Live Review: Metallica at Key Arena
By Hannah Levin in Concert Photos, The Morning After
Wednesday, Dec. 3 2008 @ 8:55AM
Major props to tireless photographer Jenny Jimenez for this and a slew of other excellent shots from the show.
By my best estimate, I've seen Metallica about half a dozen times. However, I hadn't seen them in 20 years, so it felt pretty surreal going to Monday's show with my friend Andrew, who hadn't been to Metallica show even once.
As much as I wanted to see the Sword, the thought of sitting around Key Arena for 4 hours was not appealing, so we killed our pre-show time first at the Funhouse (where they were playing bluegrass versions of Metallica songs on the house system), and then at the Mecca. I'm sure the Mecca was a nightmare early in the evening, but while second opening act Lamb of God was on, the place was sparsely populated (though I did run into local promoter Kwab Copeland bellied up to the bar).
I'm beginning to think I strongly prefer two polar opposite settings for shows: either I want to be at a small, chaotic punk show or house party, or at an arena rock show. You really can't deny the delicious tension (and periodic hilarity) that comes just before the lights go down in a large venue. Invariable, some guitar tech dashes across the stage and creates a false alarm of shrieks and roars in the crowd. People actually cue up their joints, just so that they can light them the exact moment the band hits the stage. And most significantly, it just feels fucking exhilarating waiting for the moment they (ahem) hit the lights and these larger-than-life characters stride on stage.
As is apparently their custom, the band started the set off with
the first two tracks from their new album, surrounded by a gorgeous,
stuttering laser display so multi-faceted and complex, I found myself
wondering how they could even see what the hell they were doing or
avoid nightly seizures. Andrew was convinced that "Creeping Death"
wasn't going to be in the set, but he was happily proven wrong when
they launched into those classic chords immediately after "The End of
the Line."
It
must be nice to have a production budget where you can ask your
lighting designers to build gigantic custom rigs in the shape of coffins.
Such are the benefits of selling out a basketball arena to the tune of
$80 a pop. There was no skimping in the pyro department either; the
machine gunfire that opens "One" echoed around the stage as staggered
flashes of flame replicated the feeling of an exploding minefield.
Utterly awesome shit—though it was a bit disconcerting to see
stagehands running on stage with extinguishers when it became clear
things were combusting beyond their designated parameters.
Frontman
James Hetfield has always talked about how much his family means to
him, and it's pretty obvious that he's a big softy when it comes to
kids. He made a point of talking to one "little man" in the crowd,
asking him how old he was and remarking on how indisputably cool his
parents were, which was very sweet. Lars Ulrich, on the other hand, is still alternately dorky and dickish,
spitting like a cobra with overactive salivary glands and
pointing spastically at the audience after nearly every single song. He
also began dropping beats (no, not in a good way) as the show
progressed. He certainly wasn't terrible and the first half a dozen
songs were impressively tight, but dude just doesn't have the endurance
to pull off things like "Blackened" towards the end of a two-hour set.
It's understandable, but distracting if you're a fan who knows the
catalog really well.
Bassist Robert
Trujillo is solid (if strangely obsessed with keeping his bass mere
centimeters from the floor) and they are lucky to have him, but he
almost gave me a heart attack a few times when he threatened to start
soloing. Luckily, he left the late Mr. Burton's legacy untarnished. However, the big, shining star of the whole thing was hands down guitarist Kirk Hammett.
The dude is apparently frozen in time and eternally in possession of
letter-perfect technique. By the time they were wrapping things up with
"Seek and Destroy" (accessorized with a cascade of multi-sized black
balloons), I was pretty much in awe of the guy. Well done,
Metallicats—you made a lot of people obscenely happy last night.
My pen died on me part way through the set, so I might have missed something, but I think this is damn close:
That Was Just Your Life
The End of the Line
Creeping Death
Harvester of Sorrow
One
Broken, Beaten & Scarred
Sad But True
Sanitarium
Wherever I Roam
The Day That Never Comes
Master of Puppets
Blackened
Nothing Else Matters
Enter Sandman
Die Die Die My Darling
Motorbreath
Seek and Destroy
5 comment(s)
dan says:
Hi Hannah, I don't know you, but after reading your Metallica essays when "DM" dropped, I was curious to see how you'd liked the show! Glad to see you liked it!
I fuckin' loved it (minus "Sandman," and coulda done without a few of those '90's cuts). Seeing the boys SHRED like they did last night, with such loud and yet clear sound...was frickin' awesome, wasn't it? HELL YEAH!
Been checking those youtube posts of the show yet? There are 2-3 really amazing ones. In fact, here are the links! : )
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4Cpx8LVwLU
AND
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BXvoCBGMxUI
That's "Master," and "Sanitarium." Both in EXCELLENT quality, so check 'em out and feel the love!
As I explained to a 39 year-old "new wave guy" last night, "It's a Metallica thing -- you wouldn't understand." \m/
Posted On: Wednesday, Dec. 3 2008 @ 9:45AM
chris says:
im glad u guys liked the show.we drove down to portland in nov to see em,and let me tell ya,seattle was way better,they were way louder in seattle.the only thing about portland was they served beer and ya could mosh if ya wanted to,we had general admission tickets for both shows.having seen them in portland we knew about the beach balls,i got 2 of them and a pick at this show,and 1 ball from portland...one thing i wanna share with u folks that u probally didnt know,we were down on the floor where the bands come out from,during lamb of god,i looked back there and guess who was standing there watch'n them?...lars's dad i think his name is torbun or something like that,he was just standing there watch'n em,just a little older guy with a long grey/white beard,i wanted to go over and say someting but i chickend out,another fan also spotted him and told a security guy and security told torbun and he actually went over to the fan and talked with him and shook his hand...anyways thanks for reading,was a great show,cant wait till they come back
Posted On: Wednesday, Dec. 3 2008 @ 11:40PM
Andy says:
check metontour.com for the complete setlist and pics!
Posted On: Thursday, Dec. 4 2008 @ 5:58AM
Jake Davis says:
u forgot to put cyanide in ur setlist there buddy..y ai went to that show...IT WAS AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Posted On: Friday, Dec. 5 2008 @ 10:23AM
Jake Davis says:
u forgot to put cyanide in ur setlist there buddy..y ai went to that show...IT WAS AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Posted On: Friday, Dec. 5 2008 @ 10:24AM