What it's like to watch a Metallica concert on Apple Vision Pro

For a music fan, nothing beats a live concert.

- Eddino Abdul Hadi

The next best thing is to watch videos of such events, and the outstanding ones are those that make you feel like you are up close to the performers.

That was the experience I had while watching the new immersive concert film by American metal titans Metallica on an Apple Vision Pro mixed-reality headset.

The 26-minute, self-titled work released on March 14 is a concert film on steroids. You get high-resolution, 180-degree views of one of the biggest rock bands in the world, captured by 14 cameras set up around a gargantuan, doughnut-shaped stage.

You not only get front-row views, but you are also onstage with them. Frontman James Hetfield looms over you in a resolution so sharp you can see the fibres on his clothes. Tilt your head down, and you see the concert set list pasted on the floor near his feet.