“Devil’s Dance” hadn’t appeared on a Metallica set list since June 2008. That’s not a gap — that’s a career. The Reload track returned October 3 at Sphere in Las Vegas, nearly 18 years after its last live performance. Alongside it, “The Outlaw Torn” came back after a seven-year absence, last performed in September 2019 and originally appearing on Load. Both songs belong to the band’s polarizing 1996-era output — the Load/Reload records that split the fanbase straight down the middle. Hearing either live in 2026 qualifies as a genuine event.
Sixteen Songs, Zero Repeats, One Relentless Production
Opening with “Blackened” and closing with “Enter Sandman,” Night Two delivered a completely different show than the residency debut two nights earlier.
The 16-song set leaned hard into catalog depth:
- “Fuel”
- “Leper Messiah”
- “King Nothing”
- “Welcome Home (Sanitarium)”
- “The Unforgiven”
- “Orion”
- “One”
- “For Whom the Bell Tolls”
The list reads like someone finally let the superfan pick the playlist. Kirk Hammett and Robert Trujillo dropped an improvisational interlude midshow. Per the San Francisco Chronicle’s October 4 concert recap, Night Two ran louder, darker, and more visually overwhelming than the opening show — no small achievement inside a venue built specifically to overwhelm.
Drummer Lars Ulrich called the Sphere in Las Vegas undertaking “overwhelming” and “f—ing intimidating” in a pre-residency interview on The Edge’s SiriusXM program, as reported by People, adding that the band deliberately steps into situations outside its comfort zone. The Oct. 3 set list is what that discomfort produces when it works.
What the No Repeat Format Actually Means for You
Attending both weekend shows isn’t just about seeing the band twice — it’s about witnessing two entirely different documents of Metallica live.
Think of it like a Spotify Wrapped for people who actually go outside. The No Repeat Weekend structure means Thursday and Saturday pairings share no songs. For a band with Metallica’s catalog depth, that’s not a gimmick. It’s a commitment requiring serious rehearsal bandwidth and a willingness to surface material that has been sitting dormant for years — or, in “Devil’s Dance” case, nearly two decades.
The next show is October 8. The “Life Burns Faster” residency runs 24 performances through March 13, 2027, cycling through this format across every weekend pairing.
A Band That Treats Every Night as Its Own Artifact
Night Two at Sphere wasn’t a repeat — it was proof the residency has genuine range.
Two songs returned from long absences. The production hit harder than Night One. The set covered everything from thrash-era classics to the ’90s records that divided the fanbase. If you’re still deciding whether to book a later weekend, Night Two just made the case: no two shows will feel the same, and that’s entirely the point.
