Based on past form however I was expecting to be disappointed, remembering well the cabaret style medley of songs from Kill ‘Em All Metallica did the last time I had seen them live in 1998 also at Rod Laver Arena, although I was also encouraged by footage from the ‘Big Four’ concert in Sofia and prepared to see a band that had pretty much become The Rolling Stones of Heavy Metal (which is no bad thing)

On Sunday night I was pleasantly surprised and delighted to find Metallica neither of these. Maybe it was sheer relief that the tour was over but they played well and showed enthusiasm, although hampered by a muddy sound mix. There were no long solos, another drawback in 1998, instead we got a few brief interludes that segued well into the songs. Only two songs from Death Magnetic, which I had wanted to hear more from to see how the songs fared live considering how compresed they were on the album, and none at all from St Anger or Load (although we got “Fuel” from Reload), instead we were treated with some rare gems like “Call of Ktulu” from Ride The Lightning, all accompanied by a light show and pyros that complimented rather than detracted from the songs.

Concert photos by redcountess.

Anthrax and Slayer are also confirmed for the UK Sonisphere festival, but with the headliners already announced as being Iron Maiden and Rammstein it is unlikely that the “Big Four” pioneers of Thrash will all play at Knebworth. However earlybird ticket buyers for the UK festival will get a free ticket for the Poland show.