Perfectly-timed in the middle of a two-hour heavy metal masterclass, bassist Rob Trujillo and lead guitar legend Kirk Hammett struck up the chords which have become the unofficial post-attack anthem and the jam-packed 20,000 crowd responded by singing to a man and woman at the top of their voices.
It was spine-tingling and as Manchester bees filled the array of 50 cube screens hanging above the stage, even the hairiest of leather-clad head-bangers could not have failed to be moved by the tide of emotion flooding through the venue.
As lead singer James Hetfield constantly reminds us throughout the show it’s an incredible 36 years since Metallica rose out of the post-punk San Francisco Bay Area thrash metal scene. The furious all-out assault of those early days may have slowed slightly with age but latest album Hardwired to Self-Destruct is a welcome return to form after a pretty poor run of sub-standard offerings.
Acknowledging the strength of new material at their disposal six tracks are lifted from vinyl (tape,cd MP3, stream?) onto the elaborate in-the-round stage.
The title-track is a satisfying appetizer followed by Atlas, Rise! Before Seek and Destroy from 1983’s Kill ‘Em All album sends the all-in-black dressed crowd wild.
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It always seems a bit of an ego-trip to attempt to put on a show ‘in the round’ because while it in theory gives everyone a better view it means you spend half-your time staring at those on stage’s backsides. Fine if you are at a Girls Aloud show I guess but – and I’ll be honest here – I’ve seen better bottoms than James Hetfield possesses.
But here’s the thing – with a fantastic light-show featuring constantly moving cube screens – and the band having honed their performances having stuck with the concept rather than just do a one-off show in this manner – it works. It really works.
The aforementioned screens fill with images of late original bassist Cliff Burton as Trujillo replicates the effects driven bass intro to For Whom The Bell Tolls before the band unleash a blistering rendition of Queen’s Stone Cold Crazy .
The home straight of vintage classics Sad But True, One, Master of Puppets, Nothing Else Matters is broken-up only by the ferocious newbie Spit Out The Bone before Enter Sandman drains both band and audience of their last remaining ounces of energy.