Metallica rides the lightning at Ford Field, finishes two-nighter with hits, favorites

Metallica closed out its two-night stand at Detroit's Ford Field on Sunday night with a stone-cold stunner of a show, a stacked two-hour concert that found the metal masters in mighty form.

It was the final night of the band's current U.S. tour, but there was no pumping the brakes for the foursome or coasting across the finish line. They put the pedal to the metal the entire night, presenting a 16-song master class in hard rock, setlist management and audience gratification.

It was a no-repeat weekend for the Rock and Roll Hall of Famers, meaning there was no repeated songs between Sunday and Friday's concerts. And several of the heavy hitters left off Friday's plate showed up Sunday, including "For Whom the Bell Tolls," "The Unforgiven," "Wherever I May Roam," "One" and "Enter Sandman."

Leave it to the 42-year veterans to leave still more behind; they could play a full week of concerts with no repeats and still have more on the table. But if either night was your first Metallica concert, you got a healthy representation of what makes the band tick and the dynamic between artist and audience — the Metallica family, as it's called — that fuels both parties' fires.

More:Metallica toasts latest chapter in 'long standing love affair with Detroit' at Ford Field

"I forgot what album this song is on," lead singer James Hetfield joked while introducing "Moth Into Flame" during the back half of the night. (It's from 2016's "Hardwired... to Self-Destruct.") He's forgiven, as the band was pulling from nine albums over the course of the night, reaching back to 1983's "Kill 'Em All" ("Whiplash" opened the show) and up to this year's "72 Seasons," so it's a lot to keep straight.

The band's second album, "Ride the Lightning," was the most represented of the evening, and the guys even plucked one song from 2003's "St. Anger," the most maligned LP in its catalog, which Hetfield teased by joking, "This one is from your favorite album" before rolling into "Dirty Window."

And onward they marched, playing to a massive crowd — attendance figures were not shared, but an eyeball estimate put the crowd in the 70,000-range — that was still buzzing from the Lions' victory earlier in the evening. Fans watched the game on their phones and on TVs in the concourse, which wasn't ideal for openers Ice Nine Kills and Five Finger Death Punch, but that's Sunday during football season, and particularly this football season, for you.

Guitarist Kirk Hammett, who spent most of the evening in a shirt modeled after Sony's PlayStation logo which read 'Pray 2 Satan,' was in spectacular shredding mode, and he did a full loop around the 360-degree stage during "For Whom the Bell Tolls." He and bassist Robert Trujillo presented a Detroit inspired jam, titled "Motown Yo Town," during their impromptu portion of the evening, and Trujillo shouted out Motown bassist James Jamerson as one of the reasons he first picked up a bass guitar and learned to play.

Structurally the show was the same as Friday's: a few songs bunched together followed by short breaks, as Lars Ulrich's drums were set up in different spots around the stage, and with the "72 Seasons" material — "You Must Burn!" was a highlight — coming in the front half of the show.

But Sunday felt bigger, more loaded, than Friday's show, perhaps because of the firepower of songs such as "The Unforgiven" and "Wherever I May Roam," which were treated like royalty by fans, as well as "The Call of Ktulu," the massive instrumental which closes out "Ride the Lightning," which was given a monumental reading in the show.

"Whiskey in the Jar," the band's cover of the traditional Irish folk song, came late in the night, accompanied by a drop of dozens of oversized beach balls as the house lights were raised on the audience. "One" and "Enter Sandman" closed out the show, two cannon shots to close things out, a big flex to wrap the night and the tour.

And that was it; it wasn't goodbye, it's catch ya later, as Ulrich told the crowd "we will see you not soon enough" as he and his bandmates exited the stage. Two nights, four hours, 32 songs and the old pros left fans wanting more, one of the oldest tricks in the book. And still one of the best, when executed this well, by guys in complete control of their craft.

agraham@detroitnews.com

Metallica at Ford Field setlist, Nov. 12

1. "Whiplash"
2. "For Whom the Bell Tolls"
3. "Ride the Lightning"
4. "Dirty Window"
5. "72 Seasons"
6. "If Darkness Had a Son"
7. "Welcome Home (Sanitarium)"
8. "You Must Burn"
9. "The Call of Ktulu"
10. "The Unforgiven"
11. "Wherever I May Roam"
12. "Moth Into Flame"
13. "Fight Fire With Fire"
14. "Whiskey in the Jar"
15. "One"
16. "Enter Sandman"