After nearly a decade wait for the Irish, on June 8th, Metallica returned to the country's lush terrain to deliver another performance in the Dublin area, this time at the Slane Castle in Meath. To honor the country's most famous hard-rock export Thin Lizzy, the thrash quartet fired up their cover of the group's 1973 folk song re-working "Whiskey in the Jar," which Metallica included on their 1998 album Garage, Inc.
Beginning innocuously enough with a steady beat from Lars Ulrich, the crowd bursts into uproarious cheers when frontman James Hetfield strums the instantly recognizable opening notes and leads the crowd into an enormous, heartfelt sing-along. Pro-shot footage shows the epic stage setup looming over the countryside at the prestigious venue, a historic landmark reserved for only the utmost top-tier acts like Metallica and their mainstream peers U2, Queen, Guns N' Roses, etc.
"Are you alive out there?" Hetfield shouts into the crowd, following the cheers with "You look beautiful." He then launches into the song's melancholic final verse and helps the band slowly fade out as he makes his final declaration: "We love you, Phil!"
Setlist from Metallica's Slane Castle performance:
1.Hardwired
2.The Memory Remains
3. Ride the Lightning
4. Whiskey in the Jar
5. The Unforgiven
6. Now That We're Dead
7. Moth Into Flame
8. Sad But True
9. Halo On Fire
10. Frantic
11. One
12. Master of Puppets
13F. or Whom the Bell Tolls
14. Creeping Death
15. Seek and Destroy
16. Spit Out The Bone
17. Nothing Else Matters
18. Enter Sandman
Metallica's WorldWired Tour continues through Europe this summer. See dates here.