Watch Metallica Mark "Cliff Burton Day" With Explosive "Orion" Performance | Revolver

Watch Metallica Mark "Cliff Burton Day" With Explosive "Orion" Performance

Thrashers issued salute to late bassist on what would have been his 56th birthday, February 10th

Metallica saluted late bassist Cliff Burton with a fiery rendition of "Orion" during their February 10th show at the Pala Alpitour in Turin, Italy, held on what would have been their fallen bandmate's 56th birthday. Now, the band has unveiled pro-shot footage capturing the dramatic, nearly nine-minute-long take on Burton's magnum opus, taken from 1986's legendary Master of Puppets LP.

The Big Four thrashers' relentless "Orion" wasn't the only tribute to Burton to emerge on his would-be birthday. Alameda County, California, legislators passed an ordinance recognizing February 10th, 2018, as "Cliff Burton Day" in the bassist's hometown of Castro Valley.

Formerly of the Bay Area metal band Trauma, Burton enlisted with Metallica in 1983. He went on to record three records with the band — 1983's Kill 'Em All, 1984's Ride the Lightning, and the aforementioned Master of Puppets — before dying in a tour bus accident on September 27, 1986.

"My fondest memories of Cliff are his total disregard for convention and his total disregard for playing things out the way you expected them," Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich said of Burton in a 2013 interview with Revolver. "He was up to challenge the normalcy, to challenge the status quo, to just fuck with things musically, attitude-wise — the way he dressed, the way he carried himself, his sense of humor, his relationship with the music that inspired him, the music that he played. It was always very unconventional, and it was very unusual."

Read "The Tao of Cliff Burton: 10 Great Quotes from Metallica's Late Bass Player."