ton of bricks on Friday, Sept, 1., as the kings of the thrash-metal scene rolled into State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, for the opening night of a No Repeat Weekend that found them cutting two songs from the setlist without explanation.

They've been playing 16 songs every opening night since this tour hit the States, following “Seek & Destroy” with a set-closing “Master of Puppets.”

Fans at State Farm Stadium got 14 songs and no “Master of Puppets.” As we noted in our full review, "Normally, I hesitate to overuse a word as ripe for overuse as 'tragedy.' But what else would you call it?"

COVID troubles: Metallica reschedules 2nd Phoenix concert due to COVID-19 after ending early Friday

James Hetfield has COVID-19; hence the abbreviated Phoenix concert

As we found out the following afternoon, when they they announced that Sunday's show would be rescheduled to Saturday, Sept. 9, "unfortunately, COVID has caught up with James."

That's James Hetfield, of course, who apparently opted out of two songs while dealing with symptoms.

Metallica have promised two completely different concerts in each city they hit on a stadium tour in support of their first studio release in seven years, an album titled “72 Seasons” that’s been hailed as both their best thrash album of the century and a savage return to the form of their earliest triumphs.

They only played three songs from that new album on opening night in Glendale in a set that touched on every era, from “Seek & Destroy” (a highlight of their seminal debut that somehow just turned 40, “Kill ‘Em All”) to the title track of 2016’s “Hardwired… to Self-Destruct.”

They also treated fans to highlights as essential to their legacy as “Creeping Death” and “Fade to Black” before bringing the set to a thundering finish with “Seek & Destroy" while still leaving plenty of classics in reserve for Sunday.

If you're headed to State Farm Stadium on Sunday, you should check our ultimate guide to everything you need to know before you go.

Seek, Destroy, Repeat: Metallica cut their set short in Phoenix on Night 1 but kill 'em all regardless: a review

Metallica Phoenix 2023 setlist for Night 1

Here’s every song Metallica played at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona.

  • "It's a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock 'n' Roll)" recording (AC/DC)

  • "The Ecstasy of Gold" recording/video (Ennio Morricone)

  • “Creeping Death”

  • “Harvester of Sorrow”

  • “Holier Than Thou"

  • “King Nothing”

  • “Lux Æterna”

  • “Too Far Gone?”

  • "Cactus and Graffiti" (Kirk Hammett and Robert Trujillo jam)

  • “Fade to Black”

  • “Shadows Follow”

  • “Orion”

  • “Nothing Else Matters”

  • “Sad but True”

  • “Hardwired”

  • “Fuel”

  • “Seek & Destroy”

Reach the reporter at ed.masley@arizonarepublic.com or 602-444-4495. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) @EdMasley.

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Metallica 2023 tour setlist: Every song in Phoenix Night 1 concert