James Hetfield: "When I pick up the guitar I want to be the drummer"
Metallica played Reload track Fixxxer live for the first time ever during the first night of their 40th anniversary shows at the Chase Center in San Francisco on 17 December.
It was part of a setlist that Setlist also saw Ride The Lightning song Trapped Under Ice aired for the first time since 2012, Master Of Puppets instrumental Orion played in full alongside …And Justice For All cut The Shortest Straw.
Fixxxer saw James Hetfield tackle the song's melodic vocal challenges head on. “After 40 years, there’s still firsts,” he told the home city crowd full of die-hard fans.
Trapped Under Ice also found Hetfield is strong form; pushing the higher end of his vocal range significantly.
The band again chose to play a shortened version of The Shortest Straw; skipping the second guitar solo, as they have done with other performances of the 1988 song in recent years.
The band's full setlist was as follows:
The Ecstasy of Gold (Intro)
Hit the Lights
Creeping Death
Trapped Under Ice
Welcome Home (Sanitarium)
Orion
The Shortest Straw
One
Sad But True
Nothing Else Matters
King Nothing
Fixxxer (Live Debut)
Breadfan
No Leaf Clover
Frantic
The Day That Never Comes
Spit Out the Bone
Classic interview: James Hetfield – "I’m able to show Lars some drum stuff and he’s able to show me riff stuff"
