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Monday, October 19, 2009
Photos / Live Reviews / setlist / News Live review: Metallica
Posted By Jeff Hahne on Mon, Oct 19, 2009 at 11:09 AM
Metallica
Time Warner Cable Arena
Oct. 18, 2009
The Deal: Metal veterans Metallica hit "The Cable Box" for a couple hours of mayhem.
The Good: Performing "in the round," with their stage set in the middle of the floor, Metallica hit the stage at 9:10 and ripped their set open with the first two tracks off their lastest album, Death Magnetic — "That Was Just Your Life" and "The End of the Line." The stage started off dark with lasers crossing the stage down from above, but things quickly got lit up from eight coffin-shaped light riggings overhead.
Colored pyrotechnic flames shot out of the middle of the stage during "One" as all four band members never stopped moving from one side of the stage to the other — occasionally stopping on drummer Lars Ulrich's circular drum riser, or standing on top of the amps.
Singer/guitarist James Hetfield made his way from one mic to the next as eight were stationed around the stage. Sometimes lights shined up from his feet, as Hetfield often threw "Charlotte" into the lyrics and asked the crowd how they were doing on their energy levels. The "in-the-round" style made for very cool views of the crowd surrounding the band on all levels. Hetfield, whose vocals sounded as good as ever, often asked the crowd, "How does it feel to be alive?"
The band's set focused mainly on the new album — playing six of the disc's 10 tracks — but they also found time for some hits and obscure tunes as well. "For Whom the Bell Tolls," "One" and "Sad But True" were no surprise, as was "Enter Sandman." Hardcore fans were clearly elated by the addition of "Phantom Lord" in the encore.
Ulrich, playing a smaller drum kit than I expected — basically a standard kit with a few more cymbals and extra floor tom — was often seen pointing into the crowd and sticking out his tongue.
Hammett, the more reserved member of the group, wandered the stage shredding riffs on a number of guitars — his usual flying Vs, as well as a couple of Boris Karlov tribute models — one featuring Karlov's face as Frankenstein and another with a Bride of Frankenstein motif.
Bassist Rob Trujillo is clearly "one of the guys" these days and, while he gets a bunch of crap for his "crab walk" around the stage, he really didn't do it that much at this show. His soaked hair was whipped around and he appeared to enjoy every moment of being close to the crowd — as did the rest of the group.
"Master of Puppets" drew a good bit of crowd participation. "Nothing Else Matters" started with Hetfield on a stool alone on the stage singing the first verse and chorus before the rest of the band joined him. Musical interludes often were heard between songs as guitars were changed out.
The band kicked off its encore by paying tribute to Motorhead by playing, "Too Late." It was followed up by "Phantom Lord." While the band had everyone believing they were done and ready to walk off, they offered up one more with all the lights on. As the opening bars of "Seek and Destroy" began, dozens of black beach balls of all sizes dropped from the ceiling and bounced around the crowd.
The Bad: It's just a beach ball, but people were literally fighting over them. The same thing happened at the end of the show when Trujillo and other band members threw picks into the crowd. I could have done without "Enter Sandman" which seems like the band's "sell-out" song to me.
I'd love to tell you about the openers, but I was held out as a photographer and didn't get into the arena until Metallica was on. Oh well, I'm not a fan of cookie monster vocals anyway.
The Verdict: Having been a fan since the early days, I'm glad they played stuff from Kill 'Em All and Ride the Lightning. Fans could easily tell that the band is having a blast on stage... I caught them at Bonnaroo last year and there's a big difference between playing for a bunch of people that don't know most of your material and playing for a nearly sold-out venue full of your fans. Both fans and band appeared drained of all energy after the show.
Setlist
That Was Just Your Life
The End of the Line
For Whom the Bell Tolls
The Four Horsemen
One
Broken, Beat & Scarred
Cyanide
Sad But True
Turn the Page
Judas Kiss> Hammett solo
The Day That Never Comes
Master of Puppets
Fight Fire with Fire
Hammett solo> Nothing Else Matters
Enter Sandman
Encore
Too Late (Motorhead cover)
Phantom Lord
Seek and Destroy
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