Metallica announced a last-minute, intimate club show at The Independent in San Francisco last night (Sept. 16) and played a 16-song set which marked their first full concert performance since November of last year.

News of the concert spread quickly after Metallica invited fans to come down on social media, reportedly stating, "Hey! Gonna let you in on a little secret .. We're playing tonight at The Independent in downtown SF. Grab a $20 bill and get your ass to the box office right now! Proof of vaxx is required to get a wristband and it's gonna sell out fast. One ticket per person, cash only!"

The metal giants then relayed that the "surprise gig" had already sold out.

The lucky fans who managed to grab a ticket were treated to hit songs from seven studio albums, as well as "No Leaf Clover," an original written and performed for the special S&M live album.

Most notably, Metallica bookended their show with the only two Kill 'Em All tracks to make it into the set -- opening with "Whiplash" for the first time in their career, while "Seek & Destroy" signaled the end of the show.

Watch video of "Seek & Destroy" below and see the complete set list for the night (via Setlist.fm) further down the page.

This surprise show was one where Metallica got the chance to get back in the saddle before two headlining performances later this month at the Louder Than Life festival in Louisville, Kentucky.

It had been quite a while since the metal legends were onstage for a proper concert, sidelined by the pandemic throughout 2020 and much of this year, as has been the case for all bands. Instead, Metallica had been toiling away, writing new material, but now Lars Ulrich has come out and said that it is "way too early" to be talking about a successor to 2016's Hardwired... To Self-Destruct.

The last full Metallica concert performance came on Nov. 14 last year at their own headquarters where they elected to play acoustically for the first half of the set before plugging in to cap off the night. Prior to that, their last live, in-person show with full-on distortion was on Sept. 8, 2019 with the San Francisco Symphony.

Metallica, "Seek & Destroy" — Live on Sept. 16, 2021

Metallica Set List — Sept. 16, 2021 at The Independent in San Francisco, California

01. "Whiplash" (first time as an opener ever)
02. "Ride the Lightning"
03. "The Memory Remains"
04. "Now That We're Dead"
05. "Holier Than Thou"
06. "No Leaf Clover"
07. "Sad but True"
08. "Moth Into Flame"
09. "Fade to Black"
10. "For Whom the Bell Tolls"
11. "Creeping Death"
12. "One"
13. "Master of Puppets"

Encore:
14. "Battery"
15. "Fuel"
16. "Seek & Destroy"

Metallica: A Photo Timeline of Their Remarkable Career

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