Yesterday (January 13th, 2009) I went to my very first concert: Metallica, and I have to start this off by saying "HOLY stuff THEY WERE loving UNBELIEVABLE."
Well, let's start with a narrative:
We entered the arena and sat down, waiting for the show to start... Eventually, the lights went out and sound erupted in the dome as 4 shadows moved on stage. This opening band was called "Sord" or "Sword" or some stuff. Anyway, they basically sucked. A lot of overused riffs and no real beat. Singer was awful. Next, Machine Head came out. They were more professional, but I didn't like the sound until...
"We want to play a song from our new album, and if you know the words, PLEASE do NOT hesitate to sing along, a cover of an album called..."
"What could it be?" I thought, almost uninterested.
"The Number of the Beast..."
"HOLY stuff WHAT?" I exclaimed
"By a band called IRON loving MAIDEN"
"OH MY GOD." heil
"A song called "Hallowed be Thy Name!!!"
"loving AWESOME"
At this point, I was out of my seat waiting for those opening notes, and sure enough, here they came... The crowd cheered, then broke into the harmonic melody of the opening notes, everyone was singing. This cover was pretty awesome. Never as good as Maiden, but still awesome. It got me excited for the coming concert. After that, we waited for the lights to go out and the opening to a Metallica song to play... Almost 15-20 Minutes later the stadium went black, and the opening basslines to That Was Just Your Life rang out as the crowd cheered. As soon as the song started the lights went up in a blaze as a laser show was being done as the song. After that i was sure the rest of the Concert was going to be godlike, and Metallica didn't let me down...
-That was Just Your Life
-The End of The Line
-All Nightmare Long
Then, in-between songs, Hetfield says:
"We're bringing you some new stuff tonight, but we really thought about it, and we figured out was goes good with new stuff... OLD STUFF!"
and they proceeded to play a song I can't recall. Then... The stage goes black, and the sound of machine guns fills the air, a chopper overhead... Could it be?
Pyrotechnics erupted and explosions filled the hall as they began "One", and it was AMAZING. Here's all of the songs I recall after that:
-The Day That Never Comes
-For Whom the Bell Tolls
-Master of Puppets
-Enter Sandman
I was so loving pumped I actually have forgotten most of the songs they played.
So eventually, James says "We got one more for you tonight..." and the guitar picks up to the opening of Enter Sandman. The whole crowd was singing and really getting into it. After some more pyrotechnics and a big finish, I thought they were done, but then they come back out on stage and he says "Alright, how about one more? Can we turn on the house lights? I want to get a good look at all of you out there. Now for this last song, I want EVERYONE singing. If you're new or old, it doesn't matter, no excuses, there's only 3 words you need to know:
SEEK
AND
DESTROY!"
Just as he said, EVERYONE chanted "SEEEEARCHINNN' SEEK AND DESTROY!" and this was an amazing finish. God damn they still have it, that was amazing. I WILL go see them again.
Other highlights:
-Saying goodbye to their mixer for 22 years
-Welcoming the newbies (myself included) to the Metallica family
-Colored fire god damn
-My throat hurts from screaming the lyrics and "YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAH"
-Was def after concert.
Review: This will be short and sweet...
Metallica is a concert band, plain and simple. They sound amazing on disk, but it's a loving experience hearing them live. They sounded amazing and put up a hell of a good show. Everything was mixed well and you could hear the solos clearly, which is very important. They also played a very damn good setlist, was never disappointed, stood up the entire concert. They don't sound the same, especially James, but that's not a bad thing. They still sound original and distinct, and still have their same air of good loving metal, I loved it.
I give this show a 20/10, S++.
Furthermore, this isn't a Metallica-Hate thread. No bullstuff on why you don't like them or stuff they have done (bisjac butthurt because they pursued napster is a good example). This is a thread about seeing them in concert and enjoying it. Don't be a loving douchebag.
LASTLY: If it's too loud, you're too old.
Addendum:
Metal Chicks - No, I'm not talking about the chicks that put up a mohawk or wear spike collars and stuff like that. I'm talking about METAL chicks, ones who wear the zip-up leather corset things and lovey leather boots, and get boozed up and flash the audience.
tl;dr: It was awesome, there were tits and awesome music.
