{"id":548157,"date":"2026-06-22T11:24:14","date_gmt":"2026-06-22T11:24:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/548157\/"},"modified":"2026-06-22T11:24:14","modified_gmt":"2026-06-22T11:24:14","slug":"metallica-at-the-aviva-review-five-star-show-for-sundays-second-gig-in-dublin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/548157\/","title":{"rendered":"Metallica at the Aviva review: Five-star show for Sunday’s second gig in Dublin"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dads across south Dublin face a dilemma on Father\u2019s Day: Take the kids to see British pop superstar Olivia Dean at her second night in Marley Park, or bring them to night two of Metallica\u2019s M72 world tour at the Aviva Stadium to relive their own youth.<\/p>\n

\u00a0There\u2019s genuine cross-generational appeal at the metal titans\u2019 show, parents bringing their children to experience Metallica live for the first time, passing on the baton of riffs that once defined their own youth.<\/p>\n

The no-repeat nature of the setlist means anyone at the first night \u2014 or who did their homework ahead of Sunday \u2014 knows what tunes to expect. Seek & Destroy and Master of Puppets \u2018should\u2019 probably be played at every Metallica gig, but what an epic pair of songs to close on Friday. Ears are probably still ringing as 8.15pm arrives and AC\/DC\u2019s It\u2019s a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock \u2018n\u2019 Roll) and Ennio Morricone\u2019s The Ecstasy of Gold again herald Metallica\u2019s arrival to their \u2018in the round\u2019 stage.<\/p>\n

\"MetallicaMetallica at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin. <\/p>\n

And then. And then. Oh boy. \u201cDublin, are you alive?!\u201d roars Hetfield as the opening riff of Whiplash explodes from their 43-year-old debut album Kill \u2018Em All. Pure euphoria follows as they tear into For Whom the Bell Tolls and the insane riff of Ride the Lightning. Any fears they wouldn\u2019t have enough killer tracks for two separate shows disappear instantly.<\/p>\n

The sun shines down and Hetfield declares the band is in a good mood. We called his banter cheesy on Friday, but tonight he keeps it to a minimum \u2014 and the show is all the better for it. Rob Trujillo and Kirk Hammett\u2019s \u2018doodle\u2019 jam \u2014 paying tribute to a song associated with the host country \u2014 is also better on Sunday. Their go at Dirty Old Town gets the Aviva\u2019s approval as well as the obligatory ‘Ol\u00e9 Ol\u00e9’ chants.\u00a0<\/p>\n

We are barely an hour in when they unleash Fade to Black. Forty-two years on, its chiming intro and slow-building power still feels sophisticated; a landmark moment where Metallica moved beyond pure thrash into something bigger. It swells magnificently around the Aviva.<\/p>\n

\"\u00a0Metallica\u00a0Metallica performing at the Aviva Stadium. Picture: Moya Nolan<\/p>\n

\n The Call of Ktulu, like Orion two nights before, is dedicated to \u201cour fallen brother, Clifford Lee Burton” \u2014 the band’s original bassist died in a bus crash in Sweden in 1986. Once again the band huddles close for the eight-plus-minute instrumental; a special moment \u2014 and exactly the kind of deep cut that only happens in a no-repeat setting.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a certain song we have to play or we\u2019re not getting out of this town alive,\u201d Hetfield announces, as the band teases the riff of And Justice for All before launching into Thin Lizzy\u2019s Whiskey in the Jar. The track featured on their covers album Garage Inc in the late 1990s, when Metallica were past both their pomp and commercial peak.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n Whiskeygets the biggest cheer of the whole weekend, greeted by roars of joy and a massive stadium-wide singalong. Hetfield has shared on social media how he visited Phil Lynott\u2019s statue on Grafton Street as well as his grave over the weekend. We can imagine Philo’s cheeky grin to hear \u201cWhack for my daddy-o\u201d sung with such gusto.<\/p>\n

\"Metallica'sMetallica’s James Hetfield at the Aviva Stadium. Picture: Moya Nolan<\/p>\n

They close with One and Enter Sandman, barely taking a breath between them. Lars Ulrich\u2019s thunderous signature double-kick drums signal the frenetic second half of the war epic. Kirk Hammett, who took a tumble from the stage into the crowd near the end of Friday\u2019s set, doesn\u2019t put a foot \u2014 or a fret \u2014 wrong as he wheels out the sensational solo.<\/p>\n

\n Enter Sandman, Metallica\u2019s biggest song, sends everyone home in a state of pure awe as branded beach balls are released and bounce from the stage. On Sunday, Metallica let the music, the riffs, and the memories do the talking. Truly a night to remember.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Dads across south Dublin face a dilemma on Father\u2019s Day: Take the kids to see British pop superstar…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":548158,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[3],"tags":[9,10,18,13,14,6,19,2902,17,11,12,15,16,5,7,8],"class_list":["post-548157","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-breaking-news","tag-breakingnews","tag-eire","tag-featured-news","tag-featurednews","tag-headlines","tag-ie","tag-insight","tag-ireland","tag-latest-news","tag-latestnews","tag-main-news","tag-mainnews","tag-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topstories"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/116793513394647704","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/548157","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=548157"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/548157\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/548158"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=548157"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=548157"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=548157"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}