Metallica gears up for second weekend of Sphere residency

AFTER a well-received but witheringly expensive opening two shows at the Las Vegas Sphere, Metallica are expected to tweak a few things ahead of the resumption of their residency tomorrow.

Social media feeds the world across were flooded with dizzying footage of giant monsters, storms and crosses projected on on the curved walls of the A$3.6 billion facility as the world’s biggest metal band continued their “no repeat” setlist format there last weekend.

The entire 24-show run is sold out. The cheapest tickets – if you got in very quickly when they went on sale – were A$210 but if you lob up there now trying to get in, a seat could set you back as much as A$12,800 for a two-night pass!

The Light Burns Faster stage sit includes the same interconnecting walkways and ‘Snakepit’ employed on the 72 Seasons tour, something that has not been done at the venue before.

The Guardian reported: “The first night of [their] new residency is an immersive plunge into the band’s visual world that showcases the depth of their catalog. Ulrich is an elastic, fluid drummer, Hetfield’s voice is like a battering ram, and Hammett and Trujillo still look like there’s nowhere they’d rather be.”

Louder Sound gushed: “Sphere’s animations convert songs into vast, moving canvases – spanning the shifting sands of time pouring through gigantic hourglasses during ‘The Day That Never Comes’ to a dizzying, black-and-white high-speed rail sequence blasting through Orange County, Paris and Glastonbury during ‘Wherever I May Roam’.”

“At the Sphere, it’s the audience that rides the lightning,” commented Rolling Stone.

“There are two wooden arm rests on either side, and if you look up, the electrode cap is hovering over the crowd ready to electrify everyone — and of course there was plenty of lightning flashing everywhere.”

But with plenty of casual fans and high rolling gamblers blowing money on tickets just for fun, the deep cuts format of night two fell flat last week.

Radio presenter Eddie Trunk reported that people around him, unfamiliar with some of the music, sat down and even talked through the show.