Metallica’s Kirk Hammett falls offstage before 50,000 fans, laughs it off

Metallica guitarist Kirk Hammett briefly fell offstage during “Seek & Destroy” in Dublin on Friday, June 19, 2026, then returned to the show and joked about the spill online. Hammett, the San Francisco-born lead guitarist for the Bay Area metal band, lost his footing June 19 while Metallica was performing “Seek & Destroy” at Aviva Stadium. Fan-shot video circulating online showed him dropping from view near the edge of the stage as fans reached toward him. Hammett was helped back up and continued playing, missing only part of the song. He later shared footage of the moment on his Instagram Story with the caption “Slip & Destroy.” The incident happened during the first of Metallica’s two Dublin dates on its M72 World Tour, a “No Repeat Weekend” format featuring two different set lists on back-to-back shows. The band performed on a large in-the-round stage set up on the stadium pitch, with fans gathered around a central “snakepit” area. The June 19 set included “Creeping Death,” “Nothing Else Matters,” “Fuel,” “Seek & Destroy” and “Master of Puppets.” The show drew an estimated 50,000 people, according to Irish media, and was followed by a second Aviva Stadium concert Sunday. The fall came days after Hammett drew online attention for wearing a T-shirt at Metallica’s June 13 show in Budapest that read, “Taylor Swift Is a CIA Psyop.” The shirt appeared to be a joke riffing on pop-culture conspiracy theories, but some Taylor Swift fans criticized it online. Metallica is scheduled to continue the tour with shows in Glasgow, Cardiff and London before heading to Las Vegas for a Sphere residency later this year.