The first chord of “Master of Puppets” hit like something physical — a blow to the chest before the recognition even landed in my brain. I’d waited fifteen years for that riff to hit me live again, and for one enormous crashing chord, London Stadium disappeared and there was nothing but the song.
I first saw Metallica in Bangalore in 2011 — a huge show, one of the biggest the city had hosted at the time, and one that set a bar I didn’t realize I’d spend fifteen years chasing. Two songs in particular had been on the list the whole time since: “Master of Puppets” and “One.” Fifteen years is a long wait, but it also meant I knew exactly what I wanted from this show before I’d even boarded the flight.
Getting There
The flight into London was a late-night one, landing around 9am after a mostly sleepless run through the air — just enough rest to function, not enough to feel human. From the airport it’s a straightforward train into the city, though I’ll admit I spent most of the ride distracted by something that has nothing to do with the concert: the London Underground. I’ve come to genuinely love it — not just as transport but as a piece of working history. Some of these lines and stations are more than a century old and still running, still carrying the city every day. There’s a strange kind of comfort in hearing station names you already know from a hundred films and songs before you’ve ever set foot in them.
London has quietly become a concert hub for me over the last two or three years — I caught Dream Theater’s 40th anniversary opening night here, David Gilmour, Alice Cooper, Duran Duran. Metallica made it five reasons in a row to keep coming back.
The City
Day one was for settling in — no agenda beyond shaking off jet lag and getting my bearings. I wandered Tottenham Court Road and Oxford Street, stopped for coffee at Monmouth Coffee, which has become a small tradition on London trips, and lost a reasonable amount of money at Hotel Chocolat, which should probably come with a warning label. Piccadilly got a walk-through too, more for the atmosphere than any particular errand.
The second day I stepped outside London itself — a short trip out to a small, quiet town to see some friends. No concert, no crowds, just a version of the trip that had nothing to do with stadiums or stages, which felt like the right kind of pause before the show.
The Venue
The show itself was at London Stadium — the Olympic Stadium, now home to West Ham United, so on more than one occasion, “I’m Forever Blowing Bubbles” found its way into my head alongside everything else running through it before the show. Getting there is almost foolproof: take the train to Stratford, then it’s about a twenty-minute walk — though “walk” undersells it, because by the time you’re near the station you’re just one black t-shirt in a river of them, all converging on the same gate. You don’t need directions. You just follow the shirts.
The Show
By the time Metallica took the stage, the stadium was packed to capacity. I’d gone for ground standing tickets right near the front, on the theory that metal isn’t a genre you experience properly from a seat — the energy needs to be close enough to touch. That instinct paid off completely.
The whole stadium singing along to “The Ecstasy of Gold” as the house intro, before the band had even appeared, was a moment on its own — tens of thousands of people who all know exactly what’s coming. Then James and Kirk were right there in front of me — close enough that the show stopped feeling like something happening on a stage and started feeling like something happening in the room. The giant inflatable spike balls dropped into the crowd for “Seek & Destroy,” exactly as ridiculous and as fun as I remembered. Then, deep into the set, came the opening notes of “Master of Puppets.”
For one enormous crashing chord, London Stadium disappeared and there was nothing but the song.
Because it’s a no-repeat run across two nights, I genuinely didn’t know going in whether the closer would be “Master” or “One” — either would have been a win. Getting “Master of Puppets” was the one I’d actually been chasing. The real surprise of the night was “Orion” showing up in the set — not a song I expected, but a genuinely great addition, and one that landed harder live than I’d have guessed.
I’d bought a two-night ticket package, but the travel plan never really allowed for both — Megadeth in Lisbon was already locked in for the 5th, which meant no second night in London. Walking out, most people were still talking about the setlist — comparing notes on which song hit hardest, still buzzing from it. Nobody was in a hurry to leave. That’s usually the tell of a genuinely good night: even stuck in a slow-moving crowd toward the exit, nobody minds.
The Comedown
There’s a particular kind of satisfaction in getting exactly the song you wanted rather than a close substitute. The crowd and the band seemed to be feeding off each other all night — loud and heavy when the songs called for it, unhurried when they slowed down. It’s the kind of show that makes a long wait feel worth it, all at once.
Practical Notes
Ground standing ticket: around £430. Accommodation for the stay: roughly £600. May through July is peak concert season in the UK — most major touring acts route through London somewhere in that window, so flights and hotels are worth booking early.
Setlist — London Stadium, July 3
Intro: “It’s a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock ‘n’ Roll)” (tape) → “The Ecstasy of Gold” (walk-on)
- Creeping Death
- Harvester of Sorrow
- Holier Than Thou
- Of Wolf and Man
- Lux Æterna
- If Darkness Had a Son
- Fade to Black
- Cyanide
- Orion
- Nothing Else Matters
- Sad But True
- Hardwired
- Fuel
- Seek and Destroy
- Master of Puppets