Fire, Lasers, Giant Exploding Balloons and epic visuals made for one killer night of Metallica
In between the sexual harassment, advancement and other fuckery, I managed to actually see most of the show. So here goes...
36 Years ago Metallica was formed when vocalist/guitarist James Hetfield responded to an advertisement posted by drummer Lars Ulrich in a local newspaper. "Newspaper"? "What the hell is that" many of you are probably thinking.
Starting the show with a screening of the graveyard scene from "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly," like days of the past.
The band threw down current tracks like “Atlas, Rise!” and “The Memory Remains” before the band left the stage for a brief pause. Then a the famous black-and-white video from 1991 began playing on the massive video screens. Lead guitarist Kirk Hammet then returned and began plucking the A-minor chords of “The Unforgiven” from the album “Metallica” — also known as “The Black Album” — as the audience cheered for more.
Shortly into the set, James set things straight and thank God he did. Some fans tend to get a little tired of political bullshit at shows and thank you Metallica for not being those guys.
"Let me make something clear here," he said. "We don't give a shit, all right? We don't give a shit about the differences. We don't care who you voted for. We don't care the color of your skin. We do not care what you've done in the past. We do not care what you do or don't eat. Who you want to marry, we don't care. Those are all differences. We're here for similarities, all right? We're here to celebrate life together and all are welcome here. You are Metallica family. Are you with us?" 'You are Metallica family'
The crowd were definitely with him.
Robert Trujillo, who has been the band’s bassist since 2003, thrashed on his bass in a solo as footage of Metallica’s original bassist, Cliff Burton, played on video monitors behind him. (Burton died tragically in Sweden in a bus accident while on tour with the band in 1986 at the age of 24. He had been replaced by Jason Newsted, who played with Metallica from 1986 until 2001.) Trujillo can easily go toe to toe on the bass with anyone in the world, proven by his audition to join the band in the 2004 documentary “Some Kind of Monster” shows.
During the show, the crowd went into a frenzy when Kirk Hammett and Robert Trujillo traded solos starting off their jam session with a little bit of "Le Freak", the classic disco jam by Chic.
Flames hopped back and forth and all along the entire length of the stage during "Moth Into A Flame", giant exploding balloons and even the lasers during "One" were a nice touch.
And before all was said and done, Metallica would take us all the way back to 1982 – "Hit the Lights" and a set-closing "Seek & Destroy"
And they closed the set with four songs from the '80s, following "One" with "Master of Puppets," "Fade to Black" and closing the set with "Seek & Destroy."
One thing to note, Lars is still a speed demon. Sometimes a little too fast as Mikey pointed out to me during "Master Of Puppets" as he had a tendency to speed up to the point where Hetfield has trouble keeping up. Not something the average person might catch, but a drummer or other musician certainly will. But none the less, Master probably got the loudest crowd response of the evening.
Metallica setlist
Hardwired Atlas, Rise! For Whom the Bell Tolls The Memory Remains The Unforgiven Now That We're Dead Moth Into Flame Wherever I May Roam Halo on Fire Hit the Lights Sad But True One Master of Puppets Fade to Black Seek & Destroy
Encore Battery Nothing Else Matters Enter Sandman