We only had tickets to the metallica show for, oh, 7 months, and it finally arrived. eric had gotten us floor seats, justifying it with “well it won’t be any worse than other pits we’ve been in”, and in the end it was the most ridiculous GA crowd i’ve ever been in. no it wasn’t rough, there was NO ONE AROUND US…the metallica stage is truly 360 (unlike u2), at center ice, with the crowd fully surrounding the set up. we had been hanging out in the parking lot since 3:15 but didn’t get in any lines until we saw them open the doors inside. we joined into a line which went super fast, and when we got in we could still get rail. that was a surprise to say the least. they really utilize their entire stage, with mics set up for james hetfield all around the stage, so no matter where you stood you were never really “in front” or “in back”. lars drum kit rotated, and the other 3 wandered around all night. but for some reason everyone clumped together in the traditional front and back of the stage. we were toward the side, hanging around with plenty of space. i actually left during the 2 openers to hang out with frank and jenn in the concourse, and when i went back after lamb of god finished i expected to have to fight to get back to eric and his friends – nope. walked right up, STILL. i was amazed. surely the floor would fill in by the time metallica started. nope. had so much room i could have danced like a freak all night and never touched anyone. ridiculous.
so as i said, i left during the openers so i have no comment. they were volbeat and lamb of god.
i am not familiar with a big chunk of metallica’s catalog, so this really was a show where i had absolutely no expectations. i could care less what they played cuz most i don’t know, and could just appreciate it as a sort of outsider. from beginning to end they were really together and on fire, and even tho i hate lars, he didn’t do a bad job hehe. they had pyro as expected (and no one started on fire! ha), which you could definitely feel the heat of on the floor. my only disappointment, if i could have one, was when they came out for the encore they started playing “bleeding me” (eric thinks it was “outlaw torn”) which is one of my favs from “load”, and for whatever reason lars stopped them all. they look confused about it too, but whatever. would have liked to hear that one (or “outlaw torn”, if eric is right, that one is great too).
1. That Was Just Your Life
2. The End Of The Line
3. Creeping Death
4. No Remorse
5. One
6. Broken, Beat And Scarred
7. Cyanide
8. Sad But True
9. Turn The Page (Bob Seger cover)
10. All Nightmare Long
11. The Day That Never Comes
12. Master Of Puppets
13. Damage Inc.
14. Nothing Else Matters
15. Enter Sandman
16. Blitzkrieg (Blitzkrieg cover)
17. Phantom Lord
18. Seek & Destroy
they stayed on stage quite long after “seek and destroy”, throwing out TONS of picks, and drum sticks (which lars wasted, by trying to lamely throw them into a bullseye sign someone had made, and kept missing). it was funny to walk out of the place watching people struggle to deflate the giant black metallica balls that came down from the roof during the last song. i walked out empty handed but that was fine with me, i’d rather have a true fan get souvenirs.
so it was a pretty good show. having hair to headbang with was sorta fun haha. would i pay so much to see them again, i’m not sure. i’m getting old and cheap haha.
oh and btw…my hot water tank exploded sometime between 6:30am and 2:30pm on monday. woke up and went to go to the basement as usual and the carpet was all wet. shit. so after a waterless day, a plumber came around 9pm to look at it, turned the water back on then came at 8am tues morning to replace it. so we’re back in business $1200 later.