The renowned metal band Metallica shocked their fans with a surprise show on Thursday night at The Independent, an intimate 500-person venue in San Francisco.

A few hours before the performance, The Independent announced the event on their social media accounts stating, “Surprise, San Francisco! Metallica! Tonight! Don’t walk, RUN to our box office with $20 cash right now to grab a wristband! It will sell out fast!” Within minutes of the announcement, the show sold out.

While the doors opened at 7:30 pm, Metallica wasn’t set to hit the stage until an hour later. According to Heavy Consequence, the band kicked off their set with “Whiplash” from their timeless album Kill Em’ All. This performance marked the first time they ever started a show with this track.

The 16-song setlist also included four tracks from Ride the Lightning and a three-song-encore of “Battery,” “Fuel” and “Seek and Destroy.”

Metallica recently dropped special reissues of their 1991 self-titled release known as The Black Album following the 30^th anniversary of the LP’s release. However, they only performed the songs “Holier Than Thou” and “Sad But True” from the iconic project.

The band announced a remastered box set edition along with the release of The Metallica Blacklist, a 53-track covers album of songs from their self-titled album. The Metallica Blacklist features covers from the likes of Phoebe Bridgers, Ghost, IDLES and many others.

Earlier this year, Metallica announced two shows for their 40^th anniversary as a band. On December 17 and 19, the band is scheduled to perform at the Chase Center in their hometown of San Francisco.

Photo Credit: Marv Watson