The world’s biggest Metal band, Metallica, closed out the North American part of their M72 tour in Denver Colorado at Empower Field at Mile High. The M72 tour began back in April of 2023 in the Netherlands and made its way to the U.S. August that year playing through November. The band would return to the U.S. again in August 2024, through September and would pick up again in the U.S. in April playing through the end of June with 27th and 29th being the final shows here and for North America overall. The tour featured two different setlists and two sets of openers with the first day being Ice Nine Kills (Mike Cortada) and Limp Bizkit (John Otto) and the second day was Suicidal Tendencies (Jay Weinberg) and Pantera (Charlie Benante). Ice Nine Kills and Pantera were also openers on the first part of the North American tour as well.

On June 27th Ice Nine Kills played a 40-minute set followed by Limp Bizkit who performed for an hour. Limp Bizkit opened with “Dad Vibes” and ended with “Break Stuff.” Limp Bizkit put on quite a show and front man Fred Durst ended up in the snake pit singing with the audience. Guitarist Wes Borland known for his unique stage wear wore a James Hetfield style outfit for the only time on the tour with a skull mask, 80’s Hetfield hair and a vintage style Metallica shirt. Limp Bizkit played all the hits with “Rollin (Air Raid Vehicle),” “Nookie,” “Full Nelson,” “My Generation,” and their cover of George Michael’s “Faith.” Otto, an icon of metal drumming, is always an honor to watch. The group is original members lead vocalist Fred Durst, guitarist Wes Borland, bassist Sam Rivers, drummer John Otto, and DJ Lethal on the turntables. The band stopped to greet fans before and after their set.

Metallica took the stage just before 9 P.M. walking out after their usual intros of AC/DC’s “It’s A Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock ‘n’ Roll’)” and “The Ecstasy of Gold” from The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly. Metallica wasted no time jumping into “Creeping Death.” With their unique stage design which allows the band to not only play in the round but also in multiple areas. This includes four identical drum sets for Lars Ulrich each on a rotating platform. All eras of Metallica’s incredible career were covered. They played new songs “72 Seasons,” “The Day Never Comes,” and “Cyanide” from their 2008 release Death Magnetic to classics like “Orion,” and “Battery,” “Nothing Else Matters,” “Sad But True,” and “Fuel.” The second to last song was “Seek and Destroy.” Advertisement

Suicidal Tendencies kicked things with a 40-minute set ripping through songs like “You Can’t Bring Me Down,” “Institutionalized” and “Pledge Your Allegiance.” Suicidal Tendencies consists of solo original member and lead vocalist Mike Muir, guitarist Dean Pleasents, guitarist Ben Weinman, Tye Trujillo, and newest member Jay Weinberg who has gone from playing a massive drumkit to a four piece. Suicidal Tendencies has had several great drummers and Weinberg is a perfect fit.

Original Pantera members Phil Anselmo and Rex Brown revived the group in 2022 with guitarist Zakk Wylde and drummer Charlie Benante. Following dates in 2022 and 2023, Pantera played their first U.S. show May 20th at Welcome to Rockville. Pantera fans heard songs that had not been performed since 2001. To honor Vinnie Paul and Dimebag Darrell, Benante has their faces on his bass drum heads. Pantera played a set of metal anthems like “Mouth for War,” “I’m Broken, “F**king Hostile, “Walk” and the closer was “Cowboys from Hell.”

Metallica performing 16 songs may seem like a short set but when you add it up the shows easily two plus hours. They kicked off with “Whiplash” from Kill ‘Em All’ and played a career spanning set of hits of “For Whom the Bell Tolls,” “Ride the Lightning,” “The Memory Remains,” “Lux AEterna.” Hammett and Trujillo performed a bit of John Denver’s “Rocky Mountain High” before Metallica went back to 1986 with “Welcome Home (Sanitarium,)” “Wherever I May Roam” “The Call of Ktulu,” “The Unforgiven,” “Whiskey In the Jar,” “Blackened,” “Moth Into Flame.” With 30 songs performed over the two nights at this point, there were only two songs left that could be performed, “One” and “Enter Sandman.” Advertisement

Just a week later Metallica and Pantera both performed at Back to the Beginning, the final Ozzy Osborne and Black Sabbath show in Birmingham, England. Benante also performed with Anthrax and Wylde with Ozzy. The M72 tour is far from over with the tour continuing overseas into 2026 making this Metallica’s longest tour in history beating their Worldwired tour by a few months