Lars Ulrich and James Hetfield of Metallica

September 1st, Phoenix Arizona played host to Metallica’s “M72” tour, featuring metal bands Mammoth WVH and Pantera as opening acts.

This tour, which is being called the “No Repeats” tour, features Metallica for two shows, usually a Friday and Sunday set, playing two completely different sets for both nights, with four different bands opening throughout the tour; Mammoth WVH and Pantera for the opening night, and then Ice Nine Kills and Five Finger Death Punch for the second.

To say that the first night was more than I had expected would be an understatement. With Wolfgang Van Halen (son of famed rocker Eddie Van Halen) and his band opening the night, I was not 100% sure of what to expect. However, him and his band came out and gave the opening set that anyone would be proud of. Yet, as a photographer, there was one issue with this set. We were placed behind the band, as they performed on Metallica’s HUGE ring-shaped stage. This means exactly what you, the reader, would think; we were photographing the bands backsides almost the entire show. While some of the members of the band were able to walk around the stage and engage with the audience members on all sides of the ring, Wolfgang stuck to one microphone and one microphone only; and the band’s drummer Garrett Whitlock’s kit was faced away from us, not on a rotating platform like Lars’s from Metallica was, so there was no shot, let alone clear or not, of either’s face while they played. Well, that is not 100% accurate, Wolfgang did show us, the photographers a side view of his face once or twice, but that was really it. But at least the music was spot on.

For Pantera, what more can you expect. The person that I brought, a long-term friend of mine for over 20 years who had never seen the band perform before, had only one thing to say about them, at first; “They rocked my face off.” And the band did exactly that. The band utilized the entire ring stage, allowing fans and photographers alike to experience that passion that the band had put out with the upmost enthusiasm.

Phil Anselmo of Pantera amongst the crowd at State Farm Stadium in Phoenix, AZ

Phil Anselmo, the groups lead singer, dedicated the set to the memory of Darrell Abbott, aka Dimebag Darrell, who was the bands guitarist until he passed away in 2004. However, my friend, who apparently was not on the up-and-up with the band’s more recent past, had asked if there was any way that the band was a white nationalist band, as he had gotten hints of that during the bands set. This question reminded me of Anselmo’s 2016 controversy where, onstage he gave a Nazi salute and screamed “White Power” into the microphone. This caused a few of the band’s tour stops on this year’s reunion circuit to be canceled, namely stops in Germany. However, this and other antics of the band have not stopped Mammoth WVH or Metallica from performing with them during the M72 tour.

Yet, this leads me to the headliner, Metallica. As we, the photographers of the night, were ushered back into the stadium to take our spots to photograph James, Lars, Kirk, and Robert, I looked around the interior of State Farm Stadium, a venue that I was brand new to, having moved from the Kansas City area only a month before, and saw how packed it was. I will admit, I was a little shocked to see how slowly people came into the home of the Arizona Cardinals Football Team. Yes, loyal reader, you know from my days working for The Pitch, that I have been to my fair share of concerts and have seen shows where only maybe 30 people are in the seats of an 8,000 venue for the opener, only to have it be standing room only by the time the headliner came on, but this was one of those nights, at a MUCH bigger venue.

Yet, Metallica did what Metallica does, they performed to their absolute best and the crowd drank in every moment of the show. However, what the crowd was not aware of at the time was James’ voice, or rather his vocal cords, not feeling the best. The band ended the night early, cutting two songs off their play list. This was noticed by fans as texts started flying asking if I knew why. The two songs were The Day That Never Comes and then arguably one of the bands most famous songs, a song that they had closed out every first night of the tour so far with, Master of Puppets.

Kirk Hammett and Robert Trujillo of Metallica, with singer James Hetfield in the background.

It was only later to be told that the reason why Hetfield and company called the showoff early, as well as postponed the second night, was due to the fact that Hetfield had caught Covid, and was unable to continue on, much to the dismay of the crowd. The second show of the tour stop, that was originally scheduled for the following Sunday, September 3rd, had to be postponed out to September 9th, to help fit in with Hetfield’s recovery.

This postponed show, with the crowd being grateful that the band will honor their commitment of the two nights in Phoenix, is not without its own set of issues. The bands Ice Nine Kills and Five Finger Death Punch were to open the show for Metallica, like they have done for the previous second nights of each tour stop. However, Ice Nine Kills was dropped from the September 9th’s line up in favor for the Suicidal Tendencies, a So-Cal crossover thrash/street/hardcore punk band that originally got its start in 1980.

An additional side note, Mammoth WVH announced a new album, titled Mammoth II, was now out and available on his website.

Metallica’s Setlist:
It’s a Long Way to the Top (If you wanna Rock ‘n’ Roll) (AC/DC song [tape]), The Ecstasy of Gold (Ennio Morricone song, played with video from the movie The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly), Creeping Death, Harvester of Sorrow, Leper Messiah, The Memory Remains, Lux Æterna, Too Far Gone?, Fade to Black (preceded by “Rose Avenue” Kirk and Rob doodle), Shadows Follow, Orion, Nothing Else Matter (preceded by Kirk doodle), Sad but True, Hardwired, Fuel (preceded by James doodle), Seek & Destroy

Pantera’s Setlist:
Regular People (Conceit [tape]), In Heaven (Lady in the Radiator Song) (Peter Ivers & David Lynch song [tape]), A New Level, Mouth for War, Strength Beyond Strength, Becoming (With “Throes of Rejection” outro), I’m Broken (with “By Deamons Be Driven” outro), Cemetery Gates (tape), 5 Minutes Alone, This Love, Fucking Hostile, Walk, Domination/Hollow, Cowboys from Hell

Mammoth WVH’s Setlist:
Night Prowler (AC/DC song [tape]), Another Celebration at the End of the World, You’re to Blame, I’m Alright, Like a Pastime, Take a Bow, Don’t Back Down

A Cold Pizza and Coffee Review - Metallica's M72 tour at State Farm Stadium