Live Review: Metallica - Frankfurt 2026 (Day 2)

Deutsche Bank Park, Frankfurt, Germany
22nd May 2026
Metallica - “M72 World Tour” No Repeat Weekend - Special guests: Avatar, Pantera

OK, maybe the idea of having a one-day break between the shows was not a bad one at all - at least from a personal perspective, the itch to join 55,000 other fans for another round of audio-visual overstimulation was much bigger on Sunday than compared to the day before.

And the hype knew no bounds. Again, Frankfurt was converted into Metalfurt, as tens of thousands of fans made the pilgrimage to the “Waldstadion” in the south of the city. The sun was again shining and the conditions for the second coming of the biggest Metal band in the world could not have been better.


Avatar

While two years ago in Munich, it was the Boston Horrorcore band ICE NINE KILLS’ task of opening up the evening, this time around the task fell to Sweden’s no 1 Theatrical Metal band AVATAR. Seems like AVATAR only seem to be getting better with age. Founded back in 2001, and having released ten studio albums, their latest piece of art is called ‘Don’t Go In The Forest’, and it has broadened the appeal of the band significantly. And, getting on stage with METALLICA is definitely helping with broadening the appeal. https://avatarmetal.com



Music & Performance
The afternoon kicked off with the theatrical madness of AVATAR. The Swedish melodic death metal troupe, led by the charismatic and eccentric frontman Johannes Eckerström, treated the early arrivals to a visual and sonic circus. Stepping onto the massive ring stage with their signature blend of carny-inspired imagery and razor-sharp riffs, they refused to be intimidated by the empty spaces of an unfilled stadium. Eckerström paced the ring like a demonic ringmaster, his manic energy cutting through the afternoon air.



Halfway through the set, Eckerström addressed the crowd in German with a beautiful Swedish accent and asked “How many of you guys play in a band? And now imagine you get to open for PANTERA and METALLICA. That tells you how we guys feel right now”. Tracks like ‘The Eagle Has Landed’ and ‘Smells Like A Freakshow’ delivered a surprisingly thick groove that bounced beautifully off the stadium rafters, proving that their theatrical eccentricity translates perfectly to an arena scale. And AVATAR would win any contest for synchronized circle-moshing their long hair hands down.

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Pantera

Next up on the roster were America’s original knuckleheads: PANTERA. The band from Arlington, Texas formed back in 1982, and after releasing three albums of Glam Metal, they shifted into Groove Metal with the advent of Phil Anselmo. This started an extraordinary trajectory of success, which culminated in the release of their genre-defining record ‘Vulgar Display of Power’ in 1992.



Stellar success once again came at an immense cost for the band members, and mainly Phil struggled enormously with back pain, and the following alcohol and substance abuse, leading to a hiatus of the band in 2003. In 2022, the remaining band members Phil Anselmo and Rex Brown recruited guitar legend Zakk Wylde and Charlie Benante on drums and resumed touring. http://pantera.com



Music & Performance
PANTERA took the stage to inject a massive dose of pure, unadulterated Texas Groove Metal into the sweaty Frankfurt crowd. Philip Anselmo, backed by the formidable powerhouse of Zakk Wylde on guitar and Charlie Benante on drums alongside longtime bassist Rex Brown, wasted no time in triggering the first massive mosh pits of the evening. They delivered a devastatingly heavy, nostalgic masterclass that honoured the legacy of the Abbott brothers perfectly. The two deceased legends, Vinnie Paul and Dimebag Darrel, where also pictured on two of the four base drums of the gigantic drum set.



During a recorded rendition of ‘Cemetary Gates’ their photos appeared on the eight giant projection cylinders. When the opening notes of ‘Walk’ and ‘Cowboys from Hell’ tore through the PA, the entire stadium floor turned into a swirling sea of bodies. Wylde’s squealing pinch harmonics tore through the warm air with terrifying precision, while Anselmo’s weathered, gravelly roar sounded heavier and more focused than it has in years. It was a brutal, physical performance that left the audience bruised, breathless, and primed for the main event.

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Metallica

So encore une fois: The coveted second day of the “No Repeat” weekend arrived. Check out the review of the first day here. https://www.metallica.com

Music & Performance
“Same procedure as last Friday” sprang to mind, as exactly again around 8:45pm AC/DC’s ‘It’s a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock‘n’Roll)’ announced the arrival of the Four Horsemen. METALLICA emerged with a feral intensity, immediately launching into a blistering rendition of ‘Whiplash’ that set the frantic pace for the night. The “No Repeat Weekend” gimmick is a high-wire act for a band with this much history, forcing them to dig deep into their catalogue without relying on the exact same crutches as the previous night.



The sheer spatial scale of the giant ring stage allowed the band members to constantly rotate, bringing Lars Ulrich’s shifting drum kit and the guitar assault of James Hetfield and Kirk Hammett directly to every corner of the stadium. However, this time around, the band more often grouped together around Lars’ drum set, instead of swarming the huge ring as they had done the Friday before - thereby adding kinetic energy to their performance.



James also seemingly felt the energy shift compared to Friday as he smirkingly stated “it seems there is even more Metallica family here than last Friday. Or maybe you guys are just louder?” Hetfield commanded the stage with the weathered grace of an elder statesman, his rhythm playing as precise and punishing as a metronome. A haunting mid-set sequence featuring ‘Welcome Home (Sanitarium)’ and the symphonic weight of ‘Leper Messiah’ showed the band’s remarkable sonic depth, proving they can pivot from neck-snapping speed to brooding atmosphere effortlessly.



Then it was time for the usual doodle of Kirk and Rob, where they performed a rendition of ACCEPTS ‘Fast as a Shark’ as their nod to the local tradition and heritage. The production value was staggering, with massive video towers broadcasting larger-than-life visuals of Robert Trujillo’s low-slung bass groove and Hammett’s blistering solos. The true emotional climax of the evening arrived during the back-to-back assault of ‘One’ and ‘Enter Sandman.’ The stadium erupted into a visual spectacle of lasers and pyro during ‘One,’ with the war sounds mimicking a battlefield before the band launched into that iconic, machine-gun breakdown.



Ending the night with the timeless groove of ‘Enter Sandman’ ensured that the final moments were an absolute celebration, leaving over 50,000 fans unified in a collective roar with the lyrics ‘Exit light, enter night’ that could likely be heard across the Main River. Decades into their career, METALLICA proved once again that their stadium dominance is not just a relic of the past, but a living, breathing force of nature. Due to the strict Frankfurt curfew rules (and the band’s late start), all screams for an encore were left unheeded, but also this time the fans near the stage got their obligatory shower of guitar plectrums, and the crowd was sent off by James’ “until next time”.



Setlist
01. Whiplash
02. For Whom the Bell Tolls
03. The Shortest Straw
04. Until it Sleeps
05. Lux Æterna
06. Leper Messiah
07. Kirk and Rob Doodle (ACCEPT ‘Fast as a Shark’)
08. Fade to Black
09. Wherever I May Roam
10. The Call of Ktulu
11. The Unforgiven
12. Whiskey in the Jar
13. Blackened
14. Moth Into Flame
15. One
16. Enter Sandman

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All Pictures by Andreas Klüppelberg