Say what you will about the mighty Met but after all these years, the alcohol, the burnings, Napster, Jason’s departure and a few ‘less than heavy’ records, the band that started in the early 80’s as one of the big thrash four, sharing honors with Slayer, Megadeth and Anthrax prove they can still pack a house with yelling, screaming fans and pulverize stage and eardrums with 2 hrs. + of ungodly loud, frantic metal.
The Schottenstein center was a near sell-out; I only saw empty seats in the highest nose bleed sections. I was second level and had a decent view of the stage. The lights went out and we were treated to a laser light intro that would’ve made Pink Floyd envious. The opening notes of This Was Just Your Life began and the band hit center stage. The opening tune was of several from Death Magnetic that were played including The End of the Line, The Day That Never Comes and Cyanide. Personally I thought the new CD was pretty good, and definitely superior to St. Anger (which I actually thought had its highs and lows). Most people use it, Load and Re-Load as their personal metallic punching bag and I agree that each were a departure from their neck breaking 80’s masterpieces, they each have their highlights and not so good moments.
The show was pretty much a mixture of old-school stuff and Death Magnetic. Not a single song from the Load-Anger era was played. I guess they know what the crowd wants to hear and doesn’t. Harvester of Sorrow and Creeping Death, two Metallica staples were played early as was One, Wherever I May Roam and Sad But True came around mid-show. My only disappointment was Nothing Else Matters, a song I’ve never totally liked and would’ve easily traded for Fade to Black but hey, you can’t have everything and after the show they put on I won’t complain.
Two legit surprises came when they played Leper Messiah and the, near the end, Jump In The Fire. Another shock came when James asked how many people were seeing ‘Tallica for the first time and half the f’n hands in the arena went up. So of course us old-schoolers had to show them ‘how it’s done’. Enter Sandman brought back memories of seeing them at the Nutter Center in ’92, ironically soon after Jason shaved his head. Speaking of bass, Rob Trillijo more than carried his weight on stage. Of course gone were the 3 hr. + shows, extended guitar, bass and drum solos, intro videos, etc. But for a band that’s been kicking ass for 25 years and counting they can still put on a kick ass show and aren’t quite yet in the ‘nostalgia act’ category.
They closed with Seek n Destroy, sadly no James Hetfield in the crowd sing a along interaction and no one left the stage except Rob for a brief moment. Mid-way through we were showered by giant black beach balls which I’m sure were bounced off a couple drunken heads in the front. Plus they played Master of Puppets in its entirety.
All in all it was great show. All the young bands can still learn a thing from the veterans, ‘once heavy’, 80’s band. I went home happy massaging my aching neck.
Images do not represent actual event and are courtesy of www.ooltapulta.com, www.livedesignonline.com and www.flickr.com.
