A week ago already since I saw Metallica for my ninth time, this time in Vancouver at BC Place with 45,000 other Metallica freaks. I went to the show with my brother Citrus and my buddy Shane, the last time my brother and I went to a Metallica concert together was twenty-five years ago. Outside the venue I saw something I've never seen at a show before and that was police with shot guns and a bomb sniffing dog, I know it was a bomb sniffing dog because of seeing people outside smoking weed and the dog and cop walking right on by. better safe then sorry after the incident in London.
We didn't catch the two opening bands Gojira and Avenged Sevenfold as we had no interest in either band and took the time to have a few beers before the big show.
Before Metallica came on stage and I imagine between the other bands but I have no idea s I wasn't in the venue yet, they had Mix Master Mike of Beastie Boys fame spinning tunes, so that was cool.
Mix Master Mike.
Now it was time for Metallica. The band is doing their first North American Tour in eight years in support of their latest album Hard Wired...To Self Destruct, so the crowd was pumped. I ran to use the washroom before the show started, well that was fun, the can was full of pot smoke and smelled pretty damn good actually. The guy next to me passed me a doobie while we stood next to each other. That was a nice surprise and was gonna help for the opening of the show.
The band hit the stage, and this stage was fucking massive, with the snake pit in the middle of the stage, huge screens overall it was just a huge production. Metallica opened the show with two new songs "Hardwired" followed up with "Atlas, Rise!", after that it was time for a classic "For Whom The Bell Tolls" only to follow it up with a couple stinkers "The Memory Remains" and "The Unforgiven", then a couple again from the new album. So in the first nine songs, five of them were new ones. Now I understand you are touring for Hardwired, but damn that was too much to start a show. It was after song nine which was "Halo On Fire" that things started to get good. Actually it was during Halo that Robert Trujillo did a bit of Cliff Burton's bass solo "Anethesia (Pulling Teeth)" which is when they showed pictures and live footage of Cliff Burton, that was a nice tribute for sure. "Whiplash", "Sad But True", "One", "Master Of Puppets", "Fade To Black" and ending with "Seek And Destroy". Now that was fun! Having said that, from where we were sitting, the sound wasn't very good, it was muddy sounding, with the sound bouncing and echoing around the stadium. Maybe it would have sounded better had they had the roof open on BC Place. For the encore Metallica did "Fight Fire With Fire" which I believe is the first time I have seen and heard them play that song since I saw them in Edmonton in 1986, so that was a treat, but then they follow that song with "Nothing Else Matters" another stinker in my opinion. They then closed out the show with "Enter Sandman" which came as no surprise. Looked like the crowd was loving this show, I thought it was alright but certainly not one of the better Metallica shows I have been to.
The show just seemed so over the top, I understand you need the screens to show the band because you are playing a stadium, but the screens covered the whole stage and I found myself watching the screens and then trying to find the band on the stage, which took some time. At times I thought the show just felt cheesy. Especially when the band did a Taiko drum circle thing during the song "Now That We're Dead", that was just plain ridiculous. I probably would have enjoyed this show more had I been on the floor for it, but also think the setlist could have been better. I like that they only played one song from the album Reload and nothing else from the years between 1996-2008, but there was nothing from the Death Magnetic album either, which to me was a great album, better then Hardwired in my opinion.
I thought Kirk Hammett sounded good ripping it up like he always does, Lars was good as usual, James Hetfield sounded average and Trujillo was his normal self. There was a cool part during the show when the band brought up a small kid to sit in on Lars drums and play a bit, that must have been a highlight of the kids life thus far. Have to say Metallica have always been pretty cool with their fans, or as James likes to call us "family". All and all it was an alright show. I'm glad I went but hope to see them play a smaller venue again with a way better setlist. Good times!!!
Setlist for Vancouver show.
My bro Citrus and I before the show.
Metallica in Vancouver.
T-shirt front.
T-shirt back.
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