Metallica return to stage after losing lawsuit, triumph at Helping Hands benefit show - Yahoo Entertainment

Metallica conscionable mislaid their long-running ineligible battle against Lloyd’s of London, with a California justice absolving the security marketplace institution of immoderate fiscal losses stemming from the band’s forced postponement of six 2020 South American shows owed to the COVID-19 pandemic. But conscionable 1 time aft this disappointing ruling was announced, Metallica were successful bully spirits, backmost onstage and giving back, astatine Los Angeles’s intimate Microsoft Theater, for their 3rd Helping Hands Concert & Auction fundraising event.

Frontman James Hetfield expressed his joyousness implicit being capable to play again for Metallica’s diehard fans, saying, “We’ve been unneurotic forever, for 200 years. We’re truthful grateful to beryllium doing what we’re doing.”

Hetfield and institution adjacent treated Friday’s assemblage to the unrecorded debut of a thrashy caller way from Metallica’s COVID-delayed 72 Seasons album, which is yet coming retired successful April 2023. “We thought that this is specified a peculiar gig here, that we’d play ‘Lux Æterna,’ which is the archetypal azygous from [72 Seasons]. We’ll play that for the archetypal clip present live. How astir that?” Hetfield rhetorically asked. A cymbal snafu caused the set to halt and restart the song, but the 7,100 elated concertgoers successful attendance — among them Rage Against the Machine's Tom Morello and Guns N' Roses drummer Matt Sorum — hardly seemed to caput oregon adjacent notice.

While “Lux Æterna” was the night’s lone preview from 72 Seasons, the event, which benefited the band’s All Within My Hands foundation, did diagnostic immoderate different surprises. Metallica played their first-ever covers of Thin Lizzy’s “Borderline” (“Phil Lynott was penning that opus astir my life,” Hetfield quipped) and the UFO heavy chopped “It’s Killing Me,” the second being drummer Lars Ulrich’s request. “We support playing covers due to the fact that it’s fun,” Hetfield chuckled.

Then “new friend” St. Vincent — who really covered Metallica's “Sad But True” connected past year’s all-star covers compilation, The Metallica Blacklist — strutted retired to jam connected different Black Album powerfulness ballad, “Sad But True.” During the half-acoustic/half-electric concert, San Francisco people singer/multi-instrumentalist and erstwhile AWMH intern Avi Vinocur besides joined in, playing mandolin and acoustic, electric, and 12-string guitars. (“All the worldly we don’t cognize however to do,” Hetfield remarked.)

Jimmy Kimmel hosted Friday’s fundraiser, declaring Metallica “one of the champion bands successful the past of the world” to roaring applause, portion Robert Downey Jr. and Tony Hawk besides made astonishment appearances to sing the band’s praises and explicit their ain fandom. Rising hard-rockers Greta Van Fleet opened the show.

Since Metallica established All Within My Hands successful 2017, the foundation inaugural has raised $12 cardinal to combat nutrient insecurity, supply earthy catastrophe relief, and physique sustainable communities done workforce and assemblage assemblage programs. This year’s AWMH memorabilia auction, which kicked disconnected Dec. 5, runs done Dec. 20; 100% of the proceeds from some the auction and payment amusement volition spell straight to radical successful need. Friday’s performance was live-streamed via Paramount+, and volition beryllium available to ticker again successful full connected Monday, Dec. 19.

As for what comes adjacent for Metallica, post-lawsuit and post-pandemic, connected April 27, 2023 — 2 weeks aft the hotly anticipated merchandise of 72 Seasons, the band’s archetypal workplace medium since 2016 — they’ll beryllium backmost to playing stadiums connected their two-year M72 World Tour. They volition execute 2 gigs successful each city, with wholly quality setlists for each night. The afloat setlist for their Dec. 16 Helping Hands performance is below.

Acoustic:

Blackened

The Unforgiven

Borderline

It's Killing Me

Whiskey successful the Jar

Intermission (introduced by Hetfield with: “We’re going to beryllium close back, instrumentality a abbreviated intermission, and past travel backmost and footwear immoderate metallic ass”)

Electric:

The Call of Ktulu

Harvester of Sorrow

Holier Than Thou

All Within My Hands

Creeping Death

Enter Sandman

Lux Æterna

Nothing Else Matters (with St. Vincent)

Seek & Destroy

Read much connected Yahoo Entertainment:

• Nikki Sixx talks recovery, sobriety, advocacy: ‘I’d alternatively beryllium the feline that radical don't deliberation is chill than beryllium the feline successful a coffin’

• Bret Michaels connected 35 years of Poison and however Slash astir joined alternatively of C.C. DeVille

• 'After Randy Rhoads died, thing was ever the same': Ozzy Osbourne bandmate Rudy Sarzo recalls level crash, 40 years later

• Slash recalls unsafe 'November Rain' video sprout and yet getting sober: 'I didn't person precise overmuch fearfulness of decease successful those days'

• Guns N' Roses' Duff McKagan defends misunderstood '80s lyrics: "None of our friends said, 'Grab her by the…'"

Follow Lyndsey connected Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Amazon