Metallica played acoustic versions of Creeping Death, Blackened and Now That We’re Dead plus a cover of The Animals’ House Of The Rising Sun as part of their Helping Hands Live & Acoustic From HQ livestream.
Despite its title, the gig, which took place at Metallica’s HQ in San Rafael, Northern California, on Saturday night (November 14), featured both unplugged and electric sets.
Arranged in a socially distant circle, surrounded on all sides by a wall of screens featuring fans from around the world, the band played stripped down versions of Metallica classics Blackened, Creeping Death, The Unforgiven, Now That We're Dead, Nothing Else Matters and All Within My Hands, plus unplugged covers of Deep Purple’s When A Blind Man Cries and Bob Seger’s Turn The Page.
Following a short break, they returned for a six-track electric set, which featured a radically reimagined version of Disposable Heroes (“A heavy song done acoustically reworked heavily,” as frontman James Hetfield put it), Load deep cut Wasting My Hate, For Whom The Bell Tolls, Master Of Puppets and Enter Sandman plus a heavied-up cover of The Animals’ 1964 classic The House Of The Rising Sun.
The band were joined by mandolin player and multi-instrumentalist Avi Vinocur and keyboard player Henry Salvia, plus a guest appearance from Hetfield’s son Castor and Lars Ulrich’s son Layne, who added backing vocals and percussion to All Within My Hands.
“It’s so awesome to be out of the house and be amongst you guys again,” drummer Ulrich said of the show, which was the band’s second gig during the COVID pandemic, following a gig at a winery in Sonoma, Northern California in August
The show was held to benefit the band’s All Within My Hands Foundation, which raises money for a number of different charitable causes. The stream itself will be available to watch for 48 hours after the original broadcast.
In addition, an All Within My Hands auction is taking place, giving entrants the chance to win assorted Metallica items and experiences, including James Hetfield‘s signed Martin D-28 guitar, exclusive tour jackets, a Zoom call from the band, plus pots of honey from Hetfield’s ranch. The auction runs until Friday November 20, 2020, at 5pm PST.
Donate to the All Within My Hands Foundation . Details of the auction .
Metallica: Helping Hands Live & Acoustic livestream setlist
Acoustic set:
1. Blackened
2. Creeping Death
3. When A Blind Man Cries (Deep Purple cover)
4. The Unforgiven
5. Now That We're Dead
6. Turn The Page (Bob Seger cover)
7. Nothing Else Matters
8. All Within My Hands
Electric set:
9: Disposable Heroes
10. House Of The Rising Sun (The Animals cover)
11. Wasting My Hate
12. For Whom The Bell Tolls
13. Master Of Puppets
14. Enter Sandman
