Metallica – Sphere – Las Vegas, Nevada – 17th October 2026

When the biggest band in the world announced they would be playing a residency at the most advanced venue in the world, we knew it would be something special and dispatched our resident Metallica superfan, Andy Pountney, to investigate. 

Night Two, 17th October 2026

Following on from a stunning show on the Thursday, the Metallica family descended upon the Sphere once again on the Saturday for part two of the “No Repeat” weekend. Of course, the pop up shop and Black Box Experience remained and provided the perfect pre-show warm up before heading over to the venue, this time using a connecting corridor from the plush Venetian Hotel, which had hosted the pop up shop, to the Sphere. As before, the logistics at the Sphere were slick and the queue to get in moved quickly. The atrium of the Sphere was impressive, bathed in a red light with various Metallica images projected onto the walls including images of spinning vinyls. My only gripe was $22 for a can of beer!

Entering the auditorium was once again breathtaking. As had been the case on the Thursday, the huge wrap-around screen displayed flags and banners from around the world, hanging above an image of the band’s rehearsal space. The quality of the screen was such that it needed closer inspection to realise this was a picture and not reality. At the foot of the screen, a small walkway style stage wrapped around a small trademark “snakebite” allowing a small number of fans to get up close and personal (although arguably lose the impact of the visuals of the show) with the band. 

SAME AGAIN BUT TOTALLY DIFFERENT

The start of the show was once more heralded by AC/DC’s It’s A Long Way To The Top (if you Wanna Rock n’ Roll). This was inevitably followed by Ennio Morricone’s The Ecstasy Of Gold with the screen once again taking us through the familiar The Good, The Bad And The Ugly graveyard. Although these were both the same as night one, this was the end of the repeats with everything played afterwards being completely different. 

Images of Doris from …And Justice For All took over the screen before the speakers popped and cut out. A spotlight picked out James Hetfield on the stage and Lars’ drum kit rose to the stage as the band launched into a ferocious Blackened. They effortlessly moved around the stage engaging with every corner of the arena as well as those in the snakepit while black and white silhouette images of the band were projected onto the screen. As the song came to a close, the screen transitioned to show the inside of an engine as the band launched into a rambunctious version of Fuel. When played live, this song usually has a whole bunch of pyros, so here the big screen recreated this with huge jets of flames dominating the arena as the crowd found their voice. 

RETURN OF THE LEPER

It has been good to see Leper Messiah make its return to the setlist in recent years, and it was fantastic to hear it rumbling around this cavernous arena as the crowd energy rose further. Another live rarity, Devil’s Dance, followed, having not been aired live since 2008 prior to its reincarnation for the Sphere residency. This groove laden behemoth shook the foundations in front of an image of a shattered mirror but split the crowd with many not seeming to recognise the song and causing momentum to dip a little.

Things picked up for 72 Seasons before Harvester Of Sorrow upped the ante, although the imagery was a little ambiguous with a video of a man sharpening a blade next to a goose, before the track closed with the goose stood next to the blade. I’ve seen lots of internet theories interpreting this in different ways, but for me it was just good to hear this banger live and not overthink the video. 

A CHANGE IN ATMOSPHERE

There was a change in atmosphere as James led into an epic rendition of The Day That Never Comes, and it became apparent that his voice was more husky than usual and the band later commented that a few of them were unwell. Nonetheless, this did not detract from the show and the emotive opening soon built to its aggressive, powerful climax in front of images of sand falling in an egg timer in the middle of a desert which suited the nature of the song.

Talking of epic, The Outlaw Torn made a welcome return to the set in front of scenes of Armageddon with a statue’s head partially submerged in a sea of red in front of destroyed buildings and bridges, some with images of the band projected onto them. As the track reached its climax, a hand rose from the sea of red to connect with a hand reaching down from above, reminding me of Michelangelo’s The Creation Of Adam from the Sistine Chapel ceiling. 

TONIGHT’S DEEP CUT

For many years now, Rob and Kirk have had some fun with a “doodle” mid show, and these have ranged from Abba to Black Sabbath, The Dubliners to The Stone Roses and Iron Maiden to Oasis. Tonight we were given an original composition Siouxsie Sue which led into a Metallica deep cut Just A Bullet Away which was great to hear. For me it is often more fun to hear these rarer offerings than the hits. Talking of which, the full band returned to the stage and James took up position behind his acoustic guitar as the intro to The Unforgiven rang out around the Sphere.

The crowd lapped this up, being almost as loud as the PA while images of the band were projected onto concrete slabs on the screen. This led into a powerful and emotive rendition of the immense Orion delivered by the band standing together on top of the stage while the screen projected various combinations of the band members. At the end of the song, as he had done the night before with The Call Of Ktulu, James dedicated the song to their “fallen brother” with images of Cliff Burton on the screen looking down on the band and audience. 

cranking up the intensity

The intensity was cranked up again with a blistering version of Hardwired with the combined heads and faces images from the album cover projected onto the screen in a frantic manner, nicely matching the intensity of the track. The atmosphere became more playful for Whiskey In The Jar, played in front of images of an old fashioned drinking saloon at the end of a heavy night. Stools knocked over, bottles of whiskey and a piano named Lizzie complete with sheet music for a song entitled The Boys Are Back In Town. A nod to Thin Lizzy who made this traditional song so famous. The momentum was kept up as the distinctive intro to For Whom The Bell Tolls rang out with images of a bell tolling in a tower before moving onto images of old conflicts.

Keeping with a war theme, and keeping the energy levels high, One followed. Opening with images of war torn trenches and battlefields from World War One, then showing soldiers walking through the same battlefields before morphing into skeletons dressed as soldiers taking the same march. Images of battlefields persisted as the track built to its explosive climax which had the chairs shaking again in the venue.

Inevitably, the set was brought to a close with the rousing Enter Sandman with the whole crowd singing along loudly while a large blue/silver moon was projected on the screen alongside images of the band. The band then took a few minutes to throw out plectrums and drumsticks, and say their thank yous, before leaving the stage and leaving the crowd to head back out into Las Vegas to continue the party and to digest what they had experienced over the course of the two shows. 

FINAL THOUGHTS…

So, now that I’ve had time to reflect, what did I think? In many ways, this has surpassed all expectations and descriptions of the Sphere, and even pictures and videos, cannot do justice to how immense it really is. These shows had provided a completely immersive sensory experience, far beyond any other concert experience. The flip side to this is that the screens and imagery are so good, that they dominated the experience and in some ways it felt more like watching a movie with the band not necessarily being the focus of attention, and it lacked the intimacy and connection that I usually feel at a concert.

Having said that, anybody coming to one of these shows knows what to expect, and as always, Metallica have done it to the absolute maximum! This has been an unforgettable, once in a lifetime experience that I am grateful to have had the opportunity to experience. 

All photography by Andy Pountney (Event Photography Awards Winner 2024 and 2025). You can check out more of his work on shot_in_the_dark_photography2 on Instagram.

All photos taken from the crowd with a point and shoot camera.

Images with “effects” are photos of the big screen, whereas photos of band members are direct photos. 

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