Craving Dopamine

I was working from home the day before I was to attend the first of two Metallica M72 World Tour concerts in Philadelphia. I was trying to focus on getting through the workday so I could get ready to split in the morning. I got the alert that I won two Snake Pit passes through the Metclub contest and my mind went blank.

“HOLY CRAP! I finally won one of these contests!”

“HOLY CRAP! I’m going to be in the Snake Pit tomorrow for the show!”

“HOLY CRAP! I need to pick somebody to come with me! What am I going to do?”

The M72 World Tour stage is shaped like a donut in the middle of a football stadium. The Snake Pit is the donut hole. If you are in the Snake Pit, you are immersed in the performance all night. I spent two nights in the Snake Pit in Madrid in 2024 and was blown away by the experience. I could not believe that I would be there again the next night. But I had to pick only one of my friends.

As I explained to them, they were all my favorite. But in 2017, Pooch scored us Snake Pit passes for Metallica in Montreal, and I have always felt like I was beholden to him since. I called him and offered him the pass, which he quickly accepted so that problem was solved.

With that dilemma solved, I was able to focus on the weekend ahead. I’ve been following the Metallica M72 World Tour since 2023, and these would be my first shows of 2025. I was excited to get back on the road.

May 23, 2025

I had a grandiose plan to ride my motorcycle to Philadelphia so I could enjoy a scenic ride back on Memorial Day along the Delaware River. Those hopes were dashed when I woke up to rain and cold that showed little sign of letting up. I also had a work emergency which ate into my day so there was no time to load the bike. I was bummed but was not going to let it ruin my weekend. I traded the excitement of my Harley for the comfort of my relatively uninteresting car.

I could have written a blog about how awful the traffic was from the moment I left my house in Hudson County, NJ until I got to Lincoln Financial Field, but you would not want to read it. By the time I got there, I felt like I ran a marathon. But we all managed to check into our hotels and since I had the car, I told the group I would be the designated driver. I grabbed Joe, Pooch, and Lefty and we made it to the show.

It was a bummer to have to split off from the rest of the crew. Lefty and Joe went into ham-and-egger general admission to meet up with Ed and Rita. Bobby was already somewhere along the rail; he lined up early to secure his spot. Pooch and I grabbed our Snake Pit wristbands from the box office and quickly made our way inside. We missed the first opening act, Ice Nine Kills. No big deal, they are not my favorite act on this tour.

I paused for a moment on my way into the Snake Pit. It is a bit of an overwhelming experience to begin with. But I especially enjoy walking past the losers on the other side of the general admission barrier knowing that I will have a much better view than they will. I sensed their jealousy. Granted, I would have been one of those losers had I not won the contest, but they didn’t know that.

I quickly found Chris and his stepson inside the Snake Pit. Chris cashed up and bought his way in. They picked a spot along the inside wall near where one of the four drum kits would pop up during the Metallica set.

Without much delay, Limp Bizkit hit the stage. This was my first time seeing them since July 8, 2023 when they opened for Metallica at Giants Stadium. This lineup was mostly original with a grey-bearded Fred Durst, accompanied by Wes Borland, Sam Rivers, DJ Lethal, and John Otto. We were standing right in front of Borland’s guitar rig.

Limp Bizkit is one of those bands that the cool kids did not want to admit they liked in the early 2000’s. But I never cared, I thought their tunes were catchy and I was excited to see them again. Durst sounded great and they played through their classics with intensity.

Not too long into the show, it unexpectedly started to pour. The road crew attempted to put a canopy over DJ Lethal and his equipment but appeared to fail and gave up. His stuff got soaked and apparently ruined. He unplugged everything, gave it to the fans, and eventually jumped into the Snake Pit to mosh with us. I got to high-five him.

When Limp Bizkit finished, things got real in my mind. It was my first time seeing Metallica in nearly nine months and not only was my wait about to end, but I was going to be surrounded by them all night.

This is when my Snake Pit strategy came into play. I was in the pit twice in Madrid in 2024 so I have a good feel for how things work inside and how to maximize the experience.

Metallica plays 15 songs per night, and there are 4 drumkits, one for each quadrant of the stage. The band roams the whole stage throughout the show, but most of the action takes place near the drums. They play four songs in the first quadrant, four in the second, three in the third, and four in the fourth. In a regular general admission concert setup, there is a crush of people in front of the stage. But since there is no front of this stage inside the circle, there is no singular crowded spot so you can move around. Therefore, I wanted to plant myself in front of all four drumkits before they popped up before people crowded them.

My original instinct told me we were in the wrong spot and standing in front of the third drumkit. Pooch was happy where we were and didn’t want to move. I told him I was going to the other side of the stage and that I’d find him. But when I got to the other side, I asked security, and they told me that side was the third drumkit. I immediately made it back to Pooch and Chris and told them that this must be the right spot for the first drumkit. Since my sources were not 100% reliable, I was very nervous for the rest of the break in between sets. I really did not want to screw this up.

The lights went off and AC/DC’s “It’s a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock and Roll)” blasted over the insane PA system Metallica uses for their stadium tour. It was time! AC/DC transitioned into “Eecstacy of Gold”, the traditional opening song for Metallica concerts. Much to my relief, a trap door opened in front of us and I caught sight of Jimmy Clark, Lars Ulrich’s drum tech being lifted on to the stage along with the drums. We got it right. We were about eight feet away from drums!

In a flash, Metallica took the stage and Lars counted in “Creeping Death”. The rest of the band huddled close to him and tore into the song. The crowd was screaming and jumping up and down. We were so close to the drums, we could hear them over the PA. It was bedlam.

Metallica was fired up as they ripped through the first song. They quickly transitioned into the slower but just as heavy “Harvester of Sorrow” and followed that with the deeper cut “Holier Than Thou”. They were moving at a blistering pace and had the entire stadium hanging on every note. With a quick pause to introduce “King Nothing”, I knew it was time to find the next spot.

Chris elected to stay put, but Pooch and I pushed towards the second quadrant and found it with relative ease. “King Nothing” ended and the second drumkit popped up right in front of us and the band followed for two newer songs, “72 Seasons” and “If Darkness Had a Son”. The latter was made to be played live with James Hetfield prompting the crowd to chant “temptation!” repeatedly.

James sat on a chair for the intro to the “Death Magnetic” epic “The Day That Never Comes”. Kirk Hammett and Robert Trujillo huddled close throughout the long instrumental parts of the song, and the band was in a zone.

By my count, it was time to think about the next move. Before the band could start “Cyanide”, Pooch and I had rushed towards the third drumkit. We had to sacrifice being close to Lars on this song, but it would pay off when the next song hit. Once again, we were mere feet away from the band and just in time for “Orion”, the greatest heavy metal instrumental song ever written.

The band stayed closest to each other during this song. Being within feet of Metallica playing one of their greatest songs is like having had the opportunity to watch Leonardo da Vinci paint.

Next up were two more “Black Album” concert standards, “Nothing Else Matters” and “Sad But True”. About the time I wanted to depart for the fourth drumkit, James was standing right in the spot. I started to panic, there was no way we could make it to the front if everybody was looking right at him. Eventually I said we should go and figure it out on the way. Then I looked up and saw Robert being pushed through the Snake Pit on a mobile platform, and he was coming right at us! I looked up at Robert as he looked down at me, I couldn’t believe my luck. Pooch instinctively ducked behind the platform as it moved because it parted the crowd and gave us a path right to where we wanted to be for the fourth drumkit. We made our own luck this time.

With four songs to go, I was happy with how we progressed. We nailed the spot for all four drumkits and had the best Snake Pit experience out of anybody there! At the end of “Fight Fire With Fire” Kirk threw one of his picks and it hit me in the right ear. It stuck to my jacket and the guy behind me handed it to me. I would have kept it if I was him.

The set rounded out with pyrotechnics during “Fuel”, a beach ball drop during “Seek and Destroy”, and a frenzied rendition of “Master of Puppets”. Metallica owned Lincoln Financial Field that night.

May 24, 2025

One of the many cool things about the two-night schedule for the M72 World Tour is that it leaves a gap on Saturday. It is even cooler if you are visiting a city that you wouldn’t normally be in and you have your friends with you.

Unfortunately, Ed and Bobby couldn’t stick around on Saturday, but Joe, Lefty, and Pooch were ready to go. I was especially happy to have Pooch there, he is known for his PhD-level research of things to do when travelling, with a focus on breweries and restaurants.

We met at The Butcher Bar on Chestnut Street or brunch. It is probably not a coincidence that Pooch picked a place with bottomless brunch drinks.

To avoid making it a messy all-day drink fest, we planned a bit of sight-seeing and spontaneous exercise following brunch. We walked to The Philadelphia Art Museum to visit The Rocky Statue. Someone had the idea that we should run the steps. We all made it up without having a coronary. All the time I spent at my local gym was worth it.

Proud of our accomplishments, we walked south on the scenic Benjamin Franklin Parkway to Victory Brewing. I tend to be a Pabst Blue Ribbon and Miller Lite guy, so I was a bit lost. Pooch was already well versed in their offerings, so I asked him to fill out a flight order for me. They started off OK, but the flavor fell off a cliff on the last two. They didn’t convince me to be a craft beer guy.

Dressed in my Metallica shirt, several people at the bar asked if I was at the show the previous night. I’m not sure who would walk around Philadelphia in a Metallica shirt the day after they played there and have not attended the concert, but I answered their stupid questions in the affirmative anyway. They all said something like “I thought about it but didn’t go”. Talk about people who make really, really, really bad life decisions in this town.

But every time one of them asked me about the show, I could not help but picture Metallica right in front of me. It was my 39^th Metallica concert and I was still just as stoked as ever to have seen them and could not get over how good they were and how amazing the Snake Pit experience was. It really made me realize how appreciative I was to have had that experience. I made sure to let each one of those idiots know that they completely blew it.

We left Victory and made a few more stops. First was at a rooftop bar for some cocktails. Then we went to Barcade Philadelphia. Barcade is a small chain of bars that has rows of retro video games and pinball machines. A friend of ours, Brian, happens to be the manager there so it was cool to see him. Another lucky way Metallica brings us all together.

At dinner time and Pooch directed us to Fogo de Chão Brazilian Steakhouse. Pooch is a big rodizio guy, so it was no surprise he wanted to go there. The waiters aggressively carved grilled meats on our plates, it was very intense. I flipped my stop/go card to the red side after I ate what felt like 17 pounds of beef.

Our last stop of the night day was a heavy metal bar called Doom that Pooch found. It was very spacious and was outfitted in gothic décor. There was custom stained glass and original art on the walls. There was one major flaw, however. The music they were playing was so obscure that we couldn’t identify it using Shazam. It was Metallica weekend in Philadelphia and there were only a handful of people there. Not a good showing for the only heavy metal bar in town. It looked like they had a good idea when they built it, but their execution was poor, and it did not catch on. It was worth checking out, but I would not recommend it.

May 25, 2025

I got a call from Bobby that he was in town and on the line for the Metallica pop up store. I drove over and cut in line next to him, saving myself about 45 minutes. These stores are very popular and often difficult to get in to. I grabbed three t-shirts and a license plate cover because I don’t have enough Metallica stuff already.

We finished our shopping excursion, and Pooch told us to meet him and Lefty at Yards Brewing. I was shocked that he picked another brewery! I never drink on Metallica days so I couldn’t partake in another crappy flight, but everyone else seemed to enjoy their beers.

The culinary highlight of the trip came next. We made the short walk to Del Rossi’s Cheesesteak & Pizza Co. for cheesesteaks. I’ve had a handful of Philadelphia cheesesteaks in my day, but this one was my favorite. Great bread and great cheddar cheese made the sandwich perfect.

Pooch and Lefty wanted to hit a distillery, so I went back to the hotel to grab my stuff and check out before heading back to the stadium for the final time. I didn’t miss much, Pooch later told me that each successive taste of whiskey in his flight tasted more and more like turpentine. Even PhD’s have errors in their research sometimes.

We met up and took an Uber to the stadium. Pooch, Lefty, and Joe wanted to grab some beers at Victory Brewing at the Xfinity Center entertainment complex outside the stadium. I wanted to catch Suicidal Tendencies, the first opening act so I went in early.  I said hi to Sue, Ned, and Colleen who were on the rail already.

Then I found Bobby who was dutifully lined up close to the rail on the side of the stage. It was a bit of a bummer being reduced to ham-and-egger general admission status for this show, but I was stoked regardless. We had a good spot, and I was going to make the most of it.

Suicidal Tendencies now features a rhythm section of Jay Weinberg on drums, and Robert Trujillo’s son, Tye Trujillo on bass. During the show, we noticed that Robert was watching the show from one of the Lux Æterna platforms on the far side of the stage. It must have been a proud moment for him as a father and a former bass player for Suicidal Tendencies. It was a fun show and Suicidal played all their hits. I could see Chris in the Snake Pit directly across from me and we had fun taking pictures of each other and sending them back and forth.

After the ST set ended, Pooch, Lefty, and Joe came in and met up with Ed. Unfortunately, too many people surrounded me and Bobby by that time, and they were not able to get very close to us. Pantera hit the stage and people started to mosh behind us. It was a lot of fun, it reminded me of seeing the original Pantera lineup in the late 1990’s. I always love watching Zakk Wylde play, he is one of my favorite musicians.

The hour-long wait between Pantera and Metallica always feels like it is a day long. But when AC/DC hit the PA, it felt like we were hit by lightning. Metallica took the stage and started with the 1-2 punch of “Whiplash” and “For Whom the Bell Tolls”. They always hit the stage and sprint out of the gate. I never understood how they can get so fired up so quickly.

In my third year of following this tour, I pretty much always know what song is coming next. But the lack of suspense never dulls my excitement for the classics like “Ride the Lightning” and “The Memory Remains” which followed. Metallica played an extended outro at the end of the latter which I had never seen live. It looked like something they improvised.

We were on the side of the stage where the final two drumkits would pop up. We stood in front of Robert Trujillo’s rig and bass tech, so he spent a lot of time in front of us between songs.

When the drums made it to our side of the stage for the second half of the show, we had our best views of the evening. They started with “The Call of Ktulu”, an instrumental on par with “Orion”. The band stuck together like they normally do for that song and looked like they were having a blast playing it. I think that is one of the things that make these M72 concerts so great. Since Metallica is in the round, they can’t hide anything. You can sense their genuine enjoyment throughout the night.

The final songs of the night battered our senses with fire, fireworks, beach balls, and loudness. They played through hits, finishing up with “One” and the anthemic “Enter Sandman”. I was completely drained.

We huddled up and took the subway back to the hotel. Since I couldn’t ride my motorcycle as originally planned, I just drove home after the show. It wasn’t quite the ending to the weekend I was looking for, but my spirits were high. I got everything else I wanted out of the weekend. Time spent with friends in a fun city, and 30 unique songs from The Greatest Band of All Time.

Next up for me is a trip to Houston for a one night-only stop at NRG Stadium. A friend of a friend scored us Snake Pit tickets, so it is going to be worth the quick trip.

My M72 World Tour Itinerary

	Show #	Date	Venue	City
Complete	1	5/17/2023	Stade de France	Saint-Denis, France
	2	5/19/2023	Stade de France	Saint-Denis, France
	3	8/4/2023	MetLife Stadium	East Rutherford, NJ
	4	8/6/2023	MetLife Stadium	East Rutherford, NJ
	5	8/11/2023	Stade Olympique	Montreal, Quebec, Canada
	6	8/13/2023	Stade Olympique	Montreal, Quebec, Canada
	7	9/1/2023	State Farm Stadium	Glendale, AZ
	8	7/12/2024	Estadio Cívitas Metropolitano	Madrid, Spain
	9	7/14/2024	Estadio Cívitas Metropolitano	Madrid, Spain
	10	8/2/2024	Gilette Stadium	Foxborough, MA
	11	8/4/2024	Gilette Stadium	Foxborough, MA
	12	5/23/2025	Lincoln Financial Field	Philadelphia, PA
	13	5/25/2025	Lincoln Financial Field	Philadelphia, PA
Upcoming	14	6/14/2025	NRG Stadium	Houston, TX
	15	6/27/2027	Empower Field at Mile High	Denver, CO
	16	6/29/2027	Empower Field at Mile High	Denver, CO

My lifetime Metallica concert history

Show #	ShowDate	VenueDescription	City	Tour/Event	VantagePoint
1	4/8/1992	Brendan Byrne Arena	East Rutherford, NJ	Wherever We May Roam	Seats
2	7/17/1998	Giants Stadium	East Rutherford, NJ	Poor Retouring Me	Seats
3	11/24/1998	Roseland Ballroom	New York, NY	Garage Barrage	General Admission
4	11/23/1999	Madison Square Garden	New York, NY	S&M	Seats
5	7/20/2000	Giants Stadium	East Rutherford, NJ	Summer Sanitarium	General Admission
6	7/8/2003	Giants Stadium	East Rutherford, NJ	Summer Sanitarium 2003	General Admission
7	4/20/2004	Nassau Coliseum	Uniondale, NY	Madly In Anger With The World	General Admission
8	10/22/2004	Continental Airlines Arena	East Rutherford, NJ	Madly In Anger With The World	General Admission
9	1/17/2009	Wachovia Center	Philadelphia, PA	World Magnetic	Seats
10	1/31/2009	Prudential Center	Newark, NJ	World Magnetic	General Admission
11	2/1/2009	Prudential Center	Newark, NJ	World Magnetic	Seats
12	11/14/2009	Madison Square Garden	New York, NY	World Magnetic	General Admission
13	11/15/2009	Madison Square Garden	New York, NY	World Magnetic	Seats
14	9/14/2011	Yankee Stadium	New York, NY	The Big 4	General Admission
15	6/23/2012	Bader Field	Atlantic City, NJ	Orion Music + More	General Admission
16	6/24/2012	Bader Field	Atlantic City, NJ	Orion Music + More	General Admission
17	5/12/2017	Lincoln Financial Field	Philadelphia, PA	Worldwired	General Admission
18	5/14/2017	MetLife Stadium	East Rutherford, NJ	Worldwired	General Admission
19	5/17/2017	The New Coliseum Presented by NYCV	Uniondale, NY	Worldwired	General Admission
20	7/19/2017	Parc Jean-Drapeau	Montreal, QC	Worldwired	Snake Pit
21	10/20/2018	Bryce Jordan Center	State College, PA	Worldwired	General Admission
22	10/25/2018	Wells Fargo Center	Philadelphia, PA	Worldwired	General Admission
23	9/6/2019	Chase Center	San Francisco, CA	S&M2	Seats
24	9/24/2021	Highland Festival Grounds at KY Expo Center	Louisville, KY	Louder Than Life	General Admission
25	9/25/2021	Highland Festival Grounds at KY Expo Center	Louisville, KY	Louder Than Life	General Admission
26	5/29/2022	Harvard Athletic Complex	Boston, MA	Boston Calling	General Admission
27	8/11/2022	Highmark Stadium	Buffalo, NY	(none)	General Admission
28	5/17/2023	Stade de France	Saint-Dennis, FR	M72 World Tour	Seats
29	5/19/2023	Stade de France	Saint-Dennis, FR	M72 World Tour	Seats
30	8/4/2023	MetLife Stadium	East Rutherford, NJ	M72 World Tour	General Admission
31	8/6/2023	MetLife Stadium	East Rutherford, NJ	M72 World Tour	General Admission
32	8/11/2023	Stade Olympique	Montreal, QC	M72 World Tour	General Admission
33	8/13/2023	Stade Olympique	Montreal, QC	M72 World Tour	General Admission
34	9/1/2023	State Farm Stadium	Glendale, AZ	M72 World Tour	General Admission
35	7/12/2024	Estadio Cívitas Metropolitano	Madrid, ES	M72 World Tour	Snake Pit
36	7/14/2024	Estadio Cívitas Metropolitano	Madrid, ES	M72 World Tour	Snake Pit
37	8/2/2024	Gillette Stadium	Foxborough, MA	M72 World Tour	General Admission
38	8/4/2024	Gillette Stadium	Foxborough, MA	M72 World Tour	General Admission
39	5/23/2025	Lincoln Financial Field	Philadelphia, PA	M72 World Tour	Snake Pit
40	5/25/2025	Lincoln Financial Field	Philadelphia, PA	M72 World Tour	General Admission

Link to YouTube playlist of all official Metallica concert videos I have been present for.

Metallica songs I have seen performed on the M72 World Tour

Song	Times Seen
Creeping Death	7
Fuel	7
Harvester Of Sorrow	7
Lux Æterna	7
Nothing Else Matters	7
Orion	7
Sad But True	7
Seek and Destroy	7
72 Seasons	6
Enter Sandman	6
For Whom The Bell Tolls	6
If Darkness Had A Son	6
King Nothing	6
Master of Puppets	6
Moth Into Flame	6
One	6
Ride The Lightning	6
The Call of Ktulu	6
The Day That Never Comes	6
Wherever I May Roam	6
Fade To Black	5
Shadows Follow	5
The Unforgiven	5
Welcome Home (Sanitarium)	5
Whiplash	5
Battery	4
Blackened	4
Holier Than Thou	4
Too Far Gone?	4
Whiskey In The Jar	4
Cyanide	3
Hardwired	3
Screaming Suicide	3
The Memory Remains	3
You Must Burn!	3
Fight Fire With Fire	2
Inamorata	2
Leper Messiah	2
Until It Sleeps	2
Dirty Window	1
I Disappear	1
No Leaf Clover	1
Sleepwalk My Life Away	1
Unique:	43
Total:	200

All Metallica songs I have seen performed live

Song	Times Seen
Nothing Else Matters	32
Enter Sandman	31
One	31
Sad But True	31
Master of Puppets	30
Seek and Destroy	28
For Whom The Bell Tolls	25
Creeping Death	23
Fade To Black	20
Fuel	19
Wherever I May Roam	17
Blackened	15
Moth Into Flame	15
Battery	14
Ride The Lightning	14
The Unforgiven	14
Harvester Of Sorrow	13
The Day That Never Comes	13
Whiplash	13
Welcome Home (Sanitarium)	12
The Memory Remains	11
Hardwired	10
Holier Than Thou	10
Cyanide	9
King Nothing	9
The Call of Ktulu	9
Fight Fire With Fire	8
Orion	8
Whiskey In The Jar	8
Lux Æterna	7
Now That We’re Dead	7
72 Seasons	6
Atlas, Rise!	6
If Darkness Had A Son	6
No Leaf Clover	6
The Four Horsemen	6
All Nightmare Long	5
Broken, Beat And Scarred	5
Halo On Fire	5
Of Wolf and Man	5
Shadows Follow	5
That Was Just Your Life	5
The End Of The Line	5
Breadfan	4
Hit The Lights	4
Last Caress	4
Too Far Gone?	4
Until It Sleeps	4
I Disappear	3
Screaming Suicide	3
St. Anger	3
The God That Failed	3
Through the Never	3
Turn The Page	3
You Must Burn!	3
Am I Evil?	2
Bleeding Me	2
Blitzkrieg	2
Die, Die My Darling	2
Dirty Window	2
Don’t Tread On Me	2
Frantic	2
Inamorata	2
Last Caress/Green Hell	2
Leper Messiah	2
Motorbreath	2
My Friend Of Misery	2
Overkill	2
The Outlaw Torn	2
The Shortest Straw	2
The Struggle Within	2
The Thing That Should Not Be	2
Trapped Under Ice	2
– Human	1
(Anesthesia) – Pulling Teeth	1
…And Justice For All	1
All Within My Hands	1
Confusion	1
Damage Inc.	1
Devil’s Dance	1
Disposable Heroes	1
Dyers Eve	1
Escape	1
Hell And Back	1
Helpless	1
Hero of the Day	1
Iron Foundry	1
Jump In The Fire	1
Justice Medley	1
Killing Time	1
Last Caress/So What/Die, Die My Darling	1
Low Man’s Lyric	1
Mastertarium	1
Mercyful Fate	1
Metal Militia	1
My Apocalypse	1
No Remorse	1
Phantom Lord	1
Sabbra Cadabra	1
Sleepwalk My Life Away	1
Small Hours	1
So What	1
Spit Out The Bone	1
Stone Cold Crazy	1
The Ecstasy of Gold	1
The Judas Kiss	1
The Prince	1
The Unforgiven III	1
The Wait	1
Unique:	109
Total:	684