To the thousands of Australian metal heads who have forked out their hard earned to see heavy metal giant Metallica’s World Magnetic Tour – you are in for one hell of a treat.
The heavy metal veterans kicked off the Australasian leg of their world tour at Melbourne’s Rod Laver Arena on Wednesday night in what was arguably their most elaborate and high-tech show they’ve ever put on in their nearly 30 years of existence.
From the amazing laser light display to the oversized robotic coffins which were lowered from the ceiling and moved around sporadically throughout the concert to the scorching pyrotechnics – Metallica spared no expense.
This show was certainly one for the ages and the epic setlist hasn’t even been dissected yet.
When the iconic "Ecstasy Of Gold" blared through the speakers to mark the beginning of the sonic onslaught Melbourne was about to endure, it felt as though we were being transported back to the early 90s.
But when the thumping heartbeat of Death Magnetic’s opener, "That Was Just Your Life" immediately followed, it was a poignant reminder that we were in fact in 2010 – and it was comforting to know that more than two hours later these guys still kick some serious ass (as if that was doubted in the first place).
While the boys played a decent chunk off their latest release, Death Magnetic – "All Nightmare Long" being the highlight of the four tracks from that album, the vast majority of the setlist came from their first five classic albums which defined them as one of the most influential heavy metal bands of all time.
And for the 15,000-strong sell-out crowd, this was music to their ears (excuse the pun).
As you can see in the video clip we secured from YouTube, the band tore through classics such as "One", "For Whom The Bell Tolls", "Welcome Home (Sanitarium)", "Fade To Black" and "Enter Sandman".
But the high point of the show came towards the end when metal masterpiece "Master Of Puppets" and the apocalyptic "Blackened" were played back-to-back.
The hair-raising double act sent the fans into a moshing frenzy and the countless chants of ‘MASTER, MASTER’ from the crowd were deafening.
As for the fellas, they are still well and truly at the top of their game.
James Hetfield’s voice still does more than an adequate job and he combined with Kirk Hammett to put on a guitar master class as they ripped through some of their most legendary riffs and solos.
How Lars Ulrich can still pull off lightning-quick thrashy drum beats at the age of 46 is truly astonishing and Robert Trujillo is simply a monster on the bass.
His presence on the stage was unmistakable as he prowled around like a lion stealthily stalking its prey.
In summation the rest of Australia’s major centres have plenty to look forward to over the coming months with the evergreen Metallica juggernaut set to wreak havoc on our fair nation.
Setlist
Ecstasy Of Gold
That Was Just Your Life
The End Of The Line
For Whom The Bell Tolls
Fuel
Fade To Black
Broken, Beat & Scarred
No Remorse
Sad But True
Welcome Home (Sanitarium)
All Nightmare Long
One
Master Of Puppets
Blackened
Guitar Solo (Hammett)
Nothing Else Matters
Enter Sandman
Encore
Am I Evil?/Whiplash
Seek And Destroy
Oh well, it's Metallica so whatever happens, I'm sure it will be an amazing night for all!
![:\](https://bluelight.org/xf/BL_Images/Orig_Emoji/wrygrin.gif "wry grin :\")
I know... still don't believe it! I'm actually really nervous about it now... like a kid on his first day of school! ha ha.... 
