Last night was a blast. I'll split this up into several sections, starting with how I got in at the gate and then how things went with each band that played. I.) The gate... There were metal detectors, as one would expect. I had to hide my pocket knife that I always carry in a pocket of my Leather Jacket. (Yes, the same one from High School.) The security people also made us empty our pockets and take off our belt too. I thought that was rather ridiculous. Still, I got through and no harm was done. II.) The Floor... I decided to pay an exorbitant amount of money so I could be on the floor as close to the stage as possible. I had to stand (and deal with a Mosh Pit near me during Down's set) but, that's part of attending Metal concerts. Sure, my legs got tired but, I suffered through it anyway. That's what a good Headbanger does. Also, I ran into one of my younger brother's friends on the Floor. I sent him a friend request earlier this morning before leaving the house. III.) The Sword... I had never seen or heard anything about this band before. The only reason I had even known of their existence was because they were on the bill as an opening act. Anyway, they rocked and rocked hard. Most of their set list seemed to be acoustic too. I don't remember the singer singing many lyrics in any of the songs they played. Anyway, I'm downloading these guys right now, along with Slayer, Blue Öyster Cult and an 1980's band from Canada called 'Sword'. IV.) Down... They didn't play one song I recognized. That sucks. I was hoping that they would play a PanterA song or two since both Phil Anselmo and Rex Brown of PanterA are in Down. Hell, they even have the guitar player from Crowbar. It's not like the Down Line-up couldn't have handled 'Walk' or '5 Minutes Alone'. Having to worry about this fucking Mosh Pit right behind me during the Down set didn't help matters. I had to curse at and threaten a few assholes. Phil did his best to make sure the show was cool. James Hetfield even went on stage with Down for the last song or two. Still, it wasn't what I would have hoped. Hopefully, they'll do better the next time I go to see them. I did like the way Phil ended his set. He ended it by getting the crowd to sing the first line or two from the Led Zeppelin classic Whole Lotta Love. That man has excellent taste in Metal. V.) MetallicA... Now this band's performance was one of the best shows I've seen in years. Before it started, there were smoke machine releasing smoke into the air, which I thought was odd. The band wasn't on stage yet and there wasstill plenty of smoke in the air from all the weed people were smoking around me. As usual, it had no effect on me. I wouldn't need or want that effect anyway. So, why the hell did MetallicA have smoke machine releasing smoke into the air? I'll tell you why... It's because they opened up with a freaking Laser light show, while playing For Whom the Bell Tolls! I have never seen that at any concert I've gone to before, not even the 3 times I've seen Kiss. (Why hasn't Kiss done that before? They've done everything else. Blue Öyster Cult did it when they toured Japan in 1977.) Talk about starting the evening's festivities with an Ass-whoppin', heh? From there it was just one bad-ass song after another. Some were from the new record, Death Magentic. Some people have, in my opinion, unfairly criticized this record. Those people would not have criticized it if they heard the way MetallicA played Cyanide live last night. That was cool. As usual for MetallicA concerts, the audience served as the '5th member of the band', meaning that we the audience sang along with the songs. Often times, the band would quit singing and just let the audience sing it for them. No one ever missed a beat, even on the new stuff. That's damn impressive to get an arena with at least 30,000 people in it to sing along in unison. Getting us all to bang our fists in the air in unison was equally as impressive. Hitler and his cronies at Nuremberg couldn't have even imagined the co-ordination that just naturally took place. That is yet another reason why I think of Rock'N'Roll as the soul of God personified through Music. Something like that just doesn't happen without some considerable divine inspiration. Oh, and did I mention the coffins? Their stage this time around had these huge metal coffins hanging over their heads. These coffins would raise and lower depending on the song, flashing different lights and lasers as required. It really made the show much more dynamic than you'd expect. I've seen some wild shit at concerts but, I've never seen floating coffins in the air. As if the coffins and Lasers weren't enough for you, there were also pyrotechnics. That surprised me since James Hetfield nearly incinerated himself with a pyrotechnic accident on stage in 1993. Anyway, the explosions were big enough to feel the heat from anywhere in the arena. Where I was standing on the floor within 4 meters of the stage really made me feel the heat. It felt good. Having these explosions go off and a ring of fire around the drum set just before One (and around Lars Ulrich's drum set at various times in the show) was also pretty cool. I really liked how they had different color flames throughout the show. That was a nice touch. That's also something I don't remember Kiss doing too often. Towards the end of the show, they finally started playing the really heavy old-school stuff that made me a fan in the 1990's. After One, they started playing Black Album and Master of Puppets material. The songs from Master included the Title track Damage, Inc. and The Thing that should not be. I was disappointed they didn't play Leper Messiah but, we'll get back to that later. From the Black Album, they started with Nothing Else Matters, which has to be one of the best Anti-Establishment songs ever recorded. I had forgotten just how much Nothing Else Matters mattered to me. I'm quite the boys in the band gave me a reminder. I guess sometimes we need these little reminders to show us that we do indeed have a heart. Thanks Guys. After Nothing Else Matters wound itself down, James immediately started playing one of my all-time favorites, Enter Sandman. Of all the songs I sang along to that night, this one was my 2nd favorite. It didn't matter that my throat and mouth were both dry. It didn't matter that my legs were tired from standing all night in those combat boots. It didn't matter that my arm was tired from constantly pumping my fist in the air and giving the guys the Horns all night. I soldiered on, because that's what a good Headbanger does. Anyway, they took a breather after that one and came back with Blackened. After that they paused again so James could address the audience. He explained that the next song they were going to play caused controversy wherever it was played. That struck me as odd because I didn't remember any songs from this band that caused controversy. I did think of Sympathy for the Devil, though. That turned out to be entirely appropriate. The song they played next was their equivalent of Sympathy. What James said was priceless... "This song causes controversy wherever we play it and I just want to apologize in advance... if this song is just too heavy..." He then laughs his maniacal laugh as I hear the opening riff for my favorite sing-along song of the night, Sad But True. By the way, the reason I call this tune MetallicA's equivalent of Sympathy for the Devil, is because it has the same subject; some poor fool losing his soul to the Devil. That was the last song before the encores. The encores were two songs from the first album, Kill'em All. First was Hit The Lights to which the crowd was quite enthusiastic. Hearing MetallicA play that live is a real thrill. After that, they take yet another break, trying to convince us that they wouldn't play another song. No one bought that Bullshit. Lars did take the time to investigate a sign someone was holding near me in front of the barricade around the stage. The sign said 'Lars, Hurricane Katrina took my Drumsticks. Need yours!' After some playful banter with the girl holding the sign, he gave her the Drumsticks in his hands. I know he has millions of them but, it was still rather magnanimous of him. After retaking the stage like the conquering heroes they are, James addressed the crowd again. He asked the managers to raise the house lights. He told all of us that he wanted them up so he could watch us and make sure we sang along to the last song of the night. I was hoping it would be Leper Messiah but, it wasn't. It was something equally as good and from the first album. They played Seek and Destroy. Not only is it bad ass to hear that song played Live, it's also bad ass to sing along to as well. I used to sing along with this one at Karaoke all the time when some old friends of mine used to run a Karaoke bar. It was in heavy rotation along with other Old-School MetallicA tracks, Iron Maiden, Drowning Pool and HIM's Wings of a Butterfly. Also, there was some drunk (but still attractive) 30-something year old woman going absolutely nuts when the band FINALLY played this song, which she had wanted to hear all night. She was hanging on to the railing along the stage's perimeter while headbanging and inadvertently shaking her ass about an inch away from my crotch. If I didn't think she had a man with her, I may have asked her for he phone number. Even still, another guy saw this going on and gave me a knowing nod while we just smiled at each other. A few moments later, that same guy looked back again and I made him laugh by pretending to spank the girl who's grinding her ass into my crotch. That was hilarious. I'm listening to that song as I type this part of the blog entry on a vinyl LP. Most of today's bands couldn't even lick the dog shit off this song's boots. During the song, a shitload of black beach balls fell out of the rafters onto the stage and into the crowd. Combine that with all the guitar picks and Drumsticks that were thrown into the crowd and I'd say that MetallicA is one of the most generous bands around. How many other bands give the crowd a parting gift? Anyway, the band did extremely well. They demonstrated what a good show is supposed to be, like the consummate professionals they are and clearly demonstrated why I think of Rock'N'Roll as the Soul of God personified through Music. There's just no other way to explain how that band's music is so powerful. Selling over 100 Million records probably doesn't hurt, either. - msbae
God, I really have to go to a Metallica concert. My brother says he's no longer into them, which means it's just me now, and it would be no fun for me just going to a concert alone! Glad you had a good time, msbae. J.
I really like their new album, easily the best since the Black album. I saw them in 1993, amazing concert. I'm jealous. I had a chance to see them on this tour in Boston but I couldn't get out of work long enough for the trip. I loved Rolling Stone's review (4/5 Stars). "Death Magnetic is the musical equivalent of Russia's invasion of Georgia — a sudden act of aggression from a sleeping giant." Awesome.
I've done some freelance concert reviewing in the past, so I've been to a number of concerns by myself. It's kinda fun, actually - several times I've struck up conversations with the people around me and been invited to parties afterwards. About 10 years ago I reviewed a Marilyn Manson concert and had to rush to get there after work without time to change, so I showed up in khaki slacks and a button down shirt, standing there taking notes in a little notebook. I had extremely good comped seats, so was surrounded by these uberfans who were decked out in full-on Manson costumes. These goth girls next to me thought I was so hilariously out of place that it made me cool, in a bizzaro world kind of way. Fun time.
Yeah, but I'm a very social person. I can be content when I'm alone, but there are some things that require friends; Star Trek movies, amusement parks and music concerts. Oh yeah. I was raised on the black album (although my favorite album is still "Master"), but I love the new album. My brother gave me his copy since he said he wasn't into them any more. J.
I think I've seen Metallica like 8 or 9 times, can't remember. Always a good show. BTW, do you remember if Down played this? Stone The Crow Always dug that live. Also, keep in mind that Phil can't sing as high as he used too. Dying hurt his vocal chords, which is why Cemetary Gates was never on a Pantera playlist after that.
No, I would have recognized that tune. Personally, I would have been tickled pink if they played New Orleans is a Dying Whore. Considering that they were in New Orleans, it would have been quite Anti-Establishment of them. That is a cool review. Cyanide is easily my favorite. That is a throwback to the Old-school that the universe needed to hear.
Man I am now excited for December 7th. I dont actually have tickets for the concert but I am working it that day so ill be able to go check it out on my break. Best. Event. At Rexall. Since Cruefest. I am just glad i get first dibs on shirts.
I like their music because it kicks so much ass (I thought Death Magnetic is awesome), but they became such pricks that I can't bring myself to shell out the major bucks it would cost to see them today. I've softened my stance a bit over the years (DM did a lot to heal the wounds caused by St. Anger and their douche-baggery), but it is still a pretty penny to drop on a concert. If I knew that they would play So What?, that might push me over the edge. That is a fun song to sing along to. Glad you enjoyed the concert.
Now I want to dig up my Black Album. Nothing Else Matters was my song with the guy I loved 12 years ago. He introduced me to it. (And Marilyn Manson and Nine Inch Nails). Memories... Sad But True is good, but The Unforgiven is definitely my favourite.
I've been mildly impressed by the new album and find it gets better with each subsequent listen. I've never seen the band live and every time I listen to Live Shit: Binge and Purge I swear to myself I MUST go and see a concert. BUT, I simply can't justify £75 (before travel) for the cheapest ticket at either London or Birmingham. So, I guess I'll live with the fact I'll never see MetallicA live Hugo - Sad but true
Fuck, now I have to listen to all my Metallica albums, again. Thanks for the review of the concert, brilliant!