Metallica played ‘Fixxxer’ from their 1997 album ‘Reload’ for the first time live at one of their 40th anniversary shows.

The metal veterans played the first of two fan club-only concerts marking their four decades as a band at San Francisco’s Chase Center on Friday (December 17) and rolled out the rarity as part of the celebrations.

“We are grateful that you have been along with us for 40 years, and we are so happy that you’re here still after all this time,” frontman James Hetfield told the audience during the show [via Stereogum].

“After 40 years, there’s still firsts,” Hetfield said, referring to the band debuting ‘Fixxxer’ live. You can see footage of the performance below.

The second of Metallica’s shows is happening tonight (December 19) at San Francisco’s Chase Center.

For those unable to attend in person, the set will be streamed live free of charge on Amazon’s Twitch account. It will also stream for Amazon members globally on the shopping giant’s Amazon Music and Prime Video platforms.

Metallica will later release the sets for on-demand viewing on the Prime Video channel The Coda Collection. A concrete release date for that launch is yet to be announced.

As part of a partnership with Amazon, Metallica have linked up with DJ Mode on Amazon Music to launch their own temporary radio station, The Metallica Takeover. It’ll be available exclusively to Amazon Music Unlimited subscribers and Prime members; per the band’s website, it’ll feature “exclusive interviews and other features giving listeners something unique each time they tune in”.

Elsewhere, Metallica recently announced the rescheduled dates for their COVID-delayed South American tour, which is due to kick off in April. They also launched the Metallica Black Box, an ongoing project that showcases rare artefacts and footage from the band’s history.