'Iron Clad Soldiers': Metallica Play 'Metal Militia' at Pinkpop

On March 27, 1982—13 days after their first-ever concert—Metallica played a massive show at the Whisky A Go Go in West Hollywood where they debuted the track that would eventually close out Kill 'Em All: "Metal Militia."

They included it throughout their setlists several times over the next few years until Feb. 2, 1985, at the Variety Theatre in Cleveland when they played it for what seemed like the final time. Metallica were on tour with W.A.S.P. and Armored Saint to support Ride the Lightning and they finished the night with a second, single-song encore of "Metal Militia."

Following that, it disappeared from their live shows.

That is, until April 20, 2004, at the Coliseum in Uniondale, New York.

As part of their Madly In Anger With the World tour in support of St. Anger, Metallica played a massive show that included two encores; the final encore opened with "Jump in the Fire" and closed with "Metal Militia." For the rest of '04, Metallica included "Metal Militia" in their sets only five more times and then put it back on the shelf until 2011.

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Needless to say, over the last 20 years, the song has rarely been pulled out onstage. So when Metallica opened their encore at the Pinkpop Festival in Landgraaf, Netherlands, with it, the crowd—and the entire Metallica universe—were shocked in the best possible way.

Not surprisingly, Metallica have decided to share the energy of the performance with the world. Metallica Family, you can check out "Metal Militia," performed live on June 17, 2022, in the player below.

Watch Metallica Perform "Metal Militia" in Landgraaf

"Metal Militia" was first recorded by Metallica a few months after their show at the Whisky A Go Go for the No Life 'Til Leather demo tape. James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich and Dave Mustaine are credited as the writers of "Metal Militia."

Metallica Fans Share Some of Their Favorite Lyrics

We asked you, the Metallica Family, what your favorite lyrics from the thrash legends are—and you answered. Though we aren't sharing every single response here, we've picked some of our favorites. In the gallery below, you'll see the lyrics, the song name and even the social media handle of each Metallica fan. What's your favorite lyric or line from a 'Tallica tune? Which one did we totally miss? Send us a message in our app and let us know.

Here Are Some of Our Favorite Metallica T-Shirts

Metallica have not only created some of the best heavy metal in the last 40 years, they've also created some of the most iconic T-shirts. In the last four decades, they've worked with incredible artists like Pushead, Brian Ewing and others to bring their songs and albums to life. In the gallery below, we've picked out some of our favorite T-shirts that are currently available at Metallica's official online store. Which one is your favorite?