How Should Metallica Cut Down Their ‘M72’ Set Lists to One Night?

Metallica are throwing a new wrinkle into their M72 tour. This weekend, the band will play just one show in a North American city, instead of the two “no repeat” shows they’ve been playing since the tour first landed on our continent in August of 2023.

The band has typically been playing 16 songs per night, for a total of 32 per city. So if you were in charge of cutting their set list in half, which songs would you choose? That’s the question we put to five of our writers, and you can find their answers below. As a starting point, here’s the set lists for their most recent American M72 shows, from last fall in Seattle:

1) In almost every city, “Creeping Death” has been the opening song on the first night, with “Whiplash” leading off the second night. Which one of them makes the better one-night opening song? Is there a different song that fills that role better?

Matthew Wilkening: Both are excellent opening songs. Metallica probably has two dozen worthy opening song candidates. If those were the only two choices, I’d pick “Creeping Death.” But I’ve got an even better candidate, and for reasons that’ll make sense in a minute I’m going to reveal it in the next question’s answer.

Corey Irwin: I’m confident that in the course of a few answers I’m going to upset a large contingency of Metallica fans. It starts here, where I’d choose neither of the typical options. For a one-night stand, I want wall-to-wall hits, and Metallica certainly has no shortage of them. So for an opener, let’s explode out of the gates and go with “Master of Puppets.” You know the electricity would be incredible – unless you’re one of the poor saps who arrives late because you couldn’t find parking.

Bryan Rolli: Full disclosure: I received something of an insider tip when I saw Metallica at Power Trip, where they condensed their No Repeat Weekend into one killer festival set. I can tell you from that experience that “Whiplash” works perfectly as an opener. Something about that steadily building double-bass intro works the audience into a primal frenzy. And, for good measure, they followed it directly with “Creeping Death.” It was a win-win, and I’ll be borrowing that one-two punch for my own ideal set list.

Matt Wardlaw: I think they’re both perfect openers, but I’ve always enjoyed a good Metallica curve ball. In that vein, I think it would be pretty awesome if they used “Seek and Destroy” as an opener. One can argue that it might lose some of the casual fans, but I question that and feel like “Creeping Death” and “Whiplash” are equally deep and that’s what makes them exciting as openers, it’s a signal that Metallica is going to take some risks with the set list. I think they could communicate that same message by opening with “Seek and Destroy.”

Chuck Armstrong: Well, that’s a tough one. Both songs serve as near-perfect night openers for different reasons. But, as much as I love the ability of “Creeping Death” to immediately draw the crowd into the show for the rest of the night, I think I’d lean toward “Whiplash” being the better opening song for a one-night Metallica show. It’s relentless, it’s fast and it sets the tone for all that’s to come. Plus, you get tens of thousands of fans screaming, “We’ll never stop, we’ll never quit, ’cause we’re Metallica,” before the song is even wrapped up.

Read More: Here’s What to Wear to Metallica’s 2025 Tour

2) Similarly, “Master of Puppets” has closed almost every show on the first night, with “Enter Sandman” filling that role on the second night. Who gets the win here? Is there another, better option?

Wilkening: Again, these are both great choices, each would send the crowd home very happy. And obviously, if Metallica’s just going to play one show in your hometown they better play both of these extremely popular songs. So, as teased earlier, here’s my answer to both of these questions at once: They should open with “Enter Sandman” – which is perfect for that job – and close with “Puppets.”

Irwin: I’ve already picked “Master of Puppets” for my opener, so let’s keep “Enter Sandman” as the closer. Bookending the set with (arguably) the two most iconic tracks in Metallica’s arsenal gives us a strong foundation for an incredible show.

Rolli: I’m not a Black Album hater, but on a personal level, I would be fine never hearing “Enter Sandman” again. That said, I know it’s one of Metallica’s most important and beloved songs. But it’s also been nice to see “Master of Puppets” grow in pop-cultural stature since it appeared in Stranger Things season 4. These days I think they both resonate almost equally with a mainstream audience — they both have over a billion streams on Spotify — and because I’m partial to “Puppets,” I’m putting it last, preceded directly by “Enter Sandman.”

Wardlaw: I’d dig seeing them close with “One.” or even “For Whom the Bell Tolls.” Having seen them close with both “Sandman” and “Puppets,” I understand why they do it that way — the energy is undeniable. But I think the fans would be equally jacked to see them close with “One” or “Bells.”

Armstrong: Personally, I’d like to see Metallica close out the night with “Seek & Destroy.” As legendary as “Master” and “Sandman” are, they deserve their own spots earlier in the set list. “Seek & Destroy” is a moment when Metallica celebrate their history and their fans and there is no better song to end a one-night stay.

3) OK, here’s the big question: If you had to take Metallica’s typical two-night, 32-song set list and boil it down to one 16-song show, which songs are you keeping, and in what order? To keep this from just being a “dream set list,” let’s stick to songs they’ve played at least 10 times on the M72 tour so far. Lastly, try to include at least three songs from ’72 Seasons’:

Wilkening: It’s impressive that Metallica can play two separate sets that are both packed with hits, but when you boil it down to one night it’s flat-out staggering. I’ll admit this isn’t the most dynamic set, partly because “Nothing Else Matters” needs to be locked in a chest and thrown off a cliff into the ocean, and “Wherever I May Roam” can go jump in a lake too. But you’re gonna go home happy.

1. “Enter Sandman”
2. “For Whom the Bell Tolls”
3. “Creeping Death”
4. “72 Seasons”
5. “Whiplash”
6. “Lux Aeterna”
7. Kirk and Rob Doodle
8. “Welcome Home (Sanitarium)”
9. “Screaming Suicide”
10. “Moth Into Flame”
11. “Ride the Lightning”
12. “Sad But True”
13. “Fuel”
14. “Seek and Destroy”
15. “One”
16. “Master of Puppets”

Irwin: The two nights with no repeats version of M72 allowed Metallica to dig deeper into their catalog. It was an arrangement that felt perfectly designed for their die-hards, however the one-night stand version feels better for the casual Metallica fan. A 16-song set offers almost no time for album cuts. Instead, it’s wall-to-wall bangers (headbangers, to be precise). My suggested set list leans heavily on classics, with only two songs that were released in the last 20 years: “Lux Æterna” (from 2023’s 72 Seasons) and “The Day That Never Comes” (from 2008’s Death Magnetic). Is anyone really going to complain about a set overloaded with ‘80s and ‘90s hits? I doubt it. It would have been nice to fit “Hardwired” into the show, but there’s nothing I’d remove from this all-killer no-filler set.

1. “Master of Puppets”
2. “Lux Æterna”
3. “For Whom the Bell Tolls”
4. “One”
5. “Sad But True”
6. “Seek & Destroy”
7. “Fade to Black”
8. “Ride the Lightning”
9. “Fuel”
10. “Nothing Else Matters”
11. “Whiplash”
12. “Wherever I May Roam”
13. “Orion”
14. “The Unforgiven”
15. “The Day That Never Comes”
16. “Enter Sandman”

Rolli: It’s possible to craft an “all-killer” Metallica set that still has dynamics. As I already mentioned, the opening one-two punch of “Whiplash” and “Creeping Death” works perfectly, and it frees them up to delve into some mid-tempo classics that still have plenty of swagger and menace. Using Power Trip as a template, I’m opting for two 72 Seasons songs instead of three, and I’m giving the only other post-Black Album slot to “Fuel.” (I don’t think anybody would mind.) That song would also kick off a race to the finish line filled with bonafide thrash classics. Sure, there are some deep cuts I’d like to add, but this single set offers the perfect blend of crowd-pleasing and headbanging.

1. “Whiplash”
2. “Creeping Death”
3. “Sad but True”
4. “For Whom the Bell Tolls”
5. “Lux Aeterna”
6. “Harvester of Sorrow”
7. “Shadows Follow”
8. “Fade to Black”
9. “Wherever I May Roam”
10. “One”
11. “Fuel”
12. “Ride the Lightning”
13. “Battery”
14. “Seek & Destroy”
15. “Enter Sandman”
16. “Master of Puppets”

Wardlaw: Looking at the set lists from the two nights above, really brings home what a task it is for Metallica to compose a running order that appropriately covers their 40+ year history. I’d love to see them add just one more song slot and have it be a rotating deep deep cut. Imagine slipping “Phantom Lord” or “Jump in the Fire”  somewhere in the set. There could be some fun possibilities, that’s all I’m saying. But it’s a long show as it is and I know the horns would be up ending the night with “Seek & Destroy.”

1. “Creeping Death”
2. “”For Whom the Bell Tolls”
3. “Harvester of Sorrow”
4. “King Nothing”
5. “Lux Aeterna”
6. “Shadows Follow”
7. Kirk and Rob Doodle
8. “Welcome Home (Sanitarium)”
9. “Wherever I May Roam”
10. “Sad But True”
11. “Fuel”
12. “72 Seasons”
13. “Blackened”
14. “Master of Puppets”
15. “Enter Sandman”
16. “Seek & Destroy”

Armstrong: Since this is the M72 tour, my setlist is heavy with tracks from the new album, but it also spends plenty of time with some of the biggest hits of the band’s career as well as some relatively deep cuts — deep for a single night show. If you’re lucky enough to see “Whiplash” into “Leper Messiah” into “Blackened,” you might have just witnessed the greatest opening trio of any Metallica show. Not to mention a night that ends with “Sad But True,” “Master of Puppets” and “Seek & Destroy”; this isn’t just a potential setlist, this is a dream setlist.

1. “Whiplash”

2. “Leper Messiah”

3. “Blackened”

4. “Until It Sleeps”

5. “If Darkness Had a Son”

6. “Lux Aeterna”

7. “72 Seasons”

8. “Enter Sandman”

9. “For Whom the Bell Tolls”

10. “Orion”

11. “Harvester of Sorrow”

12. “Battery”

12. “Too Far Gone?”

13. “Fuel”

14. “Sad But True”

15. “Master of Puppets”

16. “Seek & Destroy”