Metallica have put two songs from their first Sphere show online: “...And Justice for All” and “The Call of Ktulu.” Both official clips come from October 1 in Las Vegas, the opening night of the Life Burns Faster residency. You can reach them through the band’s official video selection.
They make a useful pair, although their significance is different. One brought a long-absent song back to the set; the other gave Las Vegas its first live performance of a particular instrumental. The October 1 concert archive supplies those details, along with the names behind the enormous visuals.
Two songs, two pieces of history
- “...And Justice for All” had not been played since August 9, 2014, at Heavy MTL in Montreal. That makes the Sphere performance a return after more than 12 years. Metallica credit Treatment with its visual production.
- “The Call of Ktulu” made its Las Vegas live debut that night. Its visuals were created by Industrial Light & Magic. The archive describes this as the first time the band had played it in Las Vegas.
Read the credits song by song. Industrial Light & Magic’s involvement is attached to “The Call of Ktulu”; Treatment gets the credit for “...And Justice for All.” Putting one company’s name against both would erase a real distinction in the production. Our guide to reading music credits explains how following an individual contribution can lead beyond the headline artist.
Find them in the October 1 set
Metallica list 15 songs drawn from nine albums that night. Kirk Hammett and Robert Trujillo also played a duet. “Battery” opened it and “Master of Puppets” closed it. “...And Justice for All” came before the duet. “Nothing Else Matters” followed, then “The Call of Ktulu.” Watching the two uploads back to back skips that intervening part of the show.
After the instrumental, the band went into “Lux Æterna.” The official running order thus puts it between that song and “Nothing Else Matters.” There is more variety in the full set than this pair of uploads alone can show: Ride the Lightning and Metallica each supplied three songs.
Metallica also say the October 1 and October 3 opening weekend had no songs in common. Keep the date attached when saving either video. Someone at the October 3 show heard a different selection, even though the venue and residency name were the same.
The links above lead to the band’s own uploads. We used Metallica’s show notes to identify the performances and production credits; we have not assessed the venue’s sound or sightlines in person.