Gig review: Metallica + Evanescence + Suicidal Tendencies at Accor Stadium, Sydney

Live review: Metallica plus Evanescence and Suicidal Tendencies at Accor Stadium, Sydney on Saturday, November 15 2025

By BRIAN GIFFIN

METALLICA has been a major player in world music for the last 35 years – and majorly popular and influential since way before that. Their unlikely rise and staggering level of success is the ultimate dream of anyone who pursues music as a career and tonight they were closing out their first Australian tour since 2013 here at Sydney’s enormous Olympic Stadium.

It’s almost impossible to believe that this band could have ever breached the mainstream, let alone become it, and yet this is the proof: 70,000 people. Olympic Parks is strewn with food trucks, bars pumping out Guns N’Roses songs and hour-long lines to get inside.

It was great to see Suicidal Tendencies here, old school crossover punks who used to show Metallica a thing or two. And it was great to see they’ve lost none of their energy. Indeed, with Jay Weinberg, the junior Trujillo and Ben “Guitar Rastlin’” Weinman joining the team, it would be difficult for them to not be energetic. But somehow Cyco Myko outdoes them all, a ball of bandana-wearing adrenaline constantly running, shadow-boxing, leaping and cajoling his bandmates to keep up with him.

The set is short but thrilling, bursting open with “You Can’t Bring Me Down” and into “Join The Army” without noticeable pause. Young singer Nisha Star joins them for an appropriately titled “Adrenaline Addict” and by the close of the set Weinman is in the crowd perched on some huge guy’s shoulders (of course he is) and Myko’s in the centre of a circle pit he instigated.
STs’ street level authenticity may not have translated well to many of those in this vast stadium, but the OGs got it, and got it good. Suicidal for life.

Evanescence was as much of a contrast as day is to night – and not in a cool way.

The last time I saw this band was on their first Australian tour 21 years ago, when they were just on the cusp of superstardom – and still just edgy enough to do a reasonable Soundgarden cover.

That was probably also the last time I had any kind of interest in them and this evening’s performance won’t change that.

Amy Lee can sing her guts out but her band lacks the enthusiasm and relentless energy of Suicidals and the sheer engaging power of the headliners. Their apparent reluctance to make much use of the vast stage and their blandly generic songs combined for a pretty dull performance. I’m not lying when I say that they’d lost my attention by about three songs in and people around me were scrolling their phones and having loud conversations not long afterward.

“Bring Me To Life” does indeed inject some life back in the crowd around me and it’s honestly a decent song even if it is obviously the template from which all Evanescence songs are cut. Their fans clearly loved them, though, even if they made little impression on this guy.

In the end, it didn’t really matter. There were 70,000 people here for one reason – Metallica’s return to Sydney after a frustrating 12 year absence. Entire cohorts of the crowd had completed almost their entire school career since this band was here last. People who hadn’t even met each other when I watched Metallica crush Soundwave now have kids and mortgages.

But enough of that.

The lights go down. Seventy thousand people roar loud enough to be heard in Ryde … and “It’s A Long Way To The Top” comes on. Then another intro that also isn’t Metallica. As if 12 years hasn’t been enough, they’re still teasing.

Then – wham! “Creeping Death” explodes across the stadium, and it’s ferocious! With barely a pause, “For Whom the Bell Tolls” drops like a hammer from the gods. “Fuel” ignites things further. Pyro erupts from towers beside the stage. Hetfield’s voice has lost none of his powerful boom. Their command of the stage is total. Metallica are in complete control of the biggest crowd they’ve ever played in this city; the professionalism of their show and the tightness and sheer magnitude of their performance is astonishing.

The setlist leans heavily on their post-eightiess career. “Cyanide” gets a run, accompanied by some truly disturbing visuals, but those looking for more deep cuts will be disappointed. The rest is pure hits.

Load and St Anger are ignored completely and the album they’re touring on is only represented by “Lux Æterna” late in the show. “Moth Into Flame” falls a bit flat and “The Day That Never Comes” seems interminable; Rob and Kirk’s “doodle” exists just for them to grab a bit of the spotlight – fair enough, but leave the Tatts alone, guys.

The rest of it, though, is enormous. For all the hate it gets from purists, “Nothing Else Matters” is truly majestic. “Seek And Destroy” sets off circle pits in the vast crowd. “Master Of Puppets” and “One” are magnificent in their extended glory. Somehow, a one-time underground club thrash band is now electrifying an immense stadium crowd with songs about death and destruction, even stirring moshes, and it’s outstanding.

“Enter Sandman” signals the close of the evening. Lars is now set up at the front of the stage with the rest of the band as they throw everything into it for one final barrage. The band roars. The crowd roared back. It was indulgent, it was fun, it was masterful.

Metallica made up for all that time they’ve been away, and it was incredible.

SUICIDAL TENDENCIES – 4 SKULLS
EVANESCENCE – 2 1/2 SKULLS