Metallica’s return to Etihad Park can now be comfortably described as their Middle East hometown show, having packed more than 25,000 fans on all three occasions.
Bassist Robert Trujillo once described Etihad Park to The National as looking like a spaceship from the air, and each return has strengthened that connection – with the band also playing shows in Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Bahrain since 2011.
This was by far the biggest crowd in this year’s ongoing Abu Dhabi F1 after-race concert series, and the road hounds they are, Metallica performed with scintillating precision and drive. Forty years at the forefront of heavy metal hasn’t dimmed them.
They arrived behind 72 Seasons – the 2023 album distinguished by its frenetic tempos and darker lyricism – yet the Abu Dhabi show was a greatest-hits display of their power and precision.
Their entry cue, The Ecstasy of Gold by Italian composer Ennio Morricone, almost works as a Pavlovian call for the faithful, with metal hand signs lifting across the field. It signalled the start of the Metallica lair: part sinister and part physical release.
Opener Creeping Death, a thrashy masterpiece from Ride the Lightning, is as direct as ever. James Hetfield’s voice remains a force, capable of sliding from a clear, emotive tenor into a full-throated growl.
For Whom the Bell Tolls, with its darker atmosphere, carries one of Metallica’s most distinctive grooves, anchored by Trujillo’s bass, while Kirk Hammett’s lead work dazzled without overwhelming the song.
Fuel was one of the bigger moments – a cyclonic hit of guitars and frenetic pyro.
Metallica concerts are not only about crowd participation, the audience can become a chorus that lifts the poignancy of certain songs.
It set the pace for a raw, joyful night and extended the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix’s long line of rock headliners of more than 16 years – Muse, Def Leppard, The Who, Linkin Park and Aerosmith – a proud tradition of heavy guitars that continues to this day.
The Memory Remains from 1997, with its snaky main guitar riff, had fans singing the haunting refrains originally recorded by the late Marianne Faithfull.
Wherever I May Roam brought out the air guitars and still lands like a fiendishly clever pop song disguised as a metal track.
The bone-crunching riffs of Sad But True answered Hetfield’s introductory declaration: “Do you want heavy? Well, Metallica gives you heavy, baby.” They closed with the trio of One, Master of Puppets and Enter Sandman, each considered a pioneering work of metal.
Metallica left the stage to a blaze of fireworks and with evidence (not that any more was needed) that Abu Dhabi has earned its place in the global "Metallica family".
The Abu Dhabi F1 after-race concert series concludes on Sunday with US pop star Katy Perry
