A Dream Comes True (Metallica - Live in general)

Member Name: mr blonde

Product:	Metallica - Live in general
Date:	01/03/04 (562 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Old School Metallica

Disadvantages: No "One" at Leeds

The Legend:

There is a band from over the Atlantic that heralds the name of "Metallica". As many of you who have read my reviews on here will know, I am a bit of a fan, and have wanted to see them for a fair while now, so, as of 22/08/2003 that dream became a reality. At the Leeds Music Festival, after standing for most of the day through bands I wasn't all that fussed on, for example, good charlotte, and sum 41, I found myself waiting eagerly, for I knew that in roughly 2 hours, after another favourite band of mine, System Of A Down, had finished their set, that a chime would herald an arrival at that place. That chime, followed by the Ecstasy Of Gold, would mark one of the most widely recognised stage introductions in the music industry, and at that point, I would be standing in front of Metallica themselves. We had waited for hours, and with minutes to go, there were goosebumps all over me, shivers ran down my spine. A couple of people we met and I discussed what song would be played first, I knew dam well it would be Battery as they had opened with that on most of their Summer Sanitarium Tour. Then disaster struck, a problem with the metal railing, in place to protect the band and the crowd meant there was a delay, all of this added to the tension. Both Kate (a friend of mine at the time, now the girl I am going out with) and I felt the tension rise. The crowds impatience was building, the chant raised, “METALLICA, METALLICA”. Then it happened, as the dark drew in, the chimes started as the chords for the Ecstasy Of Gold began, the tension rose, goosebumps ran, this was what I had waited for years to see, the band I have idolised for years was about to enter the stage. Lars’s drumkit glistened in the spotlights. Of all the acts that had played that day, all had had amps with them Metallica however had a wall of amps, lined across the stage, the Leeds Festival, was about to get METAL!

The band:

>James Hetfield – Vocals/Rhythm Guitar
Lars Ulrich – Drummer
Kirk Hammett – Lead Guitar
Robert Trujillo – Bass Monster and new member!

Leeds Festival 2003

The Setlist:

Battery
Master of Puppets
Harvester of Sorrow
Welcome Home (Sanitarium)
For Whom The Bell Tolls
Frantic
Sad But True
St. Anger
No Remorse
Seek and Destroy
Blackened
-----------------
Fuel
Nothing Else Matters
Creeping Death
----------------
Enter Sandman

The review:

Now then, this review in many ways is segregated into 2 sections, namely the Leeds Festival section, and the Earls Court section. Both were very different gigs, and both had different emotions for me. However, in chronological order, Leeds comes first!

Now, most Metallica fans who have just looked through that setlist will probably think, that’s a good setlist, BUT….. Now, let me explain why there is a but, it is quite simple, Metallica have a song called “One”, and it is down as potentially their best song (I won’t dispute it one way or another), now that song is missing from that list, which in my eyes means that the gig was left unfinished. The band themselves apparently wanted to play it, but the Festival Officials said no because of time or something (because of the aforementioned railing problem). Anyway, besides the fact that “One” is missing from that list, the concert itself more than lived up to expectations. The fact that they opened with “Battery” is in itself remarkable, it’s not what you would call a slow song, but then none of the tracks in the setlist were. This band has been going for over 20 years, and after a 10 year rest of playing their newer, slower music, it appears that the sleeping giant has finally woken up. Up until “Nothing Else Matters” the tempo of the set was ridiculously fast.
Hetfield as expected did his usual playing to the crowd between songs, however, so did the rest of the band, which although not unprecedented, it wasn’t exactly common of the Metallica of old either! Mid way through the set, Lars left his drum kit in order for both he and Kirk to mess around on stage. Kirk had a go at playing the drums, Lars had a go at playing Kirk’s guitar, it was all just fun and games and they exclaimed, “look we’re the black stripes”. This was the Metallica I wanted to see, similarly to bands like U2, Queen, and Iron Maiden, this was not just some rock concert, this was dam good entertainment, and one hell of a show. Not many bands in the world use pyrotechnics at their shows, but Metallica do. All through “Fuel” and “Enter Sandman” there were huge fireballs going off behind the band. It would have been the same with “One” with the rifle fire, but with the not being able to play that, they had to leave the pyro at that. After the gig I rang my brother, the person that started me onto Metallica and I was absolutely bouncing off the walls, exhausted, but utterly exhilarated. The drive home was horrible, but the pain was worth it!

Earls Court December 19th 2003:

The Setlist:

Blackened
Creeping Death
Seek and Destroy
Fade To Black
The Thing That Should Not Be
Frantic
For whom the Bell Tolls
Dirty Window
Sad But True
One
Damage Inc.
-----------
Harvester Of Sorrow
Nothing Else Matters
Master Of Puppets
-----------
St. Anger
Enter Sandman
-----------
Am I Evil?
Hit The Lights

This setlist was in my view the stronger of the 2. I never in a million years expected them to open with “Blackened”, its fast, balls out metal, what a way to open a show! Now for me, this concert was no ordinary concert. Family issued and the death of my Grandad 2 days before
had meant that I probably shouldn’t have gone to this gig, but I did. I had asked my mum if she wanted me to go, her response was simple, she gave me 20 quid and told my brother and I to have a drink for Grandad and make sure we enjoy the show. The atmosphere come the day of the concert was fairly laid back as the 3 of us travelled to London on the train, there was banter, talks of concerts we had been to, and it was calm. We saw the sights in London before queuing for 1hr 30mins to get into the arena. In all fairness I openly admit I was dam lucky to even get tickets. They sold out hideously quickly for the standing area, and the seating area only had rubbish tickets left. So when I went on ticketmaster later that week to find they had more tickets available, I didn’t hesitate, I reached for the plastic and got mine before they sold out again.

The concert itself went as planned, I really enjoyed the opening act, a band called Godsmack, they were an excellent opening act, didn’t play for too long and got the crowd going. In fairness they did a 15-minute drum off between the vocalist and drummer, I would have paid good money to see that on it’s own! The highlight of the concert for me was when they played “One”. The pyro was fantastic, the CDs let the atmosphere build with the rifle fire pretty well, but there is nothing quite like seeing this live. Explosions everywhere and then those opening notes, so calm and melodic after such chaotic explosions, the atmosphere was intense. After Leeds I was expecting a big mosh pit, however I couldn’t have been more mistaken as the legions of the “Old School” Metallica fans turned out in the packed house, and a true “Old School” head banging session commenced. Where was I, you may ask, and I answer, I was right in the centre of the crowd, in the very front row. To this day I still believe that my Grandad was watching over us that night, we
got to the very front row, right in the middle, and we somehow managed to still catch our coach after we were delayed leaving the arena. To me some things are just too coincidental to be luck. “Nothing Else Matters” is the song I share with Kate, and when they played it I rang her and let her listen to the whole song, she told me later she nearly cried, I wished she was there to share that with me. Also, just to gloat, in the tour section of their website, within the pics bit of the tour for this date, you can see both Neil (my mate) and myself right at the front of the crowd. You do have to zoom in but I don’t care, it’s my own bit of fame hehehe.

To conclude:

All in all, if you want to see a band that will wow it’s fans, perform amazingly, and still take time out to have fun, and show loyalty towards the people that made them possible, then you can’t go far wrong with Metallica. I booked my tickets for the Download music festival on Saturday, where they will be headlining, this will be my hat trick, and I hope that it will be as good as the others. If you can, go and see them, you won’t be disappointed, I know I wasn’t! I paid £60 for my day ticket for Leeds, and £28.50 for my ticket for Earls Court, before administration fees etc, and they were worth EVERY penny.

Summary: