Two Metallica fans have been arrested after climbing over part of the band's set at a show in Perth, Australia on Saturday

James Hetfield on stage looking up into the difference

(Image credit: Getty Images)

Two Metallica fans have been arrested and charged after allegedly scaling the large central tower set up inside the metal legends' show in Perth, Australia on Saturday night (November 1).

The first show of Metallica's Australian tour took place at Optus Stadium; footage and photos shared across social media both during the concert and in the immediate aftermath appear to show two men climbing up the tower, which was attached to a platform near the centre of the stadium and rigged with huge speaker stacks.

According to a report published by The West Australian, two men - a 20 year old from Bunbury and a 23 year old from Australind - were arrested soon after by WA Police and have been charged with trespassing, with a court appearance due at a later date.

@mj_lovinglife
♬ original sound - 💛MJ💛

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♬ original sound - 🖤Dylan🖤

Metallica's Perth show featured a career-spanning setlist from metal's biggest band, with nine of the Four Horsemen's 11 albums getting a showing. Despite being part of the M72 world tour, designed to promote Metallica's most recent album, 2023's 72 Seasons, only one track from the album was played in the form of Lux Æterna.

It's perhaps understandable that Metallica wanted to give Aussie fans a more mixed-up setlist given that it was the metal icons' first show in Australia for over 12 years. In 2019, the band cancelled a planned Australian and New Zealand tour as frontman James Hetfield went to rehab. Speaking about how the band operated while Hetfield was in rehab, drummer Lars Ulrich told the official Metallica podcast So What! in 2023:

"What James went through at the tail end of ’19 into ’20 was something where it really felt like I – and the rest of the guys in the band – had to give him the space that he needed, had to really take a step back, and just suspend everything that was on the table.

"We needed to do that for our friend and for our bandmate and partner," he added. "Then, slowly, the pieces started coming back together in the spring of ’20, and then everything got side-swiped by the horrific [events] of Covid and the lockdown."

Metallica will follow their current run of Australia dates with a show in New Zealand on November 19, before finishing off their year with shows in Qatar, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates. They return to Europe and the UK next summer.

Merlin was promoted to Executive Editor of Louder in early 2022, following over ten years working at Metal Hammer. While there, he served as Online Editor and Deputy Editor, before being promoted to Editor in 2016. Before joining Metal Hammer, Merlin worked as Associate Editor at Terrorizer Magazine and has written for Classic Rock, Rock Sound, eFestivals and others. Across his career he has interviewed legends including Ozzy Osbourne, Lemmy, Metallica, Iron Maiden (including getting a trip on Ed Force One courtesy of Bruce Dickinson), Guns N' Roses, KISS, Slipknot, System Of A Down and Meat Loaf. He has also presented and produced the Metal Hammer Podcast, presented the Metal Hammer Radio Show and is probably responsible for 90% of all nu metal-related content making it onto the site.

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