Photos + review: Britt Andrews
In 2013, the world was a different place. Accor Stadium was called ANZ Stadium. Lance Armstrong admitted to doping in all of his Tour de France wins. Margaret Thatcher and Paul Walker died (in separate incidents, of course). The Oxford dictionary’s Word of the Year was “selfie”, and “twerk” and “derp” were both added to the dictionary for the first time. The Pope made a Twitter account, My Chemical Romance broke up, Breaking Bad ended, and Peaky Blinders premiered. Frozen was released, and Let It Go was unleashed upon this world. Also, Australia had three Prime Ministers for some reason. And of course, Metallica headlined Soundwave Festival. And we have waited, somewhat patiently, for their return ever since.
Up first was Californian crossover thrash titans, Suicidal Tendencies. It was no surprise to see them on the bill – as not only is current Metallica bassist Rob Trujillo the ex-bassit of Suicidal Tendencies, but his son, Tye Trujillo, is their current bassist. There is no doubt that Tye has picked up his Dad’s talents, although I have to admit from a viewer’s perspective, it looks so bizarre seeing a 21 year old (who looks maybe 18, like for real, can someone get me a copy of Tye’s skincare routine?) out there playing with a 62 year old Mike Muir. Suicidal Tendencies’ set hit fast and loud, to a mostly empty Accor Stadium. An earlier storm cell had brought some hail and delayed the stadium gates from opening, leaving many unlucky fans listening to ST’s set from the line outside, still waiting to enter. With Muir shouting “when you fall down, get your ass back up, life is hard, but it’s a lot harder when you don’t get back up”, Suicidal Tendencies opening perfectly complemented the upcoming Metallica set, with both bands being stalwarts of thrash metal for over 40 years.
The seemingly odd one out on the tour was Evanescence. While there is no doubt that they are a phenomenal band with a legacy of their own, their more melodic gothic style (with touches of nu-metal in those earlier tracks) seemed at odds with the thrash metal bands bookending them. But not even the strongest of “this ain’t heavy enough” metal gatekeeping dudebros could deny Amy Lee’s immense talent. Her voice, at times roaring, at other times operatic, crashed through the stadium as the late-spring sun grew lower in the sky. The only thing that could possibly overshadow Lee’s vocal prowess, was the presence of Will Hunt on drums. Smack bang in the centre of the stage, on a well lit drum riser, Hunt put on a masterclass and was absolutely captivating. Sydney’s own Emma Anzai has been Evanescence’s bassist since 2022, and we can only imagine how she would feel, closing out such a momentous tour to a hometown crowd of 80 000 people. Phones lit up around the stadium as Amy Lee launched into My Immortal with the introduction of “for old times sake”. I am someone who wholeheartedly believes that the full-band version of My Immortal, released as the hidden track on Evanescence’s debut album Fallen, is the superior version, and it is a hill I will fight and die on. As Lee’s resounding voice filled the stadium with the line “though you’re still with me, I’ve been alone all along”, the rest of the band stepped in, with a tremendous thunder rivaling that of the earlier storm. That final chorus was nothing short of breathtaking.
Night has fallen, and Sydney awaits Metallica for the first time in over 12 years. The Ecstasy of Gold plays, along with footage from The Good, The Bad and the Ugly. The piece swells and climaxes. And then it happens. Creeping Death. Metallica are here, and 80 000 people just lost their collective minds. Then we hear the familiar *dong* and they launch into For Whom the Bell Tolls. James Hetfield’s voice booms throughout the stadium “take a look to the sky just before you die, it’s the last time you will”, the lights shut off, and I am instantly transported back in time. Suddenly it’s February 2013, I am sunburnt, and have just watched two songs of Blink-182 before absolutely booking it (as fast as my unfit legs could take me) over to Metallica, hoping I hadn’t missed this exact song, in this exact stadium. And now I am standing there, photographing the greatest metal band of all time. I tell you what, it was hard to hold it together in that moment.
But there was no time for sentimentality, and it was about to feel as hot as late February in here, because Hetfield has just shouted “gimme fuel, gimme fire, gimme dat-which-I-desai”, and the stage is up in flames.
The set ranges from massive emphatic singalongs of everyone’s Mum’s favourite Metallica song; Nothing Else Matters, and The Unforgiven, to the absolutely soul crushing rendition of One, with an utterly cinematic pyro opening, fireworks mimicking gunshots and turning Accor Stadium into a warzone.
Throughout the tour, Kirk and Rob’s “doodle” has seen them cover an Aussie artist in each city, ranging from The Chats’ Smoko, to Living End’s Prisoner of Society, as well as the Australian version of Marco Polo, aka, The Angels’ Am I Ever Gonna See Your Face Again?. Tonight, we got a rendition of AC/DC’s For Those About to Rock, and Rose Tattoo’s Nice Boys Don’t Play Rock n Roll. Personally, I would have preferred Smoko, but you can’t please everyone.
The set closes empathically with the iconic Enter Sandman, and the crowd filters out, knowing we just witnessed something special, and hoping that it won’t be 2037 before we get the next chance to.
