Metallica wrapped their 3D movie shoot in Vancouver on Monday with an explosive $5 show for charity to close out their Full Arsenal Tour.

Metallica put on a stunning show at Rogers Arena last night, but man, did it ever take them a while to get going.

Cirque du Metallica is bigger, louder, crazier, more spectacular than anything the band has ever done before - or any metal band, for that matter. It gives new meaning to the term "overdone," making the word moot and begging the question, "Was it overdone enough?" Of course it was. This is Metallica. They have to keep topping themselves, or die trying.

Two sold-out nights at Rexall is testament to some fierce devotion, though, as with Iron Maiden a few weeks ago, likely most were hoping that the band would settle on particular eras. Ride the Lightning for this old man, though Kill 'em All would have been acceptable as well. There were more than a few screams for music from Master of Puppets and the self-titled blockbuster that launched them in the mainstream.

Metallica, headlining Saturday night of the Outside Lands festival in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park, proved just about as huge and satisfying and powerful as Metallica can be in 2012. With a greatest-hits setlist, a small war's worth of explosives and pyrotechnics, and a huge meadow of fans shouting along, the biggest heavy metal band in the world showed that not only can it win over casual listeners and non-fans, but that it's at its best when trying to do so. Compared to Metallica's four intimate and indulgent 30th Anniversary shows at the Fillmore last year, the more than two hours of outright rampage last night felt like a well-edited tour de force.