10010: METALLICA
By: The Plum & omnicolor[ Digital Darkness is trying to diversify... So here's two reviews of the same concert. The difference in perspective is kind of interesting. The Plum has seen Metallica a lot more the I have, but I've seen a hell of alot more bands then him. He rated them against themselves, I juxtaposed them against other big name bands. -oc ]
A Report On Their Concert
April 8, 1997
By: The Plum
It has been three years since I last saw Metallica in concert. That was back in 1994 at Meriweather Post Pavilion. That was a great show in its own, but the one that just passed at U.S. Air Arena was incredible. One of the things that really grabbed me is how they just took the crowd over. I have seen many bands in concert, but no one like Metallica can take a crowd over like them.
One thing that many people are talking about now is their new image. Granted, I was a little disappointed with their new album Load. But so were many other Metallifans. I was used to the in your face, kiss ass, and take name attitude that they presented in their music. When they cut their hair I figured that they were starting to settle down. I mean they have been at this for 17 years now. They are entitled to a break. Boy was I wrong! When they came out and started a classic song "So What!" they were even more intense than when I saw them in '94.
The music was louder and more brutal on the ears, eyes, and brain than usual. All the good qualities of a great concert. I was very impressed when they played the new songs off of Load. The album doesn't seem to grab you the right way when you listen to it. If they would have made that a live album instead you would definitely think different. Take "Hero of the Day" for example. It is a good mellow song on the c.d., but when you listen to it in concert, the pace seems to pick up a little and the music is much harder. I saw people head banging to that song and it just seemed so natural.
I was in awe when they played "One". Everyone in the Arena just shut up and listened to the sound effects and watched the pyrotechnics. There was an incredible amount of heat that just radiated off of the stage when ever there was an explosion. Then when James Hetfield came on stage and played the opening riff, everyone went fucking nuts!
As always, the members of the group kept taunting the crowed with threats that they were going to get off stage if we didn't get louder. Personally, I lost my voice in the first hour only to regain it again towards the end. As for sound, let's just say my ears are still ringing.
About halfway through the show, some really weird shit started happening. In the middle of a song, their was an electrical fire where the crew members were working the lights and sound boards. That was put out and the band never missed a beat. Then wires started blowing up and popping. One of the hydraulic arms that was on stage caught fire and two roadies put it out. Never once did it occur to me that this was all planned. About a half an hour later, there were even more electrical failures. Once again the electric panels caught fire and sparks started flying everywhere. A light man that was up in the ceiling had to bail from his post when it caught fire. He was climbing down a rope ladder when he fell and his safety harness caught him.
Right after that happened, a man came running out of the sound board area and he was on fire. The crew members promptly put him out and got him out on a stretcher. While all this was going on, Lars Ulrich and Jason Newstead were playing on the second stage and watched as this whole incident went on. They got off stage just as the two hydraulic arms on their stage came crashing down and crushed that stage to shit. Meanwhile James and Kirk Hammett were playing on the main stage trying to avoid all the wreckage, when everything caught fire. Kirk bailed and James was stuck in the middle of the stage with sparks flying all around him.
Everything went black as they got off stage and put out all the fires. This went on for about five minutes and they tried to set up a ministage in the middle of all that mess. As they say in Hollywood, the show must go on. All the members of my favorite metal group went back out for their final songs and to say good bye to D.C. for another couple of years.
I know now that all this was set up and was just a show for the fans, but I loved every minute. I mean who else would blow the shit out of their own stage, endanger themselves, their crew members, and the audience like that? I can't think of any other band that fucking crazy to do it.
In conclusion, I loved them in '94 and I love them even more today. I don't give a fuck what other people think, I say they are the best metal band to ever grace the stage. Three words explains it all: Metalli-fuckin'-ca.
A Report On Their Concert
April 8, 1997
By: The Plum
It has been three years since I last saw Metallica in concert. That was back in 1994 at Meriweather Post Pavilion. That was a great show in its own, but the one that just passed at U.S. Air Arena was incredible. One of the things that really grabbed me is how they just took the crowd over. I have seen many bands in concert, but no one like Metallica can take a crowd over like them.
One thing that many people are talking about now is their new image. Granted, I was a little disappointed with their new album Load. But so were many other Metallifans. I was used to the in your face, kiss ass, and take name attitude that they presented in their music. When they cut their hair I figured that they were starting to settle down. I mean they have been at this for 17 years now. They are entitled to a break. Boy was I wrong! When they came out and started a classic song "So What!" they were even more intense than when I saw them in '94.
The music was louder and more brutal on the ears, eyes, and brain than usual. All the good qualities of a great concert. I was very impressed when they played the new songs off of Load. The album doesn't seem to grab you the right way when you listen to it. If they would have made that a live album instead you would definitely think different. Take "Hero of the Day" for example. It is a good mellow song on the c.d., but when you listen to it in concert, the pace seems to pick up a little and the music is much harder. I saw people head banging to that song and it just seemed so natural.
I was in awe when they played "One". Everyone in the Arena just shut up and listened to the sound effects and watched the pyrotechnics. There was an incredible amount of heat that just radiated off of the stage when ever there was an explosion. Then when James Hetfield came on stage and played the opening riff, everyone went fucking nuts!
As always, the members of the group kept taunting the crowed with threats that they were going to get off stage if we didn't get louder. Personally, I lost my voice in the first hour only to regain it again towards the end. As for sound, let's just say my ears are still ringing.
About halfway through the show, some really weird shit started happening. In the middle of a song, their was an electrical fire where the crew members were working the lights and sound boards. That was put out and the band never missed a beat. Then wires started blowing up and popping. One of the hydraulic arms that was on stage caught fire and two roadies put it out. Never once did it occur to me that this was all planned. About a half an hour later, there were even more electrical failures. Once again the electric panels caught fire and sparks started flying everywhere. A light man that was up in the ceiling had to bail from his post when it caught fire. He was climbing down a rope ladder when he fell and his safety harness caught him.
Right after that happened, a man came running out of the sound board area and he was on fire. The crew members promptly put him out and got him out on a stretcher. While all this was going on, Lars Ulrich and Jason Newstead were playing on the second stage and watched as this whole incident went on. They got off stage just as the two hydraulic arms on their stage came crashing down and crushed that stage to shit. Meanwhile James and Kirk Hammett were playing on the main stage trying to avoid all the wreckage, when everything caught fire. Kirk bailed and James was stuck in the middle of the stage with sparks flying all around him.
Everything went black as they got off stage and put out all the fires. This went on for about five minutes and they tried to set up a ministage in the middle of all that mess. As they say in Hollywood, the show must go on. All the members of my favorite metal group went back out for their final songs and to say good bye to D.C. for another couple of years.
I know now that all this was set up and was just a show for the fans, but I loved every minute. I mean who else would blow the shit out of their own stage, endanger themselves, their crew members, and the audience like that? I can't think of any other band that fucking crazy to do it.
In conclusion, I loved them in '94 and I love them even more today. I don't give a fuck what other people think, I say they are the best metal band to ever grace the stage. Three words explains it all: Metalli-fuckin'-ca.
10010: Metallica
By: omnicolorNow I'm not a big Metallica fan, or at least I _WASN'T_, but they put on a great show. I've seen quite a few bands in my time, and they put on an entertaining evening to say the least, between the great music and the pyrotechnic displays. It's amazing to see the wide diversity of people that go to Metallica shows, from little kids to old men, people with neo-nazi boot camp looking hair, to hair that looks like it has never been cut, from people with tattoos covering every inch of exposed skin (and they do expose it) to people who would never mutilate their bodies. Some of the older people at the concert are almost as fun to watch. They get into the show more then us young'uns.
The stage was a behemoth of artistic expression, with two very large stages in the middle of the floor in the US Air Arena, so you could see either stage from anywhere. At first they started playing on the far stage, which had these very scorpion-like lights coming from all four corners and a little bridge to cross over the recessed electronics area. The other stage opened up later, with two huge lighting poles that were raised up. These two had barbed wire about half way up the pole, and looked like something East Germany would build on its wall. At first the second stage was just a flat area that the mobile band members would occasionally run up onto in order to entice the other side of the arena, but during one of the slower songs, a drum set appeared on a raised platforms. All through the concert, the drum set was rotating every now and then, so people on all sides of the stage got a good look a Lars working his magic.
The pyrotechnics were very good. I can't really compare them to any other concerts I've been to, since I can't remember another band that used explosions in all my 30+ concerts. The explosions were damn good in the beginning of 'One', where they imitated a war, driving the crowd even further into a frenzied rage, with staccato blasts sounding very similar to machine gun fire and explosions everywhere, as smoke nearly obscured all view of the stage. Throughout the song things were exploding, huge jets of fire were shooting into the air, and the crowd noise was deafening. And speaking of the crowd noise, this was one of the better concerts I've been to, as the level of the band was kept higher then that of the audience singing along. A big relief since the Alanis Morisette concert where you couldn't hear her (not that I really wanted to) over everyone singing along. I paid to her the band, not the crooning off-key, beached-whale-giving-birth sound of the tone deaf members of the crowd, but that's just me.
At the end of their concert they made it look like they blew up their stage, with the lighting towers falling down, people running across the stage on fire, people and live wires falling from the rafters, paramedics carting away bodies, and fire everywhere. After the stage was finished exploding, the band came on and finished the concert to some emergency lights that happened to come down during the destruction. The site of a big band like Metallica playing under ordinary 120 watt lights was interesting. I guess the adage is true that the show must go on, even if you blow up your stage.
As far as music goes, they played a very good mix of new and old music, which really means they played alot of their older tunes, since in my humble opinion 'Load' is way too radio for them. They seem to have sold out to get on the radio more and build up a bigger listening audience instead of sticking to their guns and playing for the fans that got them where they are today. 'Load' would be a great CD if it was from another band, but it doesn't really match up to their previous productions.
The intensity of the band was not as good as some of the smaller bands I've seen, but it was good considering how big the auditorium was. All of the band, with the exception of Lars of course, was constantly running all over the two stages, as if they needed to keep the crowd interested.
If you're not sure about seeing Metallica, all I've got to say is: Do it! I was not that big of a Metallica fan when I arrived, but it was well worth the TicketMaster raised price of $50 to see them.
-omnicolor
Not Copyright 1997
Pit Labs, Digital Darkness
The stage was a behemoth of artistic expression, with two very large stages in the middle of the floor in the US Air Arena, so you could see either stage from anywhere. At first they started playing on the far stage, which had these very scorpion-like lights coming from all four corners and a little bridge to cross over the recessed electronics area. The other stage opened up later, with two huge lighting poles that were raised up. These two had barbed wire about half way up the pole, and looked like something East Germany would build on its wall. At first the second stage was just a flat area that the mobile band members would occasionally run up onto in order to entice the other side of the arena, but during one of the slower songs, a drum set appeared on a raised platforms. All through the concert, the drum set was rotating every now and then, so people on all sides of the stage got a good look a Lars working his magic.
The pyrotechnics were very good. I can't really compare them to any other concerts I've been to, since I can't remember another band that used explosions in all my 30+ concerts. The explosions were damn good in the beginning of 'One', where they imitated a war, driving the crowd even further into a frenzied rage, with staccato blasts sounding very similar to machine gun fire and explosions everywhere, as smoke nearly obscured all view of the stage. Throughout the song things were exploding, huge jets of fire were shooting into the air, and the crowd noise was deafening. And speaking of the crowd noise, this was one of the better concerts I've been to, as the level of the band was kept higher then that of the audience singing along. A big relief since the Alanis Morisette concert where you couldn't hear her (not that I really wanted to) over everyone singing along. I paid to her the band, not the crooning off-key, beached-whale-giving-birth sound of the tone deaf members of the crowd, but that's just me.
At the end of their concert they made it look like they blew up their stage, with the lighting towers falling down, people running across the stage on fire, people and live wires falling from the rafters, paramedics carting away bodies, and fire everywhere. After the stage was finished exploding, the band came on and finished the concert to some emergency lights that happened to come down during the destruction. The site of a big band like Metallica playing under ordinary 120 watt lights was interesting. I guess the adage is true that the show must go on, even if you blow up your stage.
As far as music goes, they played a very good mix of new and old music, which really means they played alot of their older tunes, since in my humble opinion 'Load' is way too radio for them. They seem to have sold out to get on the radio more and build up a bigger listening audience instead of sticking to their guns and playing for the fans that got them where they are today. 'Load' would be a great CD if it was from another band, but it doesn't really match up to their previous productions.
The intensity of the band was not as good as some of the smaller bands I've seen, but it was good considering how big the auditorium was. All of the band, with the exception of Lars of course, was constantly running all over the two stages, as if they needed to keep the crowd interested.
If you're not sure about seeing Metallica, all I've got to say is: Do it! I was not that big of a Metallica fan when I arrived, but it was well worth the TicketMaster raised price of $50 to see them.
-omnicolor
Not Copyright 1997
Pit Labs, Digital Darkness
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