September 26, 1986 at the Solnahallen in Sweden was supposed to be a celebratory show for Metallica. Sadly it ended up being the final concert with bassist Cliff Burton who died the next morning in a tour bus accident.
Frontman James Hetfield, who had been sidelined after he broke his wrist in a skateboarding accident, had finally recovered and was back on guitar. The band had wowed crowds for six months as Ozzy Osbourne’s opener in support of the recently released Master of Puppets.
The Ozzy gigs had been so successful that now Metallica was headlining a tour through Europe with Anthrax opening.
The concert that night in Stockholm felt so good, the typically organized Metallica went a bit off script in front of the 2,000 Scandinavians that they covered the British metal group Blitzkrieg – something they would do on rare occasions. “[James] strapped on a guitar and was able to play the encore; I think it was “Blitzkrieg” or something,” lead guitarist Kirk Hammett told Rolling Stone.
read more at: Setlist.fm
