Guitar Hero: Metallica Tracks

The all 'Tallica Guitar Hero will be hitting the streets in North America for Xbox 360 and Sony Playstation 3 on March 29, outside of North America the game is expected in early May. Nintendo Wii and PS2 versions will follow later in the Spring, also most likely in early May.

METALLICA TRACKS
All Nightmare Long
Battery
Creeping Death
Disposable Heroes
Dyers Eve
Enter Sandman
Fade To Black
Fight Fire With Fire
For Whom The Bell Tolls
Frantic
Fuel
Hit The Lights
King Nothing
Master of Puppets
Mercyful Fate (Medley)
No Leaf Clover
Nothing Else Matters
One
Orion
Sad But True
Seek And Destroy
The Memory Remains
The Shortest Straw
The Thing That Should Not Be
The Unforgiven
Welcome Home (Sanitarium)
Wherever I May Roam
Whiplash

Other Artists
Alice In Chains - No Excuses
Bob Seger - Turn The Page
Corrosion of Conformity - Albatross
Diamond Head - Am I Evil?
Foo Fighters - Stacked Actors
Judas Priest - Hell Bent For Leather
Kyuss - Demon Cleaner
Lynyrd Skynyrd - Tuesdays Gone
Machine Head - Beautiful Mourning
Mastodon - Blood And Thunder
Mercyful Fate - Evil
Michael Schenker Group - Armed and Ready
Motorhead - Ace of Spades
Queen - Stone Cold Crazy
Samhain - Mother of Mercy
Slayer - War Ensemble
Social Distortion - Mommy's Little Monster
Suicidal Tendencies - War Inside My Head
System of a Down - Toxicity
The Sword - Black River
Thin Lizzy - The Boys Are Back in Town

Man, I can't wait for this game!

METALLICA - Jan 18, 2009 - Boston

Big surprise - Metallica kicked ass last night. This was my 24th time seeing them and I'm definitely spoiled because our 11th row seats were a slight disapointment. I'd never been on the floor and been that far from Metallica and the Garden security kept people in their seats and the aisles open. The floor was general admission on this tour everywhere but Boston.

Due to a fresh 8 inches of snow Sunday and the forecast for more overnight we decided to take the commuter rail into Boston. There is a stop on my street but I'd never even thought of using it for concerts before. That was Lori's great idea. The schedule fit perfect, we'd drive a quarter mile and take the train which would have us at the Garden for 7pm and the last train out left at 11:30pm and had us home at 12:30am, all for the cost of just parking in Boston.

The weather slowed things down a little bit and we didn't see the first opening band, The Sword. I don't know them enough to care, maybe I'll check them out at the Newark show on the 31st. The t-shirt booths were in total disarray, I'd never seen such a mess at any show. Every booth we different, most shirts weren't on display at all and some vendors didn't know the prices yet so refused to sell anything. Big mess. It was about this time another first happened...

I lost my ticket. In between showing it to an usher to see how we get to the floor and a scrum around a t-shirt booth, I realized I no longer had it. After a few seconds of high anxiety... I see a ticket on the ground a few feet away. I go pick it up and it was mine. Whew... It wasn't like I was gonna get thrown out as we were already in the building, but there was no way I'd be able to get to my floor seat without that ticket.

We joined the crowds gathered around TVs showing the Steelers - Ravens game and just listened to Machine Head while we watched the NFL playoffs. Half time came, Machine Head ended and we headed to the floor.

Metallica burst on stage in a flurry of lasers. This tour is their first extensive use of lasers and the show had much less pyro than previous years. They ripped into the two lead tracks off Death Magnetic. It took the first song to really settle into place and realize that security wasn't going to let me move closer. I moved Lori to the aisle so she could see something. As cool as the center stage is, it is tough to see anything for the shorter folks. By time End of the Line kicked in, the band and me were totally in the zone and never let up. Some of my favorite new songs sounded awesome live and even the couple songs I didn't love were better live. I was so surprised to hear Justice for All (Don't think I've heard that live in its entirety since the Damaged Justice tour back in 1989) that I didn't even recognize its intro. We were in great position for a few songs with James right in front of us for Day That Never Comes, Sandman and more. It was about halfway through the show that I realized James wasn't swearing to the extent he always had for years, in fact he hadn't sworn at all. Not sure if this started on the last tour or not, but I finally noticed.

Then came another first for me. Metallica was supposed to hit the stage at 8:55 and be done for 11pm. But they didn't go on until 9:15 -- I knew this might put our train ride home in jeopardy so told Lori we'd leave at 11:15 no matter what.

Well at 11:15 it was just encore time... Thanks to MetOnTour.com I knew the set lists of every show this tour and knew the first of the three encore songs was always a short one. We got Stone Cold Crazy, the Queen cover - so I knew we were safe to hear that. I also knew every show finished with Seek and Destroy. It was now 11:17 - and they started Hit The Lights, a rare song I think I'd only heard back at the Filmore show in 2003. I couldn't leave now! So at ll:20 with Lori tugging on my sleeve I start the walk of shame and for the first time EVER - and I swear NEVER AGAIN! - I left with Metallica still playing. As we exited the building I heard Hit The Lights stop and knew Seek was next. I tried to console myself with the fact that I'd be seeing them again in 13 days, and I was too far away to end up with a pick or anything at the end of the show. And we made our train with 5 minutes to spare. 5 minutes I could've spent with Metallica!!! Still an awesome show, fantastic night and my neck and throat are sore as shit... all is well.

SET LIST
That Was Just Your Life
The End Of The Line
Harvester Of Sorrow
For Whom the Bell Tolls
One
Broken, Beat And Scarred
Cyanide
Sad But True
...And Justice For All
All Nightmare LongThe Day
That Never Comes
Master Of Puppets
Battery
Nothing Else Matters
Enter Sandman
- - - - - - - -
Stone Cold Crazy
Hit The Lights
Seek and Destroy


Photos courtesy MetOnTour.com

Boston Globe: Metallica rocks the Garden with power and passion

Boston Herald: Full metal Metallica

January Rocks

Despite a week of zero degree temperatures, 2009 is starting to heat up. Tomorrow Lori and I are off to see Metallica at the (insert latest bank name)Garden in Boston. We are on the floor in the 11th row. This is my first time seeing the Death Magnetic tour, in fact this is my first Metallica show since October 2004! Damn, that is WAY too long. I've been seeing the Masters of Metal since way back in 1986. I think this will be my 24th show but I've got to track down ticket stubs to be sure I'm not forgetting something. We're also heading down to Newark NJ to see them on Jan 31st, the final weekend of the US leg of the tour - and if the stars align properly I'll see them this May in Germany. My first international concert.
In other Metallica news: on January 13th the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame announced that the mighty Metallica were among the inductees for 2009. The induction ceremony goes down in Cleveland April 4, 2009. More details.
Metallica has announced the release dates for Guitar Hero: Metallica. March 29 in North America for Xbox 360 and Sony Playstation 3. Outside of North America the game lands in early May. Nintendo Wii and PS2 will follow later in the Spring, also most likely in early May. I'm in the batch of people waiting till May. More details.
But January isn't solely about Metallica. I'm drooling for the penultimate season 5 of Lost to kick off on the 21st. And of course Obamanation kicks into high gear officially on the 20th.

2008: What A Year

There is an old Chinese blessing (same say it is a curse) that says "May you live in interesting times." That sure held up for 2008 and I bet it continues for 2009. With a historic Presidential election and an unprecedented global economic crisis, times have been interesting to say the least. 2008 was a fantastic year for me - I had experiences I wouldn't dare dream of as the year began.
There were plenty of traditional highlights. Great, fun movies (Iron Man, Dark Knight, Cloverfield, Tropic Thunder) , concerts (Bruce Springsteen, Crue Fest, AC/DC), television (LOST, 30 Rock, The Office) and sports (Patriots came sooo close to NFL perfection at the beginning of the year then had a thrilling Tom Brady-less season, plus the Celtics reclaimed their championship glory). Fantastic new music by some of my all-time favorite bands came out this year; including my choice for Album of the Year - Metallica's Death Magnetic. There were also great new releases from Motley Crue, AC/DC, Tesla... the world also finally got to hear Guns n Roses' Chinese Democracy. I haven't played that since the week it came out so I guess that is my best review of it.
This was also the year I got hooked on Funny or Die (especially Jon Lajoie) and hopped on the Wii bandwagon, becoming a Guitar Hero addict in the process. What still blows me away is that I went from a beginning acting class to SAG member in a matter of months! I was part of three feature films this past summer and expect that number to rise for 2009. I took more screenwriting classes, had some very promising calls with producers and know good things are coming regarding that career.
Lori and I visited Six Flags New Jersey and New England, Washington DC, Pennsylvania, and London - twice!
Then there were the many things I tried having no idea what to expect - travelling to Seattle for a Big Mind weekend in May with Zen Master, Genpo Roshi and to Missouri for the Centerpointe Retreat in October. Truly life changing events.
Wow, this was a really a phenomenal year

2009 already has some killer plans, starting with METALLICA on January 18th in Boston and 31st in Newark NJ. I've got one script to polish and sell, two new ideas to work on plus a book I've started. In March, Lori and I will be attending James Ray's Harmonic Wealth Weekend in NYC. Looks like two international trips are on the horizon for '09, plus more acting, writing, learning.... It's all good.