Metallica Closes Out Historic M72 World Tour with Two Unforgettable Nights at London Stadium
Metallica brought the curtain down on the longest tour of its 45-year career this weekend with a spectacular pair of ‘no repeat’ shows at London Stadium in Stratford. On Friday July 3 and Sunday July 5, 2026, the Bay Area thrash titans delivered two completely different setlists, each spanning 16 songs and featuring unique support acts—a fitting finale for a trek that has lasted more than three years and circled the globe.
The final two shows of the M72 World Tour, which kicked off in spring 2023 in support of the album 72 Seasons, drew capacity crowds of nearly 90,000 each night. Fans who attended both dates were treated to 32 distinct tracks, with no overlaps, loyal to the band’s ‘No Repeat Weekend’ promise. After Sunday’s gig, the M72 tour clocked in at 1,165 days—surpassing the previous record of 1,062 days set by the WorldWired Tour (2016–2019).
Night One: Classics, Covers, and a Tom Jones Nod
Friday night’s opener set a high bar. After energetic sets from Knocked Loose and French progressive metal titans Gojira—described by one reviewer as “the best metal band on the planet not named Metallica”—the headliners launched into a ferocious ‘Creeping Death’ from 1984’s Ride the Lightning. The setlist drew heavily from the band’s late-80s and early-90s golden era, including ‘Harvester of Sorrow’, ‘Holier Than Thou’, ‘Of Wolf and Man’, and ‘Sad But True’.
A highlight of the evening came during the Rob Trujillo and Kirk Hammett ‘doodle’ segment, where the pair performed a medley of Ian Dury’s ‘Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll’ and The Clash’s ‘Guns of Brixton’—a nod to London’s musical heritage. Later, the band brought out ‘Fade to Black’, ‘Cyanide’, ‘Orion’, and the enduring ballad ‘Nothing Else Matters’. James Hetfield addressed the crowd warmly: “London, you better look out because Metallica is in a good mood tonight… and it’s all your fault.”
Night Two: Pantera, Avatar, and a Sabbath Tribute
Sunday’s show featured a different lineup of openers—Swedish circus-metal architects Avatar and groove-metal legends Pantera. Both acts won over the massive crowd, with Pantera roaring through classics like ‘Fucking Hostile’ in front of 90,000 singing fans. Then, as Ennio Morricone’s ‘The Ecstasy of Gold’ rang out, Metallica took the stage for the final time on the M72 tour.
The set opened with ‘Whiplash’, followed instantly by ‘For Whom the Bell Tolls’ and the title track ‘Ride the Lightning’. The band then delivered a curatorial surprise: a tribute to Ozzy Osbourne on the anniversary of the ‘Back to the Beginning’ charity concert, playing a snippet of a Black Sabbath number before launching into newer material from 72 Seasons—including the title track and ‘Screaming Suicide’.
On this night, the Hammett-Trujillo doodle took the form of a Sabbath jam, delighting longtime fans. The show closed with a series of anthems that left the stadium roaring. As Hetfield put it, “We are so blessed to still be here after 45 years. I have the best job in the whole world.”
Context: Why This Tour Matters—Record Length, No Repeat Format, and a Changing Industry
The M72 tour’s scale and ambition have reshaped what a modern arena-filling metal tour can look like. Not only did Metallica play in-the-round on a massive central stage, but they also pioneered the ‘No Repeat Weekend’ concept: two nights in the same city with entirely different setlists and separate support acts. It is a model that rewards super-fans and creates a festival-like atmosphere for casual attendees.
But the numbers alone tell the story. At 1,165 days, the M72 tour surpassed the band’s previous longest run by more than three months. That duration is remarkable in an era when many legacy acts have shortened their tours due to rising costs, logistical challenges, and health concerns. Metallica managed to maintain a punishing schedule while avoiding major cancellations or lineup changes.
For London, the shows also carried extra local resonance. The city was the final stop for a tour that visited just three UK cities: Glasgow, Cardiff, and London. The band played Cardiff’s Principality Stadium earlier in the month, where they famously covered Tom Jones’ ‘Delilah’—a song notoriously banned at the venue. That cheeky nod to local culture set the tone for a UK run that balanced fan service with genuine inventiveness.
The ‘No Repeat’ Challenge: More Than a Gimmick
For a band with a catalog spanning nine studio albums (plus the Hardwired… to Self-Destruct and 72 Seasons eras), delivering 32 songs across two nights without repeating a single track is no small feat. The London setlists drew from every phase of Metallica’s career, from 1983’s Kill ‘Em All to the 2023 album 72 Seasons. The ‘doodle’ segments—where Hammett and Trujillo improvise covers of songs from the host city—added an unpredictability that kept even diehards guessing.
On night one, London got a punk-reggae medley; on night two, a Black Sabbath tribute. Those touches, combined with tight performances and a powerful live mix, elevated the shows beyond a standard victory lap. Critics and fans alike have praised the band’s energy and musicianship. Reviewers noted that Hetfield’s voice has held up remarkably well, and that the rhythm section—Ulrich and Trujillo—remains ferociously tight.
Perspective: What’s Next for Metallica and the Wider Metal Scene
With the M72 tour officially in the books, Metallista now turns its attention to a new challenge: a highly anticipated, sold-out residency at The Sphere in Las Vegas, titled Life Burns Faster. The residency begins in early October 2026 and is currently scheduled to run until March 2027, with near-universal expectation that the band will announce additional dates extending into 2028.
The Sphere residency represents a departure from traditional touring—a fixed venue with state-of-the-art immersive video and audio, allowing for elaborate visual storytelling. It also signals that Metallica, like other legacy acts such as U2 and Phish, sees The Sphere as the future of major live events: controlled environment, high ticket prices, and global demand.
The Legacy of M72: A Blueprint for Touring in the 2030s?
Beyond the band’s own plans, the M72 world tour has set a new benchmark for how heritage acts can keep touring fresh. The ‘No Repeat Weekend’ model is likely to be emulated by other bands with deep catalogs, especially as fans increasingly expect unique experiences for their money. The tour also demonstrated that metal can still command stadium-sized crowds worldwide, even for bands whose commercial peak was decades ago.
From a business perspective, the M72 tour’s success underscores the enduring value of live music as a primary revenue driver in an industry where recorded-music royalties have declined. For Metallica—a band that has long owned its masters and maintained strict control over merchandise and ticketing—the tour was both a financial triumph and a statement of artistic independence.
The Final Night: A Fitting End with an Eye to the Future
Sunday July 5 ended with the band standing onstage, arms raised, as fireworks lit up the east London sky. They had just performed for two hours, leaving everything on the floor. In the audience, fans from around the world—some who had followed the entire tour—sang along to every word.
As the lights came up and the crowd began to stream out of London Stadium, the mood was one of exhilaration and relief: exhilaration at having witnessed a landmark event, and relief that a band 45 years into its career still sounds this vital. For tens of thousands of metalheads, it was the closing act of a tour that redefined what heavy metal can achieve in the modern era.
Now, all eyes turn to Las Vegas. But for one weekend, London was the center of the metal universe—and Metallica made sure it felt that way.
For broader international headlines today, see our coverage of Canada vs Morocco: World Cup 2026 Round of 16 Clash Live Today and Newport Beach Riot: Over 400 Arrested in July 4th Chaos Fueled by TikTok.
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