Metallica Launch Spectacular Las Vegas Sphere Residency With Career-Spanning Opening Set
Metallica officially entered the Sphere era Thursday night, launching the band’s Life Burns Faster residency in Las Vegas with a career-spanning performance built around the venue’s enormous wraparound screen.
The October 1 opening show featured 15 full Metallica songs plus a Kirk Hammett and Robert Trujillo instrumental duet. The band began with the rapid-fire attack of “Battery” before moving through more than four decades of material—including “Creeping Death,” “The Shortest Straw,” “Lux Æterna,” “Seek & Destroy” and the closing “Master of Puppets.”
Metallica’s official concert archive confirms the complete opening-night set, while the band’s website now lists the historic performance alongside an official photo gallery.
Metallica Turn Sphere Into a Heavy-Metal Nightmare
The production used Sphere’s towering curved display to surround fans with nooses, crosses, ruined cities, flooded landscapes and other dark cinematic images.
During instrumental classic “The Call of Ktulu,” the screen produced an enormous multidimensional Lovecraftian creature around the band. “Master of Puppets” brought the album’s field of white crosses to life before expanding the familiar imagery across the venue’s interior.
The gigantic presentation did not isolate the musicians from the audience. An extended stage surrounded the Snake Pit and carried James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich, Kirk Hammett and Robert Trujillo directly into the crowd.
Fans also became part of the production, with photographs and homemade Metallica flags from around the world appearing across the screen.
“For modern technology and old guys playing loud music, I have to say this is pretty awesome,” Hetfield told the opening-night crowd.
Opening-Night Setlist
“Battery”
“Creeping Death”
“Now That We’re Dead”
“Sad but True”
“The Shortest Straw”
“Wherever I May Roam”
“The Day That Never Comes”
“…And Justice for All”
Kirk Hammett and Robert Trujillo duet
“Nothing Else Matters”
“The Call of Ktulu”
“Lux Æterna”
“Ride the Lightning”
“The Memory Remains”
“Seek & Destroy”
“Master of Puppets”
The set reached from the band’s early thrash era through 2023’s 72 Seasons. It also found room for deeper selections such as “The Shortest Straw,” “…And Justice for All” and “The Call of Ktulu.”
No Repeat Weekends Continue
Life Burns Faster continues Metallica’s No Repeat Weekend format. Every Thursday and Saturday pairing will feature completely different setlists, giving fans attending both shows two distinct concerts.
The residency has expanded to 24 performances scheduled through March 13, 2027. Sphere’s official calendar confirms the full run, while Metallica currently lists the scheduled performances as sold out through its official tour page.
The next performance takes place Saturday, October 3, and its setlist cannot repeat anything played on opening night.
Metallica’s Las Vegas Takeover
The residency extends beyond the concerts. Metallica has opened the Life Burns Faster Experience, a fan destination featuring merchandise, artwork, memorabilia and special events.
The band has also partnered with the American Red Cross for a Metallica-themed blood-donation center running through March 19. Donors can receive a limited-edition shirt while supplies last and enter to win the Lars Ulrich TAMA drum kit displayed at the location.
Metallica did not simply place an arena show inside a technologically advanced venue. Opening night demonstrated that the band designed a production specifically for Sphere—using its scale to amplify the darkness, history and power already embedded in the music.
Old-school Metallica. Next-level presentation. Las Vegas may never look the same.
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