"Heavy Metal Is Godhead": Metallica On Apple Vision Pro Sells VR And Then Some

I went to a Metallica concert in Mexico with my Apple Vision Pro.

After Whiplash, I left my couch in Manhattan to find my AirPods Pro in another room. I needed to hear One and Enter Sandman a little bit louder. As I type this, I'm now considering what a pair of AirPods Max can offer when it comes to future concerts like this one. I've never really been drawn to headphones, but as I ponder attending concerts like this I guess I'm now in the market.

Somewhere on Staten Island my buddy sang along. I could barely hear him over the music, so I upped his volume, maxed the venue's and started head-banging as a sustained chill ran down my spine.

The video is 25 minutes long and represents a landmark moment in the history of virtual reality. Some Metallica fans will walk into Apple Stores, hear Whiplash during a demo, and then make a $3500 purchase to experience One and Enter Sandman at home too.

The concert cuts between wide views of the entire venue and intimate eye-to-eye contact with both the band and crowd. One of the angles is set up inches from Lars Ulrich, close enough to feel sweatier at the sight, another sees you looking down at the crowd as if you're surfing over them, others set the vibe backstage or walking out with the band. When an inflatable ball that was dropped on the crowd came toward me I tried punching it away.

Apple says it built a custom stage layout featuring 14 Apple Immersive cameras. Some of the best moments here are floating toward the band above a sea of iPhones recording their views underneath.

"Heavy Metal is godhead," they say at one point.

That's a vibe delivered. If you could be the spirit of Heavy Metal for 25 minutes it would feel like this, disembodied and floating in space between the music and fans.

I saw Metallica in reality once in Los Angeles and again, decades later, with my VR headset when they played in Mexico. Many of us have a mental model of VR experiences eating physical ones, but this isn't exactly right. I went to a Metallica concert with a friend in VR and listened to their music for hours afterward. I then looked up tickets to one of their physical shows for the first time in years and started making plans for how I can intersect with their ongoing tour.

There's absolutely a marathon haptic, visual and auditory experience to be had with Metallica at a physical concert. I needed VR this good to remind me how great physical reality can be.

Check out Metallica now on Apple Vision Pro or get a demo in an Apple Store.