metallica
17:29 Tuesday, 15 March 2022
On March 14, 1982 Metallica played their very first show and, in celebration of the 40th anniversary of this historic event, the band shared photos of a promotional flyer from that gig alongside a hand-written setlist.
The lineup at the time comprised James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich, Dave Mustaine and Ron McGovney, who were all heard together on Metallica's 1982 demo, No Life 'Til Leather, which was self-released in the summer of '82. That release contained seven original songs, but, just a few months prior to the demo coming out, Metallica leaned more heavily on cover songs in their first live set and only performed two of their own tracks — "Hit the Lights" (spelled "Lites" on the hand-written set) and "Jump in the Fire."
Four of the nine songs played at Radio City in Anaheim, California four decades ago were Diamond Head covers, one of the band's earliest and most guiding influences. "Helpless," "Sucking My Love" and "The Prince" all got the nod, but the most noteworthy Diamond Head cover is, of course, "Am I Evil?", which was played that night in '82 and popularized later in Metallica's career.
Two other covers from the set — Blitzkrieg's "Blitzkrieg" and Sweet Savage's "Killing Time" — should be familiar to Metallica fans as both appeared on the Garage Inc. covers album by Metallica. "Let It Loose," originally by Savage, was also among the nine songs played at the group's first-ever show.
View the promo flyer and set list below.
Metallica Setlist — March 14, 1982 at Radio City in Anaheim, California (via setlist.fm)
01. "Hit the Lights" (Dave Mustaine broke a string during the song)
02. "Blitzkrieg" (Blitzkrieg cover)
03. "Helpless" (Diamond Head cover)
04. "Jump in the Fire"
05. "Let It Loose" (Savage cover)
06. "Sucking My Love" (Diamond Head cover)
07. "Am I Evil?" (Diamond Head cover)
08. "The Prince" (Diamond Head cover)
09. "Killing Time" (Sweet Savage cover)
