Metallica
Friday, March 26, 2004
General Motors Place
Vancouver, British Columbia Canada
Review and live pictures by Lord of the
Wasteland
It
had been 15 years since I last saw the mighty Metallica live. It was back
in June 1989 on their landmark …AND JUSTICE FOR ALL tour in Calgary,
Alberta (with The Cult as openers?!?) and they raised the bar for what I
expected out of a concert. As the years passed and the band moved away
from their thrash/speed metal sound to a more commercially-friendly one, I
still bought the CDs but never paid much attention to when they would come
around on tour. Even last year's Summer Sanitarium tour with Linkin Bizkit
and Limp Park (ed. note: resisting urge to
vomit...can't even spell band's name properly in case a search engine
things this page is about those shitty bands) kept me away for
obvious reasons. The band had just released the controversial abomination,
ST. ANGER, and despite all the bitching and cries of "Metallica is
dead," they still managed to sucker 4 million people into buying it.
Maybe it was the denial that it couldn't possibly be that bad or maybe
just morbid curiosity, but I was one of those 4 million. Even after a good
dozen spins, it just doesn't stick with me. It was because of this I
suppose that I didn't get too excited when the band first announced way
back in December that they would be coming to Vancouver in March. Despite
a better opening band-Godsmack-I still wasn't too excited about dropping
$50-95 on a ticket. As time passed, I kind of forgot about the whole
thing.
However as the show neared and I heard the buzz about a
"classic" setlist being performed, my interest was piqued. I saw
such oldies as "Jump In The Fire," "The Wait," and
"Dyer's Eve" being dusted off and played again. The focus was
steered away from the band's newer material, I suppose, to appease the
fans who lashed out at the band for ST. ANGER and other missteps such as
the symphony record and the LOAD and RE-LOAD albums. This tour (dubbed the
Madly In Anger At The World Tour) reminded me of what made Metallica
great: the music. At the very last minute (literally the day of the show),
I somehow managed to finagle my way into the show with a photo pass
(thanks to Erin at House of Blues Canada), too. Despite some hard-nosed
coercion of EvilG and whether or not Metallica still deserved to be on
Metal Rules was fought tooth and nail to the bitter end, but as you are
about to read, they got the thumbs up!
Most
of the shows that I end up going to are at The Commodore Ballroom, a 1,200
capacity club in downtown Vancouver. That is all that is required because
sadly 20,000 people do not go to see a show with European underground
metal acts on the bill - not in this country anyway. The mammoth show that
Metallica brings to town requires much larger quarters and so General
Motors Place, a 20,000-seat arena, was booked. It is normally home to the
Vancouver Canucks hockey team and really big acts that come through
Vancouver. Seeing the backstage workings of such a production is really
eye-opening. There were hundreds of people madly scurrying past case after
case of equipment used to fuel this massive spectacle. Food tables,
doctors, masseuses, roadies, groupies…it was a sight to behold! The
small group of fellow media people who were there to cover the show
gathered in a backstage area as we awaited Godsmack's set to finish. I was
disappointed I didn't get to see them, but it was a small price to pay for
what was to come. As 8:45 neared, we were hustled out of the belly of the
beast and into the heat, sweat and madness of a sold-out show. As my
fellow photographers and I positioned ourselves around the massive
"in the round" stage set-up, I looked around to see what the
band would be seeing shortly: 20,000 people that were rabid to see
Metallica. The energy in the air was electric. You could literally feel
the anticipation. Chants of "Metallica…Metallica" echoed
through the walls. I even saw my first wheelchair-bound crowd-surfer get
passed from several rows back to the front of the grimacing security
personnel.
At
almost exactly 9:00, the lights lowered and out of the darkness came the
familiar opening of every Metallica show, Ennio Morricone's haunting
instrumental, "The Ecstasy of Gold, from the Clint Eastwood film, THE
GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY. With that, the band launched into a 20-song
set beginning with a blistering version of "Blackened," as they
circled the enormous stage never staying in one spot for longer than a few
seconds. Lars Ulrich's drum kit rotated around the stage as the show
progressed to allow the entire crowd to witness his still impressive skin
bashing. New bassist, Robert Trujillo, is an absolute madman on stage,
stalking the audience with his bass. Kirk Hammett has not changed in the
least and despite being 40 years old, he doesn't look a day over 25. His
solos are as tight as ever, especially on "One" and "Master
of Puppets." James Hetfield is still the charismatic frontman and
though his voice has certainly tamed in recent years, he can still belt
out "Creeping Death," "Battery" and "For Whom The
Bell Tolls" with full force. His rhythm guitar riffs are also just as
mighty as ever. The band didn't leave a stone unturned and every single
Metallica album was given a nod, even the S&M album ("No Leaf
Clover" and "I, Disappear" from 2000's MISSION IMPOSSIBLE 2
soundtrack. Only 2 songs were played off of ST. ANGER ("Frantic"
and the title track) and out of the 20 tracks, only 6 were post-BLACK
ALBUM material. "One" featured an intro from Stanley Kubrick's
1987 film, FULL METAL JACKET, and enough strobe effects and explosions to
induce a panic attack. "Sad But True" got the crowd singing
along as the band actually stopped playing while the fans sang the verses
for a minute! James introduced the band before launching into "Last
Caress" with "While I'm up here, I've got something to say…"
All
of the action could be seen on 6 giant video screens with cameras
positioned mid-stage and on the musicians' instruments and mike stands.
The pyro and light show the band brought along is something else. The heat
from the fire that blasted out of the stage during "Fuel" nearly
singed my eyebrows off and the explosions that were used during the
build-up to "One" were deafening.
The rumors were true as the classics were brought out, with
"Welcome Home (Sanitarium)" and "Jump In The Fire"
being the more obscure. I had read that "Dyer's Eve" was being
performed live for the first time ever, but not at this show. The band had
rehearsed 40-odd songs for this tour and was rotating a few of the tracks
from show to show. I was curious why "Seek & Destroy,"
"Fade To Black," "No Remorse" and "The Four
Horsemen" were not played in favor of "No Leaf Clover" and
"I, Disappear," but they are on the list of possibilities, so
depending on the night, they might be playing one or even all of them.
SETLIST:
The Ecstasy of Gold (Intro)
Blackened
Fuel
For Whom The Bell Tolls
Kirk's Solo
Welcome Home (Sanitarium)
Frantic
King Nothing
No Leaf Clover
St. Anger
Sad But True
Creeping Death
Battery
First Encore:
I, Disappear
Nothing Else Matters
Master of Puppets
One
Enter Sandman
Second Encore:
Last Caress
Jump In The Fire
To anyone reluctant to drop their hard-earned cash on a
ticket for this tour, don't be. You will not be disappointed. The
inclusion of some rarities and less emphasis on the newer material coupled
with the fact that the set changes nightly, is testimonial that Metallica
is listening to what the fans want. This is an amazing show and you get
over 2 hours of Metallica, so if you're an old fan, a new fan, or even a
casual fan, indulge yourself for a night in the hands of the mighty
METALLICA!!!!!!!!
