Live review: Metallica and Gojira at London Stadium, Friday, July 4 2026
By STEVE MASCORD
IF YOU’RE getting goosebumps at a gig, that usually means it’s a good one.
And absolutely everyone – from Facebook groups to stuffy broadsheets – seem to agree this first of Metallica’s two night ‘no repeat’ run at West Ham’s London Stadium was a good gig. At this point, to say otherwise would be some kind of heresy.
My first bout of the good shivers came during support Gojira, it might have been during “The Cell”. But was it the atmospheric, cinematic metal? Or was it the epic scene as viewed from my grandstand seat? Eight elevated speaker stacks that double as video screens and – as it appears from my elevation – stages joined by walkways in the most elaborate 360 degree staging ever seen…
(Special mention to Marina Viotti who tells the crowd she only just made it in time for her cameo on “Mea Culpa” and “The Chant”).
Metallica’s recorded output today may not stack up with their finest moments but they progress exponentially in every other department, from their All Within My Hands charity to their public utterances, no-repeat shows and relentless innovation in terms of production. They impress this reviewer more and more on an intellectual level with every passing year.
Whereas the last time I’d attended a Metallica concert, they had pushed the traditional staging configuration to its ultimate conclusion with dazzling LED that rendered the actual band members figurative wizards of Oz, pulling the strings for the ‘real’ show on the big screens, this approach puts the focus back on James, Kirk, Lars and Robert.
It’s ingenious in that it plays up to the social media age while still being a stadium show. This time, there are almost two separate concerts.
Firstly, there’s the one we in the stands get to see … and something we don’t appreciate in Australia is how the lighting in outdoor shows is impacted by the sun being up very late in Europe. First they wow you with the staging and then as the orb sinks, they can unfurl fire during “Fuel”. The lighting gets more and more spectacular as the night goes on, meaning the production does as much to hold your attention as the music does.
Then there’s the experience on the pitch and in the ‘snakepit’ enclosed standing area. Not only do the band enter through a corridor which allows for maximum selfie exposure, not only is the stage a series of vanity ramps joining small platforms together so that everyone gets to see Metallica up close … but members will also walk down off said stage during songs and play against the barriers.
The footage you shoot up close will go viral and the stuff you shoot in the grandstand will also not be lame nosebleed stuff – because you are having a completely separate but also immersive and in-your-face experience.
But if we go back to where we started, underneath all this it’s a Metallica show. If you’ve seen Metallica a dozen times it’s actually not that different, aside from the inclusion of 72 Seasons songs “Lux Aeterna” and “If Darkness Had A Son”. I’m not a musician but I spotted a few less-than-virtuoso moments which is not at all to say they played badly.
(…although during Hammett and Trujilo’s jam, covering Ian Dury and The Clash, they came close).
My musical goosebump moment was “Nothing Else Matters”. “Seek And Destroy”, “Master Of Puppets”, “Sat But True” …. you’ve heard these songs so much that up in the bleachers they lose a little impact. Maybe down on the field holding a beer they would have hit the mark more.
Overall the scale of the staging is a little disorienting. It’s like being at a sports event rather than a concert in that the band members can be half a football field apart – and that’s not an exaggeration. On balance I probably preferred it when I knew where to look – even allowing for the goosebumps and curiosity this configuration provoked.
The video below actually shows the staging more acurately than my angle did – one circular stage rather than a number joined by walkways, as it appeared to me.
I can recall seeing AC/DC at Coachella in 2015 and a friend from Las Vegas saying “c’mon, how many times have you seen AC/DC?”. I breathlessly informed him that this would be their first show in six years. I feel a little bit like him in regard to Metallica now … while AC/DC must be counting down to the day we can never see them again.
One day, I’ll be grateful to have been here tonight – when Metallica are no longer around. As much as we hope that’s the day that never … oh never mind…
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