METALLICA Performs ‘Devil’s Dance’ For First Time In 18 Years At Second Las Vegas Sphere Show — October 3, 2026

Ever wondered what it feels like when Metallica suddenly reaches almost two decades into the past and pulls out a song nobody expected to hear? At Sphere in Las Vegas on October 3, 2026, “Devil’s Dance” returned to the stage for the first time in 18 years, instantly turning the second night of the band’s Life Burns Faster residency into one of the weekend’s biggest talking points.

The surprise came early. After opening with “Blackened,” followed by “Fuel” and “Leper Messiah,” Metallica dropped into the dark, grinding groove of “Devil’s Dance.” The song had not been performed live since June 7, 2008, making its Sphere comeback a genuine deep-cut moment rather than another familiar greatest-hits selection.

That 18-year gap is what gives the performance its real weight. “Devil’s Dance,” originally released on 1997’s Reload, has always occupied a different corner of Metallica’s catalog: slower, heavier and built around menace rather than speed. Hearing that riff return inside one of the most technologically overwhelming venues in the world made the song feel unexpectedly current again.

October 3 was the second show of Metallica’s Las Vegas Sphere residency, and the band continued its No Repeat Weekend approach with a completely different set from October 1. That gave longtime fans a reason to watch every night closely. The reward on Saturday was not just “Devil’s Dance,” but a set packed with songs that rarely appear together.

The moment also strengthened the argument that October 3, 2026 may end up being remembered as one of the best concerts of the residency for die-hard fans. A giant production can impress anybody, but a surprise song that has been absent for 18 years gives a concert something technology alone cannot manufacture: genuine unpredictability.

James Hetfield’s delivery fits “Devil’s Dance” especially well in 2026. The song does not need frantic movement to feel heavy. Its power comes from the space between the notes, Hetfield’s controlled vocal phrasing and the thick rhythm-guitar pulse underneath it. In a room as enormous as Sphere, that deliberate pace can feel even more imposing.

Robert Trujillo’s bass presence is equally important. “Devil’s Dance” has always been a groove-driven Metallica track, and its low-end movement gives the riff a physical quality. That makes it a particularly interesting choice for a venue designed around immersive sound as much as immersive visuals.

Kirk Hammett’s guitar work adds the tension that keeps the song from becoming static. Instead of relying on pure speed, the arrangement lets individual guitar lines rise through the groove, while Lars Ulrich’s drums hold the performance together with a heavy, deliberate pulse.

The comeback also arrived during a night full of deep cuts. Later in the set, Metallica performed “The Outlaw Torn” for the first time since September 8, 2019. Putting both songs into the same concert made the second Sphere show feel especially aimed at listeners who know the band far beyond the obvious singles.

That balance is one of the most interesting parts of the Sphere residency so far. Metallica can still close a night with “One” and “Enter Sandman,” but the No Repeat format gives them room to place songs like “Devil’s Dance,” “Orion,” “King Nothing” and “The Outlaw Torn” beside the stadium standards.

For fans who have followed Metallica for decades, a performance like this carries a different kind of excitement. You already know what “Enter Sandman” sounds like in an arena. You may have seen “For Whom the Bell Tolls” several times. But an 18-year live absence creates the feeling that something rare is happening in real time.

It also proves how large Metallica’s catalog has become. A song can disappear for nearly two decades, return without warning, and still immediately sound at home in a modern set. That kind of depth is one reason the Sphere residency can sustain multiple no-repeat nights without feeling like the band is simply filling space.

Whether “Devil’s Dance” stays in rotation or disappears again remains part of the fun. What matters is that on October 3, Metallica made an 18-year absence vanish in a few seconds. Inside Sphere, surrounded by a production built to make everything look enormous, the rarest thing onstage was still the song itself.

For a look back at “Devil’s Dance” before this 2026 comeback, watch Metallica perform the song in Chorzów, Poland on May 28, 2008. It captures the track during the same era as its final run of appearances before the long absence that ended at Sphere.

Another revealing comparison comes from Madison Square Garden on March 10, 1997. This version shows how “Devil’s Dance” sounded close to the period when the song was new, long before its unexpected return became one of the defining surprises of Metallica’s October 3, 2026 Sphere concert.