Metallica: Prepare for a hell of a show

The tens of thousands of fans expected to descend on Joburg's FNB Stadium tomorrow for the Metallica show are guaranteed metal, smoke, fire and their money's worth.

Charging onto the stage to the theme music from The Good, The Bad and the Ugly , the thrash metal legends launched their South African tour in Cape Town with the fury of a tornado. Metallica proved to be worth the wait on Wednesday night, the first of two shows at the Bellville Velodrome .

Bassist Robert Trujillo and guitarist Kirk Hammett chugged out insane riffs that added fuel to an amazing display of pyrotechnics .

Their two-hour performance brought thousands of screaming fans to a foot-stomping rise.

Local punk rock band Fokofpolisiekar set the pace as the opening act with numerous hard-belting numbers .

From a large screen beaming down images of singer James Hetfield, drummer Lars Ulrich, Trujillo and Hammett, the four dispelled any disappointment left over from their South African 2006 tour, belting out old-time favourites such as Master of Puppets, For Whom the Bell Tolls and Justice for All.

With so much sound and fury, it's obvious the demi-gods of metal are far from ou toppies past their sell-by date.