Encore Rock Academy

Metallica has balls… big ones.

Metallica concert Perth November 1st 2025

Optus stadium was sold out. The energy in the stadium was electric.

Just before they came on the PA blasted out, It’s a long way to the top by (of course) AC/DC. Then halfway through they had a jam and played Zebra by The John Butler Trio.

I’m not sure if they do this for the whole Australian tour.

Even if they do it’s especially significant in Perth as Bon Scott is resting in Fremantle cemetery and John Butler lives in Fremantle.

Ticket stubs from Metallica at Burswood Dome and the old Entertainment centre in Perth flashed up on the massive video screens letting the crowd know, yeah we have been here before Perth.

All of this I thought was a nice touch to pay homage to the city they are playing in.

What about those awesome flame jets soaring from the stage?We could feel the heat from where we were sitting at the side so goodness knows how hot it was at the front.

In another song Kirk was standing on the vent where the flames came out and I thought, “You wouldn’t want to forget what song has the flames happening”. I’m sure they have safety mechanisms in place to prevent any accidents.

They played for nearly three hours and I must say I was impressed and being a muso, I'm a bit more critical than some. The show went really quickly and the next thing I knew, it was the last song which was the epic Enter Sandman.

The quality of the sound was fantastic and although it was loud, my ears weren’t ringing afterwards. Other concerts I have attended the sound quality was not as good and afterwards they were ringing.

They played all my favourite songs I wanted to hear apart from Fade to Black, maybe next time.

This is the first time I have seen them live and I had expectations. I must say Metallica exceeded them. I know… “Why did I take so long to see them”. There’s a reason they are the most successful metal band in the world and rightly so. After all these years Metallica still have it, they were going off. Long live Metallica.