During the Wherever We May Roam Tour after Jason Newsted's bass solo they play a jam of the song. During their Damaged Justice Tour, Kirk would play his portions of the song. During their '05 gigs, they played Orion as their first song.
Metallica played Orion during the Escape from the Studio '06 tour, as well as Rock in Rio 2011. In honor of Cliff, the band named its festival 'Orion music and more'. It was also played live in 2006 when Metallica played the entire Master of Puppets album. This song was played at the memorial for Cliff Burton, most notably because of the bass solo. In an episode of 'It's Electric,' Lars and Kirk reveal that during the writing stage, Orion had actually been part of the song Welcome Home (Sanitarium), under the name 'Only Thing'. The song features four solos: the first one by Kirk Hammett, the bridge by Cliff Burton, the third, a bass solo by Cliff Burton shortly after his bass interlude, and the last by Hammett again. There are three main parts of the song: the heavy beginning, the spacey bass-led interlude, and the ending recapitulation that brings back the heaviness. The song is more progressive than the band's previous work. It was written by James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich, and most notably, Cliff Burton. It is an instrumental and was named after the star constellation, Orion, due to the song's spacey sounding bridge.
