Metallica Play New Set at Second Sphere Show

Last Thursday (Oct. 1), Metallica started their 24-date Life Burns Faster residency at Las Vegas’ Sphere with a tremendous show featuring “Sad But True,” “Master of Puppets” and “Nothing Else Matters” among other classics. As promised, they returned to the venue last night (Oct. 3) with an entirely different set that included a performance of a Reload deep cut for the first time in 18 years!

What Did Metallica Play at Their Second Sphere Show?

Just as Metallica kicked off their first Sphere show with a song they hadn’t opened with since 2014 (“Battery”), they began last night’s concert with another track that’s not received the initial spotlight in 12 years: “Blackened” (via setlist.fm).

From there, they similarly took the crowd through a sizable portion of their catalog and history, ranging from older staples such as “For Whom the Bell Tolls,” “One,” “Fuel” and “Welcome Home (Sanitarium)” to newer offerings such as “72 Seasons” and “Hardwired.” It’s worth noting, too, that although they didn’t represent 2008’s Death Magnetic last night, they did pull out “The Day That Never Comes” on Thursday night.

Naturally, they revived a few tunes that hadn’t made it to the stage in several years as well. In addition to …And Justice for All’s “Blackened,” and per setlist.fm, the quartet also did Load closer “The Outlaw Torn” for the first time since 2019 (to at least one fan’s delight) and Reload deep cut “Devil’s Dance” for the first time since 2008! In fact, “Devil’s Dance” is among Metallica’s least-played songs in general, with only 45 performances over the last 30 years.

Of course, there was another “Kirk and Rob Doodle” about halfway into the night as well (between “The Outlaw Torn” and “The Unforgiven”). That said, it’s unclear if they once again did “Sleepwalk My Life Away” or another tune.

As for how Metallica’s first two Sphere shows compared overall, Metal Hammer wrote in their review: “Night two feels less like a pristine multimedia production and far more like a loose, grooving metal show. . . . Frequent breaks, rotating drum kits, and songs launching offstage create an unscripted vibe, though the visuals are no less stunning.”

You can see the entire setlist for Metallica’s second Sphere show – plus fan-shot video from YouTuber surfmiami and others – below!

Metallica’s Second Las Vegas Sphere Setlist (Oct. 3, 2026)

“Blackened” (first time as an opener since August 9, 2014)
“Fuel”
“Leper Messiah”
“Devil’s Dance” (first performance since June 7, 2008)
“72 Seasons”
“King Nothing”
“Welcome Home (Sanitarium)”
“The Outlaw Torn” (first performance since September 8, 2019)
“Kirk and Rob Doodle”
“The Unforgiven”
“Orion”
“Hardwired”
“Whiskey in the Jar”
“For Whom the Bell Tolls”
“One”
“Enter Sandman”

per setlist.fm

Watch Metallica Perform “One” at the Sphere (Oct. 3, 2026)

Watch Metallica Perform “The Unforgiven” at the Sphere (Oct. 3, 2026)

Watch Metallica Perform “Blackened” at the Sphere (Oct. 3, 2026)

Watch Metallica Perform “The Outlaw Torn” at the Sphere (Oct. 3, 2026)

Watch Metallica Perform “Leper Messiah” at the Sphere (Oct. 3, 2026)

Watch Metallica Perform “King Nothing” at the Sphere (Oct. 3, 2026)

Metallica Perform “Welcome Home (Sanitarium)” at the Sphere (Oct. 3, 2026)

Watch Metallica Perform “For Whom the Bell Tolls” at the Sphere (Oct. 3, 2026)

Watch Metallica Perform “Devil’s Dance” at the Sphere (Oct. 3, 2026)

Watch Metallica Perform “72 Seasons” at the Sphere (Oct. 3, 2026)

Watch Metallica Perform “Enter Sandman” at the Sphere (Oct. 3, 2026)

More About Metallica’s “Life Burns Faster” Las Vegas Sphere Residency

As Loudwire reported back in September, Metallica’s residency at the Sphere will find them “playing Thursdays and Fridays and each weekend will be a no-repeat set of shows. This means that Metallica will not repeat a song between their Thursday and Friday shows (though fans are likely expecting setlists to be relatively similar weekend to weekend).”

Clearly, they defied that expectation this weekend!

Alongside the concerts themselves, Metallica are also offering another exclusive pop-up shop this weekend (in which “fans can find merchandise and posters unavailable anywhere else, including city-specific vinyl pressings of their most recent studio album, 72 Seasons”).

Said shop will be in the Summit Showroom at the Venetian Resort, and the schedule for this upcoming week and weekend is as follows:

Wednesday (Oct. 7): 10AM – 8PM
Thursday (Oct. 8): 10AM – After Show
Friday (Oct. 9): 10AM – 8PM
Saturday (Oct. 10): 10AM – After Show
Sunday (Oct. 11): 10AM – 2PM

Be sure to check Metallica’s official website to see the pop-up shop schedule for the rest their residency (once it’s updated).

For more information on what else is happening during Metallica’s Las Vegas Sphere residency (such as them teaming with the Red Cross for a blood drive and opening up their Black Box museum), check out our full breakdown.

Other Metallica News

Speaking of Metallica’s partnership with the Red Cross, frontman James Hetfield actually donated blood ahead of the group’s Sphere residency.

He also debuted a new hairstyle for the residency when he stopped by The Punk Rock Museum last week. As Loudwire described: “His gray hair now appears to be accompanied by a dark black streak in the middle.”

In case you missed it, visual artist Squindo recently sat down with Loudwire Nights to talk about working with Metallica (among other things). Likewise, Anthrax’s Scott Ian recently appeared on Billy Corgan’s The Magnificent Others podcast to chat about how he reacted when Metallica fired Megadeth mastermind Dave Mustaine back in 1983.

Finally, Metallica will be playing the Sphere through March 2027, and you can see all of their upcoming dates – and buy tickets – here!

Did you see Metallica at one or both Sphere shows? Which setlist do you prefer? Let us know!

Also, keep scrolling to see our ranked list of the best deep cuts from the 1980s’ best-selling rock and metal albums!