"Always look on the bright side" of Metal

Last July I went to the Iron Maiden and Avatar concert. At the very end, after their last song, when the stadium lights came back on, they played “Always Look on the Bright Side of Life” by Monty Python. This emotional contrast caught my attention, so I decided to do some digging and share what I found out.

A bit of history
The first traces seem to go back to the 1980s, when the early thrash and death metal bands started deliberately ending with contrasting songs from pop or disco (like Abba). But it’s only in the early 2000s that we find more official mentions: for example, an article in The Guardian talks about an Iron Maiden concert, and apparently they’ve been closing their shows with Monty Python for about 25 years now.

What happens to the audience during a concert

Concerts spark a huge release of dopamine and endorphins (the famous pleasure and wellbeing hormones). This is especially true at high-intensity shows like metal concerts, where loud volume, fast rhythms, distortion, and dense sound often mix with themes of anger and catharsis.

On a practical level, this shows up as:

• Physiological activation (like faster heartbeat and less sense of fatigue)

• Behavioral synchronization (shouting lyrics together, jumping, feeling part of one big community)

• Cognitive absorption (time feels like it goes by faster, emotions feel amplified and more intense).

The effect of contrasting music at the end

When the lights go on and reality sets back in, there’s a sudden clash between the euphoria of the show and the abrupt return to calm. Some people even talk about "Post-Concert Depression", where the feelings are so strong that everyday life afterwards feels a bit empty in comparison. It’s not a clinical diagnosis, of course, but it’s common enough to be worth mentioning.

This is where the cheerful, lighthearted music at the end of metal concerts comes in, serving as:

• A clear signal that the concert is over: the totally different mood, combined with the lights, leaves no doubt that it’s really finished and the band won’t be coming back for another encore.

• An emotional regulator: the songs chosen at the end promote oxytocin release and lower cortisol levels, helping calm down the emotional high and soften the “post-concert blues.”

• A way to help the crowd flow out: it unconsciously gets everyone walking at the same pace, more inclined to be polite and cooperative, making the exit smoother and easier.

• A memory booster: thanks to the peak–end rule, this humorous twist adds a final touch that makes the night even more memorable and reinforces the sense of belonging to a community.

In short

Ending metal concerts with contrasting songs (whether pop, dance, or ironic ones) has grown into a tradition that developed alongside the metal scene itself. It works like a kind of collective emotional care, a last shared moment of celebration before heading back home. So:

Don’t grumble, give a whistle
And this’ll help things turn out for the best and
Always look on the bright side of life…