Metallica held their annual Helping Hands benefit concert at the YouTube Theater in Los Angeles on Friday (December 13). The group dusted off some long-unplayed rarities, choice cover songs, and classic hits during their acoustic and electric sets. Metallica played Reload tracks, “Low Man’s Lyric” and “The Unforgiven II” for the first time in many years, while also performing a reworked version of that album’s hit single, “Fuel.” They also played acoustic takes of “If Darkness Had a Son” and “Nothing Else Matters” while backed by a string section, and debuted their cover of Bachman-Turner Overdrive’s “Away From Home.” Pearl Jam bassist Jeff Ament also made a special guest appearance, joining the band on their Kill ‘Em All classic, “Hit the Lights.” Metallica announced during the show – which benefits their All Within My Hands Foundation – that they will upload the entire performance on YouTube on December 19. Helping Hands was Metallica’s final show of 2024, and they’ll return to the road in April of 2025. (Rolling Stone)