On June 3rd, 2006, in Nürburg, Germany, Metallica hit the stage at the Rock am Ring festival to celebrate the 20th anniversary of their 1986 magnum opus, Master of Puppets. The massive setlist featured two encores and 19 songs that encompassed the entirety of Master, as well as plenty of other classics from across the thrash pioneers' canon.
Due to the full-album performance of Master of Puppets, there were plenty of "firsts" at the show. The first time the whole album had ever been played live. The first time "Disposable Heroes" was played in Europe in nearly 13 years. And, maybe biggest of all, the first time "Orion" was ever performed onstage in full.
Metallica had played excerpts of the epic instrumental many times over the years, including as part of a medley with "To Live Is to Die" and "The Call of Ktulu" on the 1993 Nowhere Else To Roam Tour. But they had never performed it in its eight-and-a-half-minute entirety before. Watch the historic moment above.
