(Raymond James Stadium, Tampa FL) Tampa served as the weekend home for heavy metal gods Metallica and their M72 World Touring companions Suicidal Tendencies* and Pantera* (*Sunday only), who put on 2 nights of concerts at the massive open-air stadium, and it was an otherworldly 'experience.'
To preface this write-up, note that I am not some metal or guitar afficionado. In fact, this was my first time to see Metallica, Suicidal Tendencies, or Pantera perform live, although Metallica is probably one of the few existing musical acts that has always been around since I can first remember ever listening to a cassette tape.
That being stated, I was eager to see what all of this online buzz was regarding around their show. Friday night, Metallica was in concert at the Raymond James Stadium. On that evening, the band held 'night 1' of its temporary residency, and had opening acts Limp Bizkit and Ice Nine Kills. As far as I could tell, that show sold out its 75,000 capacity.
75,000 people. On night 1. There was still to be a night 2.
Online, I was seeing photos and reading stories over the past couple of days that Metallica band members were taking in the local culture of Tampa to its fullest. There was an image of founding lead vocalist, James Hetfield, posing with a father and daughter while he enjoyed one of Tampa's best steak restaurants for dinner. There was a video of Hetfield being accompanied at a luncheon in a super-popular Columbian restaurant there in Ybor City. Saturday evening, lead guitarist Kirk Hammett held a talk event to discuss his new coffee book there at the Hard Rock Event Center. At Hammett's book event, he picked up a guitar for a live performance for the audience, and was joined by Metallica's bassist, Rob Trujillo when the pair ignited an excited frenzy inside of the 1,500-seat capacity space. There was a pop-up merch store erected there in Ybor City, which was to feature some items exclusively sold at the pop-up location and nowhere else.
So Sunday arrived. I made the drive from Orlando. I-4 was its regular nightmare, but central Floridians have learned to just accept the madness of this corridor. I made a quick stop at the Ybor City pop-up merch store and saw pretty cool stuff ranging from guitar pics to some pretty sweet Metallica hockey jerseys. I also saw Kirk Hammett's coffee book on display for purchase. The line was only about 20 people deep when I arrived, but had grown to about 50 by the time I exited.
I jumped into my car and proceeded toward Raymond James which was just about 10 minutes away according to my GPS. Upon my approach, I was pleasantly surprised to see that the parking situation was fairly well-organized. The cars kept moving and we weren't ever 'stuck' in traffic. The only time I came to a full stop was when I had to present my prepaid parking permit to the attendant monitoring the gate.
Out of my car, I started walking toward the massive stadium. Between the parking lot and the stadium was a large merchandise truck which sold similar items to what I saw in Ybor, but there were some subtle differences and it appeared I had different shirt styles to choose from here. The other side of the merch truck doubled as a photo op, as there were many who wanted to take a picture with one of the Metallica touring vehicles. The security line into Raymond James was minimal, from what I saw, people were waiting less than a minute to line up and actually get through the metal detecting scanners.
It should be noted here that Tampa was one of Metallica's "No Repeat Weekend" shows. Meaning to say, the first and second concerts would have their own unique and distinct setlists, with no songs being repeated from one night to the other. Even the opening acts would be different for each night. Even some of the shirts and merch were specific, with their own designs commemorating each respective night. This was the first time I had heard of such a concerting event, and am surprised that I had not heard of this with any other touring artist to date.
With that in mind, now time for the (Sunday) show...
4p: Doors Opened
6:00 - 6:45p Suicidal Tendencies
The current lineup included 1 original member of the band: vocalist, Mike Muir. You also had Dean Pleasants (guitar), Ben Weinman (guitar), Jay Weinberg (drums), and Tye Trujillo. The last time Suicidal Tendencies and Metallica played Tampa Bay, Rob Trujillo was on bass for Suicidal Tendencies when they opened for Metallica. Fast forward to 2025, and Rob Trujillo shifted from Suicidal Tendencies to join Metallica (2003), and now it's that same Trujillo's son (Rob) now on bass with Suicidal Tendencies (since 2021). How cool is that?
Tendencies played 6 songs during this time, inclusive of their heaviest. On this night, they brought out "You Can't Bring Me Down" and "Institutionalized". They were energetic and aggressive, and sounded just like the punk / thrash pioneers I dreamt them to be in person.
7:00 - 8:00p Pantera
Phil Anselmo (vocals) and Rex Brown (bassist) were on display Sunday night, as having had history with Pantera dating back to the 1980's. Anselmo's voice, however, didn't seem to have aged 40 years since. Rex only further reinforced that classic Pantera sound. On Sunday night, Zakk Wylde was on guitar, and Charlie Benante on drums. While Zakk's technique and delivery differed from that of Pantera's original guitarist Dimebag Darrell, his style only complimented the already-strong and aggressive sound, birthed in the 80's. Despite the band member changes, we still had 'Pantera' and it was exciting!
8:30 - 11:00p Metallica
Metallica had put on an amazing set just 48 hours prior. Friday night's show included mainstream-popular "Nothing Else Matters", "Sad But True", and culminated in the Stranger Things series-made-popular, "Master of Puppets". "Orion" and "Fade to Black", were other Metallica classics that were also played on Friday.
So with that impressive lineup on the first night, what could possibly be done to put together a 2nd full concert at the same venue on Sunday night?
Metallica's strong cult-following adorned an array of different metal band shirts: whether one was subscribed to touting Metallica shirts to the Metallica concert, or if you were one of the "I'll buy it at the show, then wear it starting tomorrow" groups, the crowd was a sea of black clothes. Reportedly, 70% of Friday night's audience returned on Sunday night. Also reportedly, Sunday night had a slightly lower attendance than Friday night's. But... it could also be argued that Sunday night's playlist was a better one. Sunday night's setlist opened with "Whiplash", followed by "For Whom the Bell Tolls", and "Ride the Lightning" right off the bat. "Wherever I May Roam", "The Unforgiven", "Inamorata" were the next highlights. "Battery" came in strong, as did "Moth Into Flame", followed by "One", and culminated with "Enter Sandman". Whether it was one of the older classics, or something from the 2023 '72 Seasons' newer releases, the stadium was frenzied and singing (screaming in some cases) along. The "Snake Pit", the fan-filled pit area contained within the circular stage runway that was positioned at the center of the stadium, gave attendees an up close and personal experience with each closeby Metallica band member. There was also the general admission area filling the rest of the ground level floor space. For those who could tolerate the standing-room only floor in either Gen Adm or the ultra-coveted Snake Pit area, they were treated to seeing the metal gods at eye-level.
For those of us positioned within the stands of the lower or upper bowls of the stadium, there was a circle of massive LCD displays which surrounded the circular runway stage. One could get their up-close facial views of each band member as those moments were projected onto the LCD screens. Occasionally, as with "One", clips from the original music videos were paired with the live view feeds which only further excited the already enthusiastic crowd, most of which was jumping in their place in the stands. There were of course mosh pits found throughout the stadium: larger ones formed on the floor, whereas concert buddies were slamming into their neighbors in the stadium seats. But no seat was a bad one: either you were ground level taking in that view, or had the broader picture view from the stands, all seats were good, just offering up different show perspectives.
I'll say that seeing Lars, Kirk, or James live in person was awe-inspiring. One was literally witnessing living legends on that stage. These were the same members of Metallica that I have known all my life. Rob Trujillo, while not an original member of the group, was a total badass on that bass. I've seen bands for which the bassline could be heard, but remained fairly invisible onstage. Trujillo took aggressive poses, riled up the crowd, and was the missing link that we didn't realize we were missing. Trujillo has been the longest-tenured bass player of Metallica, having been with the band since 2003. This night, we had 2025 Metallica, a Metallica 2.0, which was the most updated, but still the original "Metallica". I've heard so many guitar and drum players, but Metallica has always had a most distinct and defining sound, with their musicians wildly in sync with one another. Over the years, while still characterizable of Metallica, has matured and become more dimensional. On this night we were living out musical history. We were part of history being made.
The concert itself was loud and powerful. The sound was insane, and so wicked to hear live. The visuals were almost overwhelming as they created and drew forth so much emotion as one tried to process the band exuding greatness on the circular catwalk. The guitar solos were executed with dexterous precision, and Lars was a machine with his flawlessly tempo keeping.
As people woke up Monday morning, I'm certain many of them were still trying to wrap their heads around what had happened in the nights just prior. Perhaps they were admiring their new Metallica clothing swag in their bedroom, or possibly creating a shrine for the guitar pics they collected in the Snake Pit, the experience was surreal. Even on social media in the hours to follow were sharing memories of people somehow snagging and taking home one of the giant beach balls that were bouncing throughout the stadium. Even for myself who had gone into the concert 'familiar' with Metallica, I found myself drumming on my chair and slightly headbanging at my seat as the driving rhythms were impossible to not be carried away with them. When 70,000+ people are united and singing the same song lyrics, you feel as though you are part of something so much bigger than just a musical concert. The entire weekend was Metallica's world, and we were lucky to just be a part of it.
Bailey Guinigundo
To preface this write-up, note that I am not some metal or guitar afficionado. In fact, this was my first time to see Metallica, Suicidal Tendencies, or Pantera perform live, although Metallica is probably one of the few existing musical acts that has always been around since I can first remember ever listening to a cassette tape.
That being stated, I was eager to see what all of this online buzz was regarding around their show. Friday night, Metallica was in concert at the Raymond James Stadium. On that evening, the band held 'night 1' of its temporary residency, and had opening acts Limp Bizkit and Ice Nine Kills. As far as I could tell, that show sold out its 75,000 capacity.
75,000 people. On night 1. There was still to be a night 2.
Online, I was seeing photos and reading stories over the past couple of days that Metallica band members were taking in the local culture of Tampa to its fullest. There was an image of founding lead vocalist, James Hetfield, posing with a father and daughter while he enjoyed one of Tampa's best steak restaurants for dinner. There was a video of Hetfield being accompanied at a luncheon in a super-popular Columbian restaurant there in Ybor City. Saturday evening, lead guitarist Kirk Hammett held a talk event to discuss his new coffee book there at the Hard Rock Event Center. At Hammett's book event, he picked up a guitar for a live performance for the audience, and was joined by Metallica's bassist, Rob Trujillo when the pair ignited an excited frenzy inside of the 1,500-seat capacity space. There was a pop-up merch store erected there in Ybor City, which was to feature some items exclusively sold at the pop-up location and nowhere else.
So Sunday arrived. I made the drive from Orlando. I-4 was its regular nightmare, but central Floridians have learned to just accept the madness of this corridor. I made a quick stop at the Ybor City pop-up merch store and saw pretty cool stuff ranging from guitar pics to some pretty sweet Metallica hockey jerseys. I also saw Kirk Hammett's coffee book on display for purchase. The line was only about 20 people deep when I arrived, but had grown to about 50 by the time I exited.
I jumped into my car and proceeded toward Raymond James which was just about 10 minutes away according to my GPS. Upon my approach, I was pleasantly surprised to see that the parking situation was fairly well-organized. The cars kept moving and we weren't ever 'stuck' in traffic. The only time I came to a full stop was when I had to present my prepaid parking permit to the attendant monitoring the gate.
Out of my car, I started walking toward the massive stadium. Between the parking lot and the stadium was a large merchandise truck which sold similar items to what I saw in Ybor, but there were some subtle differences and it appeared I had different shirt styles to choose from here. The other side of the merch truck doubled as a photo op, as there were many who wanted to take a picture with one of the Metallica touring vehicles. The security line into Raymond James was minimal, from what I saw, people were waiting less than a minute to line up and actually get through the metal detecting scanners.
It should be noted here that Tampa was one of Metallica's "No Repeat Weekend" shows. Meaning to say, the first and second concerts would have their own unique and distinct setlists, with no songs being repeated from one night to the other. Even the opening acts would be different for each night. Even some of the shirts and merch were specific, with their own designs commemorating each respective night. This was the first time I had heard of such a concerting event, and am surprised that I had not heard of this with any other touring artist to date.
With that in mind, now time for the (Sunday) show...
4p: Doors Opened
6:00 - 6:45p Suicidal Tendencies
The current lineup included 1 original member of the band: vocalist, Mike Muir. You also had Dean Pleasants (guitar), Ben Weinman (guitar), Jay Weinberg (drums), and Tye Trujillo. The last time Suicidal Tendencies and Metallica played Tampa Bay, Rob Trujillo was on bass for Suicidal Tendencies when they opened for Metallica. Fast forward to 2025, and Rob Trujillo shifted from Suicidal Tendencies to join Metallica (2003), and now it's that same Trujillo's son (Rob) now on bass with Suicidal Tendencies (since 2021). How cool is that?
Tendencies played 6 songs during this time, inclusive of their heaviest. On this night, they brought out "You Can't Bring Me Down" and "Institutionalized". They were energetic and aggressive, and sounded just like the punk / thrash pioneers I dreamt them to be in person.
7:00 - 8:00p Pantera
Phil Anselmo (vocals) and Rex Brown (bassist) were on display Sunday night, as having had history with Pantera dating back to the 1980's. Anselmo's voice, however, didn't seem to have aged 40 years since. Rex only further reinforced that classic Pantera sound. On Sunday night, Zakk Wylde was on guitar, and Charlie Benante on drums. While Zakk's technique and delivery differed from that of Pantera's original guitarist Dimebag Darrell, his style only complimented the already-strong and aggressive sound, birthed in the 80's. Despite the band member changes, we still had 'Pantera' and it was exciting!
8:30 - 11:00p Metallica
Metallica had put on an amazing set just 48 hours prior. Friday night's show included mainstream-popular "Nothing Else Matters", "Sad But True", and culminated in the Stranger Things series-made-popular, "Master of Puppets". "Orion" and "Fade to Black", were other Metallica classics that were also played on Friday.
So with that impressive lineup on the first night, what could possibly be done to put together a 2nd full concert at the same venue on Sunday night?
Metallica's strong cult-following adorned an array of different metal band shirts: whether one was subscribed to touting Metallica shirts to the Metallica concert, or if you were one of the "I'll buy it at the show, then wear it starting tomorrow" groups, the crowd was a sea of black clothes. Reportedly, 70% of Friday night's audience returned on Sunday night. Also reportedly, Sunday night had a slightly lower attendance than Friday night's. But... it could also be argued that Sunday night's playlist was a better one. Sunday night's setlist opened with "Whiplash", followed by "For Whom the Bell Tolls", and "Ride the Lightning" right off the bat. "Wherever I May Roam", "The Unforgiven", "Inamorata" were the next highlights. "Battery" came in strong, as did "Moth Into Flame", followed by "One", and culminated with "Enter Sandman". Whether it was one of the older classics, or something from the 2023 '72 Seasons' newer releases, the stadium was frenzied and singing (screaming in some cases) along. The "Snake Pit", the fan-filled pit area contained within the circular stage runway that was positioned at the center of the stadium, gave attendees an up close and personal experience with each closeby Metallica band member. There was also the general admission area filling the rest of the ground level floor space. For those who could tolerate the standing-room only floor in either Gen Adm or the ultra-coveted Snake Pit area, they were treated to seeing the metal gods at eye-level.
For those of us positioned within the stands of the lower or upper bowls of the stadium, there was a circle of massive LCD displays which surrounded the circular runway stage. One could get their up-close facial views of each band member as those moments were projected onto the LCD screens. Occasionally, as with "One", clips from the original music videos were paired with the live view feeds which only further excited the already enthusiastic crowd, most of which was jumping in their place in the stands. There were of course mosh pits found throughout the stadium: larger ones formed on the floor, whereas concert buddies were slamming into their neighbors in the stadium seats. But no seat was a bad one: either you were ground level taking in that view, or had the broader picture view from the stands, all seats were good, just offering up different show perspectives.
I'll say that seeing Lars, Kirk, or James live in person was awe-inspiring. One was literally witnessing living legends on that stage. These were the same members of Metallica that I have known all my life. Rob Trujillo, while not an original member of the group, was a total badass on that bass. I've seen bands for which the bassline could be heard, but remained fairly invisible onstage. Trujillo took aggressive poses, riled up the crowd, and was the missing link that we didn't realize we were missing. Trujillo has been the longest-tenured bass player of Metallica, having been with the band since 2003. This night, we had 2025 Metallica, a Metallica 2.0, which was the most updated, but still the original "Metallica". I've heard so many guitar and drum players, but Metallica has always had a most distinct and defining sound, with their musicians wildly in sync with one another. Over the years, while still characterizable of Metallica, has matured and become more dimensional. On this night we were living out musical history. We were part of history being made.
The concert itself was loud and powerful. The sound was insane, and so wicked to hear live. The visuals were almost overwhelming as they created and drew forth so much emotion as one tried to process the band exuding greatness on the circular catwalk. The guitar solos were executed with dexterous precision, and Lars was a machine with his flawlessly tempo keeping.
As people woke up Monday morning, I'm certain many of them were still trying to wrap their heads around what had happened in the nights just prior. Perhaps they were admiring their new Metallica clothing swag in their bedroom, or possibly creating a shrine for the guitar pics they collected in the Snake Pit, the experience was surreal. Even on social media in the hours to follow were sharing memories of people somehow snagging and taking home one of the giant beach balls that were bouncing throughout the stadium. Even for myself who had gone into the concert 'familiar' with Metallica, I found myself drumming on my chair and slightly headbanging at my seat as the driving rhythms were impossible to not be carried away with them. When 70,000+ people are united and singing the same song lyrics, you feel as though you are part of something so much bigger than just a musical concert. The entire weekend was Metallica's world, and we were lucky to just be a part of it.
Bailey Guinigundo
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