Metallica has launched a new concert series called “#MetallicaMondays,” where the band will stream the complete video of a live show every Monday on the group's YouTube channel as well as Facebook.
The band said in a statement, “While we’re all doing our part and staying home, we find ourselves missing live music, so how about we dive back into a few of our favorite shows at a socially responsible distance?” The first show streamed on Monday (March 23rd) and was recorded on June 8th, 2019 at Slane Castle in Meath, Ireland.
During the set, Metallica dedicated its cover version of the traditional Irish folk song “Whiskey In The Jar” to late Thin Lizzy frontman Phil Lynott. Metallica recorded a Grammy-winning version of “Whiskey In The Jar” in 1998, reportedly inspired by Thin Lizzy's 1973 version.
Metallica's concert at Slane marked the band's first appearance in Ireland since it played in Belfast in 2010 and Dublin in 2009.
Guitarist Kirk Hammett told us not long ago that Metallica has to be in better than average shape to play its music live: “There's a physicality to our music that we cannot ignore, so we just kind of have to keep ourselves in a certain sort of physical sort of state where that, you know, we can't let ourselves get to a point where we can't play these songs, you know. That's just not allowed. You know, when we write this music, we have to make sure that we can play it and play it, you know, when we need to play it.”
Earlier this week, Metallica announced that its South American tour, originally planned for April, has been postponed until December. In addition, the band's appearances at three Danny Wimmer Presents-produced festivals in May have been canceled: Epicenter in Charlotte, Welcome To Rockville in Daytona and Sonic Temple in Columbus.