Metallica Mondays: Fans relive 1997 Salt Lake City concert from 'Load' tour, thank band for the 'best encores'
Metallica takes us back to 1997 with this week's Metallica Mondays. As many continue to await the end of the lockdown and the return of music concerts and live shows, artists worldwide are helping fans pass the time with free live streams of online concerts. Metallica planned to stream one of their many historic concerts via their Facebook and YouTube pages every Monday at 8 pm ET during the lockdown, following which the concert will be available on-demand for the remainder of the week.
This week's Metallica Monday stream featured a show from all the way back in the '90s in Salt Lake City, Utah, as part of their 'Poor Touring Me' tour, which was the first tour the band played after tuning down to Eb standard. The tour had one European and one North American leg and was named after the ninth song off their 'Load' album, 'Poor Twisted Me'. Today's concert was "taken from a dusty old VHS tape from the Metallica Vault", the band stated under the stream, and was filmed at the Delta Center on January 2, 1997.
The band no longer plays songs off the 'Load' album, making this quite a special offering for fans partial to that release as they get to see it performed 'live' in concert again. Additionally, the setlist includes some Metallica classics that are heard less often nowadays, so this is a total treat for fans of the band who are desperately missing seeing them live right now.
Metallica fans were naturally excited to be able to relive the 'Loud' tour. One fan shared, "@Metallica thank you very much for this amazing show in Salt Lake City #MetallicaMondays," adding, "I hope next week some show from (Brazil)!!! It would be very important please guys! #StaySafeAtHome #staysafeandsound." Others found the band's older stage looks humorous, tweeting, "The late '90s were not kind to Metallica. Kirk trying to embrace that goth look with eyeliner and that chin piercing. Lars with that nipple ring drumming away.... #metallicamondays." One fan stated, "Kirk killing the intro solo to Fade," while another said, "Present-Day ‘Tallica would nail Until It Sleeps. Would love to see it sneak into the sets. #MetallicaMondays." And one fan had this to share with regards to the setlist: "I try so hard to avoid setlist spoilers for #MetallicaMondays but curiosity got the best of me. This one will be a banger. What was the best encore you’ve seen from Metallica at a show you went to? For me it was Blitzkrieg and Damage, Inc."
For those as curious as this fan, here's the setlist for the Metallica Salt Lake City January 2, 1997 show:
'So What'
'Creeping Death'
'Sad But True'
'Ain't My Bitch'
'Whiplash'
'King Nothing'
'One'
'Wasting My Hate'
'Bass/Guitar Doodle'
'Nothing Else Matters'
'Until It Sleeps'
'For Whom the Bell Tolls'
'Wherever I May Roam'
'Fade to Black'
'Seek and Destroy'
'ENCORE'
'Last Caress'
'Master of Puppets'
'Enter Sandman'
'ENCORE #2'
'Am I Evil?'
'Motorbreath'
In addition to treating fans to their classics, Metallica Mondays also double up as benefit concerts with donations being accepted for the band's All Within My Hands foundation which provides meals, equipment and more to band crews who are currently out of work due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Speaking about the show the band states on their YouTube, "While we’re all doing our part and staying home, we find ourselves missing live music, so how about we dive back into a few of our favorite shows at a socially responsible distance? Let’s stay connected and virtually visit a few of our favorite places in the world together as we bring a series of live Metallica shows right to your couch!"
