What happened at Metallica's first gig of the year

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Screw your halftime show, this is what we want on Super Bowl weekend

The world watched Beyonce and Coldplay at the Super Bowl halftime show on Sunday but real music fans were glued to their screens the night before to see Metallica’s pre-Super Bowl show streamed live from their hometown of San Francisco. We went along to see what went on…

Somewhat surprisingly, there were some religious protestors outside the show at AT&T Park claiming the tens of thousands of people in attendance are going to burn in hell for listening to Metallica. Interesting they opted for a patch jacket to hammer that point home.

Protestors outside Metallica's show in San Francisco

Protestors outside Metallica's show in San Francisco (Image credit: Stephanie Cabral)

Backstage we bumped into the Red Rocker himself, Mr Sammy Hagar! He was just chilling with the local bomb squad, as you do.

Sammy Hagar hanging out with the bomb squad

Sammy Hagar hanging out with the bomb squad (Image credit: Stephanie Cabral)

We also found Death Angel’s Mark Osegueda admiring the Metallica mural constructed from different electronic gizmos and gadgets. Pretty impressive, huh?

We can see that bottle you're hiding, Mark!

We can see that bottle you're hiding, Mark! (Image credit: Stephanie Cabral)

Of course, we didn’t just pop along to the enormostadium to sit and watch famous people drink, we had a show to watch! And nothing compares to seeing the biggest metal band on the planet kick seven shades of the brown stuff out of 80,000 people! With a setlist comprised solely of fan-favourites (Fuel into King Nothing into Ride The Lightning, anyone?), Metallica know how to party with their famileeeeh. Take a look!

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And as any Metallica fan will know, the heavyweights have a passion for dropping massive inflatable balls on the crowd during the final song. However, as it’s Super Bowl weekend, the San Francisco crowd were given special footballs to fight for. Just look how happy this guy is!

"I have no idea how I'm fitting this in the car"

"I have no idea how I'm fitting this in the car" (Image credit: Stephanie Cabral)

To make you just that little bit more jealous, here’s the 18-song setlist Metallica blasted out. Oof!

  • Creeping Death
  • For Whom The Bell Tolls
  • Fuel
  • King Nothing
  • Ride The Lightning
  • The Unforgiven
  • The Memory Remains
  • Welcome Home (Sanitarium)
  • Sad But True
  • Wherever I May Roam
  • One
  • Master Of Puppets
  • Battery
  • Fade To Black
  • Seek & Destroy
  • Whiskey In The Jar
  • Nothing Else Matters
  • Enter Sandman

Of course, as the show was live-streamed, you can watch it all again on YouTube if you’ve got two hours spare. Check it!

All photos by Stephanie Cabral

Metal Hammer
Metal Hammer

Founded in 1983, Metal Hammer is the global home of all things heavy. We have breaking news, exclusive interviews with the biggest bands and names in metal, rock, hardcore, grunge and beyond, expert reviews of the lastest releases and unrivalled insider access to metal's most exciting new scenes and movements. No matter what you're into – be it heavy metal, punk, hardcore, grunge, alternative, goth, industrial, djent or the stuff so bizarre it defies classification – you'll find it all here, backed by the best writers in our game.