BLACKSBURG — No seat was vacant or spot on the floor left unoccupied for nearly two hours during Wednesday evening. Lead singer and guitarist James Hetfield acknowledged the crowd as he finished up his final lyric from “Master of Puppets” by wishing the Lane Stadium crowd, “Good night,” three times.
Each time he bid the crowd adieu, there was a mixed reaction from the overflowing crowd. Some booed. Others loudly chanted, “One more song!”
Hetfield conceded to the crowd. “I think we’re missing something,” he told them.
He walked up to the microphone facing the west grandstands and screamed, “Let’s go!” The fans responded with, “Hokies!”
After two back-and-forths, Hetfield strummed the first chords of “Enter Sandman.”
The 6,000 students packed into the north end zone began jumping. The thousands of fans on the floor and in the snake pit followed suit.
A historic night for a stop on the M72 World Tour was capped with the song every Virginia Tech fan waited to hear live at Lane Stadium for a quarter of a century.
“What can I say? We have been waiting so long to come here and play in the Terror Dome,” Hetfield told the crowd early in the set. “It’s been a long time.”
Metallica capped its 16-song setlist with the acclimated song off its 1991 self-titled album that has welcomed the Virginia Tech football team into Lane Stadium since the 2000 ӽ紫ý.
The band’s first performance at Lane Stadium concluded with “Enter Sandman,” and the crowd drowned out Hetfield’s singing during the pre-chorus and chorus throughout the song. It continued a trend the Hokies introduced recently where the music during “Enter Sandman” is lowered and the fans sing the pre-chorus and chorus a cappella before the music volume is raised entering the second verse.
“Can we move here and be the house band?” Hetfield asked the crowd after the show.
The band also experienced what it was like for the football team entering the field.
The studio version of “Enter Sandman” was played as the band took the stage. The entire crowd — estimated by Virginia Tech executive associate athletic director Brad Wurthman last week to be around 70,000 strong — screamed and jumped in unison to the music that has become so familiar to the university.
Metallica opened their set playing three songs from the band’s second studio album, “Ride the Lightning,” with “Creeping Death,” “For Whom the Bell Tolls,” and “Ride the Lightning.”
The conclusion of “Ride the Lightning” featured Hetfield exclaiming to the crowd: “We are so grateful to be the first real band to be playing in your house!”
Hetfield and his bandmates interacted with the crowd throughout the two-hour show.
The lead singer asked the crowd two questions in between “Nothing Else Matters” and “Sad But True.” He first asked how many were attending a Metallica concert for the first time, and most every hand was raised.
Hetfield looked around in awe and exclaimed, “That’s a lot, man,” before asking the crowd, “What took you so long? We’re so glad you’re here.”
He officially welcomed those in attendance into the Metallica family before saying something that sounded like it came from the Eagles’ “Hotel California.”
“The only stipulation is you can never leave,” Hetfield said.
The crowd didn’t seem to mind by erupting into cheers.
Hetfield also gave a shoutout to Hokies football coach Brent Pry. Pry met with the band before the show and gave them customized football jerseys before their first concert at the stadium.
The band members received maroon uniforms with the No. 25 and their names on the back and orange uniforms with the number 72 and Metallica on the back.
The number 72 was for the band’s most recent album, “72 Seasons.”
“The power of this place is amazing,” bassist Robert Trujillo told the crowd.
The second half of the show featured some of Metallica’s most famous songs, including “Fuel,” “One,” and “Seek & Destroy,” before the band performed the song on everyone’s playlist.
“We hope we make you feel good because that’s why we’re here,” Hetfield told the crowd. “That is our purpose.”
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