[Recap + Setlist] Metallica 30th Anniversary Concert Series at the Fillmore – Mustaine, Newsted, and More!

Metallica reunited with former bassist Jason Newsted for their 30th Anniversary series last week at the Fillmore (Photo Credit: SF Weekly)

Thrash legends Metallica celebrated their 30th year as a band in style last week with four concerts at the Fillmore in San Fransisco. In attendance was nearly every notable living metal musician, many of whom joined the band on stage to help with certain songs, including a few completely unexpected surprises…

Metallica was joined onstage by legions of their contemporaries to help celebrate the band celebrate the big 3-0. Each guest musician seemed more mind-blowing than the last, but the biggest shock of the week came on Saturday.

The reunion that no one could ever have predicted - Dave Mustaine back with Metallica! (Photo Credit: Adrian / Backpage Magazine)

None other than DAVE MUSTAINE of Megadeth joined Metallica onstage for the final songs of the night. Let that sink in for a minute – Dave Mustaine! Mustaine was Metallica’s original lead guitarist and primary songwriter in the band’s early years, before his unceremonious dismissal from the band in 1983, as the group was preparing to record its first full-length album Kill ‘Em All. Mustaine’s last appearance onstage with ‘Tallica? 1983. Equally jaw-dropping was the return of original bassist Ron McGovney, who had not performed live since 1988! (McGovney either quit or was fired in ’82, and had not appeared onstage with Metallica since.) Mustaine jammed with the band and showed blistering fretwork on songs he wrote for Metallica, including “Seek and Destroy”, “Metal Militia”, and “Hit the Lights”. Even cooler was the fact that he played the songs on one of his original guitars from his Metallica days..

King Diamond of Mercyful Fate always strikes an ominous figure onstage.. (Photo Credit: MetalInjection.net)

Many other rock heavyweights joined Metallica onstage, including Rob Halford of Judas Priest, Ozzy Osbourne and Geezer Butler of Black Sabbath, Jerry Cantrell of Alice in Chains, Kid Rock, John Bush and Scott Ian of Anthrax, Lou Reed, Gary Rossington of Lynyrd Skynyrd, Glenn Danzig, Apocalyptica, King Diamond, Brian Tatler and Sean Harris of Diamond Head, Biff Byford of Saxon,  Raymond Haller of Sweet Savage, Joseph Guariglia of Blitzkreig, Animal of the Anti-Nowhere League, Jim Martin of Faith No More, and Pepper Keenan of Down.

Another unexpected guest musician was former bassist Jason Newsted, who left the band before the recording of St. Anger in 2003 (as seen in the Some Kind of Monster documentary). Newsted joined Metallica for several songs every evening, as chants of “Newsted! Newsted” reverberated throughout the theater. Equally shocking was the appearance of producer Bob Rock in an on-stage role. Rock was forced to play bass on Metallica’s St. Anger album due to Newsted’s departure and the fact that a new bassist had not yet been hired. Fittingly, Rock joined Metallica for two songs from that album including the popular single “Frantic”.

The four-day setlists are below, and what a week it was! Seventy-seven songs in all were played, including several unreleased b-sides from the Death Magnetic sessions. Check out the video below from the shows. Can you say…awesome?

Metallica Setlist Day 1 – 12.5.11
1. The Call of Ktulu
2. No Remorse (First performance incl. 2nd solo & 3rd verse since December 31, 1985)
3. The Shortest Straw
4. Leper Messiah
5. The Day That Never Comes (Preceded by guitar solo)
6. Carpe Diem Baby (World Premiere)
7. Hate Train (Unreleased song, world premiere)
8. Please Don’t Judas Me (Nazareth cover, acoustic)
9. Wherever I May Roam (With MetClub member John Dent)
10. Sad But True
11. Anesthesia (Pulling Teeth)
12. No Leaf Clover (with Apocalyptica)
13. One (with Apocalyptica)
14. Harvester of Sorrow (With Jason Newsted)
15. Damage, Inc. (With Newsted)
16. Motorcycle Man (Saxon cover, with Biff Byford)
17. The Prince (Diamond Head cover, with Sean Harris and Brian Tatler)
18. It’s Electric (Diamond Head cover, with Harris and Tatler, first time ever performed live by Metallica)
19. Helpless (Diamond Head cover, with Harris and Tatler; first performance incl. solo since May 26, 1990)
20. Am I Evil? (Diamond Head cover, with Harris and Tatler)
21. Seek and Destroy (with J. Newsted, J. Marshall, S. Harris, B. Tatler, B. Byford, Apocalyptica, Soul Rebels Brass Band)

Day 2 Setlist – 12.7.11
Intro: Helpless
1. To Live is to Die
2. Enter Sandman
3. Holier Than Thou
4. Disposable Heroes
5. Bleeding Me
6. Wasting My Hate (first performance since 10.15.04)
7. My Apocalypse
8. Just a Bullet Away (unreleased, world premiere)
9. Breadfan (Budgie cover, with Metclub member Andrew Dowis)
10. The Memory Remains (with Marianne Faithfull)
11. Killing Time (Sweet Savage cover, with Raymond Haller)
12. Turn the Page (Bob Seger cover, with Kid Rock)
13. The Four Horsemen (with John Bush, first performance with first solo since 8.17.85)
14. Iced Honey (with Lou Reed, from the Lulu album)
15. The View (with Reed, from the Lulu album)
16. White Light / White Heat (Velvet Underground cover, with Lou Reed)
17. Creeping Death (with Jason Newsted)
18. Battery (with Newsted)
19. Mercyful Fate (medley of Mercyful Fate songs, with King Diamond)
20. Seek and Destroy (With Ray Haller, Scott Ian, Jason Newsted, the Soul Rebels, John Bush, Joey Vera, Gonzo Sandoval)

Day 3 Setlist – 12.9.11
1. Suicide & Redemption
2. Master of Puppets
3. …And Justice For All
4. Of Wolf and Man
5. Fade to Black
6. The Thing that Should Not Be
7. I Disappear
8. The Outlaw Torn
9. Hell and Back (unreleased, world premiere)
10. Blitzkreig (Blitzkreig cover, with Joseph Guariglia)
11. For Whom the Bell Tolls (with Jerry Cantrell)
12. Nothing Else Matters (with Cantrell)
13. So What (Anti-Nowhere League cover, with Animal,  First performance incl. four verses since 10.25.92)
14. Tuesday’s Gone (Lynyrd Skynyrd cover, with Gary Rossington, Jerry Cantrell, Jim Martin, and Pepper Keenan)
15. Fuel (with Jason Newsted)
16. Fight Fire With Fire (with Newsted)
17. Die, Die My Darling (Misfits cover, with Glenn Danzig)
18. Last Caress (Misfits cover, with Danzig)
19. Green Hell (Misfits cover, with Danzig)
20 London Dungeon jam (with Danzig)
21. Rapid Fire (Judas Priest cover, with Rob Halford, first performance since 8.21.94)
22. Seek and Destroy (with J. Cantrell, P. Keenan, J. Newsted, J. Martin, Danzig, Animal, Soul Rebels, Laaz Rockit)

Day 4 Setlist – 12.10.11
1. Orion
2. Through the Never
3. Ride the Lightning
4. The God that Failed
5. Welcome Home (Sanitarium)
6. Rebel of Babylon (from Death Magnetic sessions, world premiere)
7. Escape
8. Blackened (with Metclub members Dennis and Annette Diaz)
9. Dirty Window (with Bob Rock, first performance since 11.20.04)
10. Frantic (with Rock, truncated version)
11. Sabbra Cadabra / A National Acrobat (Black Sabbath cover, with Geezer Butler, first performance since 11.24.98)
12. Iron Man (Black Sabbath cover, with Ozzy Osbourne and Geezer Butler)
13. Paranoid / War Pigs (Black Sabbath cover, with Osbourne and Butler)
14. King Nothing (with Jason Newsted)
15. Whiplash (with Newsted on bass and vocals)
16. Motorbreath (with Hugh Tanner)
17. Phantom Lord (with Dave Mustaine, first performance with slow middle section since 5.21.03)
18. Jump in the Fire (with Mustaine)
19. Metal Militia (with Mustaine, First performance incl. post-solo section since 2.7.85)
20. Hit the Lights (with Mustaine, Ron McGovney, and Lloyd Grant)
21. Seek & Destroy (with Mustaine, McGovney, Grant, H.Tanner, J.Newsted, Mark Osegueda, and the Soul Rebels)

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