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.it's always a moving occasion. Sure, the band takes the stage, but the children and parents for whom the Bridge School Benefit is put on in the first place take the CENTRE stage - literally. They sit and stand behind the band, and their presence reminds everyone that these performances, these unique acoustic performances, wring out something special.

This wasn't Metallica's first Bridge School Benefit of course, but tonight's 8 song set certainly eclipsed their previous appearance here.

They rehearsed against the clock for this, and you sensed beforehand that maybe they worried they'd be under-prepared...but when the moment came, they were not only superbly prepared but found enough seat in their collective pants to fly a little higher than anyone expected.

Opening with late '60s/early '70s Mowtown act Rare Earth's 'I Just Want To Celebrate' as an introduction, the band found their stride breaking open with Nazareth's 'Please Don't Judas Me', before doing a good (and surprising) spin on Garbage's 'Only Happy When It Rains'.

But for me, the moment it hit the next level was as Hetfield started to sing Dire Straits' 'Brothers In Arms', a song unimaginable as a Metallica cover when it was written, and frankly, one I was enormously surprised they'd chosen to cover...but it worked so well, turned into a stark, stripped down, precise and melancholic hymn, truely reflective of the deeper weight the evening held and a wonderful piece of unification on an evening when such things were more important than anything else.

What the guys did to 'Disposable Heroes' was absolutely marvelous, taking it's brooding menace and re-framing it with a dirty, muddy-booted, peet-infested scent, keeping it's power and strength whilst giving it new, jaunty celtic life. And the re-working of 'All Within My Hands' proved just how rich and versatile the '...Anger' era material was, Trujillo and Hammett up and off their feet, 'electrified' if you will by the energy of the moment.

The final two songs, Bob Seger's 'Turn The Page' and 'Nothing Else Matters' are tried and trusted acoustic favorites, true crowd pleasers and both were delivered to tumultuous applause.

Fitting closers for a stirring event, Metallica opened up their acoustic wings perhaps wider than ever, taking a few gambles and finding a winning formula.