Orion Music and More 2013 - Day 2

A superb day and an outstanding weekend.

The day kicked off with our self-guided tour of downtown Detroit, then we were on the first bus to Belle Isle for day 2 of Orion Music and More. All the transportation and entrance problems that plagued many yesterday seemed to be cleared up today.

Our first stop was the Metallica Museum, which is full of old gear, artwork, stage props and some handwritten lyrics. Then it was music time as I managed to see 10 different bands today. 

I caught All Shall Perish, a very heavy, hardcore band who got a serious mosh pit going right from the start, then Cauldron who looked and sounded like Kill ‘em All era Metallica. After those more traditional metal acts things got really interesting. The Dirtbombs are a 6 piece band with two bassists, three drummers and a guitarist - but wait there's more! They alternate. A drummer swaps with a bassist and vice versa. They covered INXS’ Need You Tonight with a drummer taking lead vocals into the crowd then taking a drum into the crowd for their final song. Sick and fun. But the funniest band of the weekend is Fidlar, a 4 piece punk band (who introduced themselves as Metallica, LOL) with such classic 2 minute sing along choruses as; “I drink cheap beer, so what, F you!” “I sit home and drink alone, you are such a whore!” and the power ballad “I didn’t know I was so good at making you feel awkward.” Plus all these songs were signed by women at side of stage for some hearing impaired fans. It was hilarious! If these guys show up at a dive near you, go see them.

Then Metallic’s own Rob Trujillo jammed with the unrelated yet similarly named skate board husband and wife Trujillos for a jam know as Trujillo Trio. They were straight ahead thrash who were then joined by Mike and Rocky from Suicidal Tendencies for a raging version of Institutionalized. 

Destroid

I saw a few songs by the drums and guitar duo, Japandroids. They didn’t do it for more so I wandered over for a couple songs by Vista Chino until Fu Manchu started. I dug them a lot as they were pretty straight ahead hard rock and did a great cover of Godzilla by Blue Oyster Cult.

Up next, I dove back into the EDM tent to see Destroid, and I've never seen anything like it before. Three cyborg, Cylon-like creatures playing drums and synth guitars and commanding people to dance and obey them in evil robot voices. Fun as shit! They got a serious pit going and I was totally energized for the main attraction.

Metallica. After the surprise set yesterday, we all knew more surprises would come. They did. I had no idea what song might show up next. At least two songs were premieres for me. Another 6 probably haven’t been heard by me live in over ten years. They sounded tight and looked so amazingly happy. They are really at the top of the world.

The more songs you don’t recognize, the more excited I was.

Setlist:

Blackened

For Whom The Bell Tolls

Disposable Heroes

Harvester of Sorrow

The Day That Never Comes

Carpe Diem Baby

I Disappear

Sad But True

Welcome Home (Sanitarium)

Orion

One

Master of Puppets

Battery

Nothing Else Matters

Enter Sandman

- encore-

Turn The Page

Creeping Death

Seek & Destroy 

Make a Wish kids join Metallica on stage

Detroit is the new home for Orion. While last year's show at Atlantic City was certainly easier for us to attend, if I had to decide right now - I think I'll be visiting Detroit again.

Here is all the official Orion photos, broken down by band.

UPDATE: 6/11/13
Last night I finally figured out the significance of "Dehaan" the fake name Metallica performed under on Saturday. Their upcoming Imax 3D concert film, Through The Never, is more than a concert film, it has a narrative and actors too. The lead actor is Dane DeHaan. So if you recognized that from the get go (which I did not), you might have been in the front row for the big surprise.

Final numbers: Came back with 5 new Metallica t-shirts, 1 new pick, and shows #31 and #32 under my belt. In all, I saw 16 bands over the weekend. And for first time in my life, I got to hold one of James' guitars in my very own shaky hands! And Lori got to sit at Lars' drum set. Sick!

 

Orion Music and More, Day 1

We started off the morning exploring Detroit and the Renaissance Center. Lori and I hopped on the People Mover and took 15 minute ride on this monorail thing which is only two cars long and had a total of 3 other passengers. All we could do was think of the legendary Simpsons monorail episode and laugh. But Detroit has some really cool, unique architecture and some quite beautiful spots downtown - it was surely worth the 75 cents the 15 minute tour took. Met one guy who is a local and said he was going to Orion later too.

Then we roamed the river walk and bizarrely futuristic hotel/GM HQ/mall thing. Took a lot of Larry pictures then hopped on first bus to get to Orion. 

Globe of Death!

After about half the attendees entrance was rejected by malfunctioning scanner systems, we got in, bought 3 new Metallica shirts and entered Kirk’s Crypt since we spotted a very short line. The crypt is a showcase for all of Kirk Hammett’s horror movie memorabilia. It was bigger than last year and more freaking people dressed up inside and turning it into a haunted house. We watched a demo with a makeup pro turning a girl into a zombie too.

Then we had killer food from Detroit’s world famous Slows Bar-B-Q; Triple Threat on a Stick and Mac & Cheese.

After that it was time for the first bands to start. Caught The Bronx and liked them a lot. Then we moved on to local band Battlecross who were the heaviest of heavy with tremendous in sync head banging and a great cover of Slayer’s “War Ensemble.” After that we roamed in the Met Club tent and got to pose with Metallica’s gear, check out the new Metallica pinball machine and cavort with a whole lot of other Metalli-crap, followed by the car show and Globe of Death - a cool motorcycle stunt show, which was also something done by The Simpsons.

Dropkick Murphys

The next band was Boston’s own Dropkick Murphys and I must admit I had no idea these guys were big anywhere outside of New England, but they got a big crowd and rocked hard. They also represented Boston in a major way, thanking everyone for support after the marathon bombing, playing their Red Sox, Bruins and Mickey Ward inspired songs, plus Shipping Up To Boston and a cover of AC/DC’s T.N.T. - just when I thought that was the highlight they told us Metallica was playing a surprise set of old shit - we bolted and I got there as The Four Horsemen was starting and I quickly realized they were playing Kill ‘Em All from start to finish. Heaven! This surprise was cool beyond words. I’d only recently accepted they’d play only once, then they pull this out. I love this band. Needless to say, they kicked ass and then it tool a little bit to find Lori again. With her full permission, I left her behind as I raced to see the mighty Metallica. She got there too, but by then there were thousands of bodies between us.

Secret Metallica Gig!

Kill 'em All, start to finish.

We eventually found eachother and headed to the EDM tent for Bassnectar. Lori didn’t last long, but I had a blast. He played some Hendrix, Nirvana, Beatles and even Motorhead all remixed, sampled and dancified with an insane amount of bass. The kids loved it. It was the next generation mosh pit, everyone going off in sync but without the violence.

The Red Hot Chili Peppers closed the night. Most of the hits are a bit slow, for my taste, to follow Kill ‘Em All and Bassnector, but once they cranked into Higher Ground I was rejuvenated. Man, I forgot how many radio hits RHCPs have had over the years. Much like last year, the bus ride home was a blast with the whole bus singing Creeping Death, and one out his mind fan trying to choreograph different verses for front and back of the bus, and then even calling for the elderly bus driver to take a verse. The driver responded by turning up the volume. Smart dude.

Great day. And tomorrow is the REAL Metallica show - can’t wait to see what tricks they pull out next. 

Metalli-stats

I'm writing this at 35,000 feet above the ground flying to Detroit for Metallica's Orion Music & More festival. 

This next Met show is my first show since the last show which was the best show ever. Last June at the inaugural Orion in Atlantic City, I won snake pit passes and was in the 2nd row as Metallica played their Black Album in its entirety. I'd be lying to say I'm not disappointed they are only playing one night as opposed to two this year, but I am psyched to see what surprises the band might have in store for me, plus discovering a slew of new bands to become a fan of (last year I fell for Ghost and Volbeat), and I'm really excited to dive into the EDM tent (Electronic Dance Music). I don't know squat about it but every now and then I hear a hard rocking bass-heavy track that makes me think I'm ready for an all night rave. 

Sunday night will be my 31st Metallica show. This is the fifth time I've flown to see them, and the trip gives me a new city and state not just for concerts but for visiting at all. The goal is to visit all 50 states, this puts me at 29 I believe. 

My Metallica t-shirt count is now at 102 with more to be purchased this weekend. And one of the coolest things about these festivals is meeting people who put my numbers to shame. In Atlantic City, the tiny woman in front of me in the front row was at her 50th show. And she lives in Japan!

Larry The Lizard picks up his Orion pass

GM Renaissance Center, Detroit

Orion Music & More - much, much more

Metallica's first (annual?) Orion Music & More festival was easily the best festival of any kind I've been to. Top notch location, planning, transportation, logistics, bands, set times, staging.... even prices were reasonable. Bottles of water I've seen go for $8 at most venues were only $3, plus there was free water refilling stations. The last big giant outdoor mess I went to was Woodstock '94 and it was a big giant mess.

Lori in Kirk's Crypt

James Hetfield said repeatedly from stage that they decided to have "a backyard BBQ" and thanks for showing up, but it was so much more. This was really a Metallica Theme Park - between the Custom Car Show showing off a few vehicles from James and 100 others, Hit The Lights Films curated and hosted by Lars Ulrich, "Kirk's Crypt" showcasing a sampling of Kirk Hammett's massive horror movie props and memorabilia collection - complete with live girls and ghouls making it more of a haunted house than just a tent full of stuff, Skate board ramps with pros and Robert Trujillo showing their stuff, a Metallica Museum of art and artifacts, 30+ bands hand picked by Metallica playing on four different stages, and most them were introduced by a member of Metallica. This truly was Metallica's back yard and they played perfect hosts.
I must admit I only went to this for Metallica and I hadn't even heard of many of the bands playing, but I left a fan of many of them and isn't that the point of this sort of eclectic festival?

Day 1, June 23, 2012
We are on the 1st shuttle bus from our hotel, the Borgata, at 11am (only 4 people on it) and were at Bader Field before gates opened at noon and started meeting people from all over the world right away. I've been in the Metallica Club since 1994 and my fellow clubbers have consistently proven to be the coolest people on the planet.
We had tickets to see Lars' dad Torben Ulrich's film "Before The Wall: Body & Being" and were in the front row for an hour of discussion with Lars and Torben and the "gift of gab" is definitely a family trait. It was a fun and funny experience.
Since we had bumped into comedian Jim Breuer that morning at the Borgata (he really does always look stoned) we hit the comedy portion next (it was also the only stage with shade). Lars showed up to introduce Don Jamieson and then James introduced his good friend Jim Breuer who is living his dreams combining metal and comedy. He was a blast!

Rob jams with Suicidal Tendencies

By this point in the afternoon I had yet to see a band, though I did hear The Sword cover "Cheap Sunglasses" from afar, so it was time to take my position for Suicidal Tendencies, a punk/skate/metal fav of mine since the 80's, and since this was Roberts first band I was confident of a reunion. I placed Lori near the sound board and moved deep into the crowd at The Damage Inc. stage. ST were introduced by Robert, who said he wouldn't be here today if not for this band. They opened with 'You Can't Bring Me Down" and then right into their biggest/oldest hit, "Institutionalized" (the infamous "all I wanted was a Pepsi" song) and the place went frickin' nuts. I was scared a few times. Boots, bodies and blood were flying. I didn't know till later that someone went down hard and was taken away on a stretcher. I tossed a few willing participants up for some crowd surfing and had an awesome time. Robert did indeed strap on a bass and jammed 4 or 5 tunes from "Infectious Grooves" - a bass heavy side project from ST. Heaven. When I turned to leave I couldn't believe how large the crowd had gotten.

Then it was Metallica time. Ride The Lightning night - the first Met album (yes album!) I bought back in high school. Our outstanding Met Club Ultra package got us into an exclusive area up close to the stage. As the thousands behind us chanted "VIPs suck!" I smiled to myself with metal glee.
Lori made some friends as I left her behind to go deeper by another 20 feet or so towards the stage.
Metallica played arguably the best show (this was #29 for me) I've ever seen complete with four songs I've never heard live before and one song, "Escape" that they played for first time ever! James joked right until the very start of it that he didn't want to play and could they just skip it. It's a song the entire band never wanted to see on their set list.  While it is the weakest song on the album, I've always liked it and thought it sounded great live. Another highlight was "Trapped Under Ice," a personal favorite they've only played a handful of times.
They opened four epic favorites: "Hit The Lights", "Master of Puppets" (my sides already ached from singing/screaming), "The Four Horsemen" (holy shit!!), and "Sad But True" -- followed by new song "Hell and Back" (from EP of 4 tracks from Death Magnetic sessions) then into all of Ride The Lightning, for the first time anywhere, but played in reverse order to keep me having to think, I guess. The amazing night ended with "Battery," "One," and "Seek & Destroy". Wow.
But there was still another day. A day with passes into the Snake Pit - the hole within the Metallica Stage!!

Day 2
Decided today was going to be about seeing bands. We caught a few songs by the moody, distortion heavy three-piece A Place to Bury Strangers and then checked out Liturgy - a two piece band. Two guys shredding on guitar. Nobody else. Interesting. Their bio lists four guys, so maybe two slept late, I don't know.

Ghost

I had been told ahead of time to see Ghost and I'm glad I did. They were on the main stage at 2pm and were introduced by James who said, "it's never too early for scary." Ghost are a group of anonymous ghouls from Sweden under white masks and robes lead by a skull faced Pope. I loved the music and the act. It felt so good to get a subtle head nod of approval from the Evil Pope. They were the most polite satanists you could ever meet and a good time was had by all. James stayed for the whole set and was rocking out at stage right.

Robert Introducing Soul Rebels

Next we caught the Soul Rebels, a brass group from New Orleans who opened for Metallica at their 30th anniversary Filmore Shows in December. They got introduced by Robert, and were a lot of fun. They even covered "Enter Sandman". Saw another first - moshing to a brass section.
Next up was another comedian, Shuli Egar, from the Howard Stern show. He was pretty funny, but I needed some metal. So I left Lori there and went to see Volbeat, a metal band from Denmark who are a top 10 act in Europe.  I'd never heard of them, but everyone I met talked about them, which was verified by the massive crowd at the Fuel stage waiting for them. James introduced them too and stayed for their set as well. They did a Johnny Cash cover and that fit them well, all dressed in black and rocking hard. They won me over.

Eric Church

Then it was time to prepare and get into the snake pit. I even persuaded Lori to join me there for Eric Church so she could decide herself to stay or not. Eric Church was another act I'd never heard of but I guess they are a pretty big deal in country. But they aren't country like I expected - they had pyro, smoking guitars and Black Sabbath riffs. I'm shocked to say I was front row and going off for a country act.
After that we could hear a blazing set by Avenged Sevenfold from across Bader Field as we waited for the return of the Mighty Metallica and the first time playing of the Black Album in North America. I was one person away from the front stage barrier. In front of me was a 5' tall woman from Japan at her 50th Metallica show. I made it my mission to keep her safe - cuz I wasn't gonna have clearer lines of sight over anyone else.

Kirk

They opened with the same two songs as Saturday night then varied it with "Fuel", "Bellz" and another rare personal favorite from Justice For All, "Shortest Straw".  Then into the career changing, blockbuster, Black Album, in reverse order. I absolutely loved the deep tracks "Struggle Within", "My Friend of Misery" and "The God That Failed." Hell, I loved every single song, even the one I never really cared for, "Don't Tread on Me." As I did the previous night, when they played "Nothing Else Matters" I thought of Lori. (when we first met 16+ years ago she didn't know what a Metallica was. Then a few live shows, "Nothing Else Matters" as our wedding song and BANG, she's in the fucking pit! How lucky am I?)

James

At the end of Sandman I abandoned my front position to dig into the back and find Lori for the encores, "Blackened" (SWEET!), "One" and "Seek & Destroy."  I caught a pick from Kirk after having one tossed by James rebound off my head earlier in the show and we limped away exhausted, enthused and grateful for yet another amazing show.  Can't wait for next year.

James & Rob

Final bow at Orion

good night!

The Pilgrimage

Long time, no post. It's been a jam packed year so far - and ALL GOOD.  I've worked as an extra on two films (with more expected), and last month alone I was in three different training programs, the highlight of which was Brendon Burchard's Experts Academy. Next month I start a 10-month Positive Psychology course that I'm very excited about.
But all of that pales in comparison to what I've got going on this weekend and how it relates to last fall when I was feeling suicidal. Boils down to one word... Metallica.

If you are in New England, join me at my full day energy workshop July 21 - "Mastering Your Personal Power." Have a great summer!

Metallica Kicks German Ass

Random observations from Metallica show in Stuttgart Germany. Crowd was 90% male and I didn't spot a single family. Metallica's never been a big show with the ladies, but this is ridiculous and US shows are just full of families for the last few tours. The beers sold in the arena are HUGE - they would be pitchers in most US bars. The arena was very small. Not much more than a glorified hockey rink, no upper levels of seating - just the floor and one level of seats. I bet some high school gyms are bigger. It was stiffling hot and it seemed like everybody was smoking.
Very strange being in middle of crowd waiting for Metallica with everyone speaking German. I was wearing a Metallica shirt from the US tour that wasn't being sold here. Lots of people tried asking me about it - at least that's what I think they were doing. But once the show started I was jumping up and down with plenty of German youth screaming all the lyrics at the top of my lungs - good times. Matt and I were on the floor and it was general admission. We just hung back during Machine Head then moved into position - about 10 people away from the stage. I figured I'd last as long as I could then bail out for the some breathing room, but I kept riding the crowd closer and closer. I was just 4 or 5 people away for most of the show -- closest to the band since I saw them at The Filmore in San Fran a few years ago.
Each band member, except Lars, was right over us many times during the show. Lots of cool eye contact, close enough to read all of Jame's tattoos and enjoy Robert's many goofy faces. Being on the floor, this was more a show of survival than beging able to sit back and enjoy every song. Had to pay a lot of attention to your own safety with many mosh pits and crowd surfers - but it was all a blast. Was close enough to get my hands on a pick from Kirk and give a few smacks to the giant Metallica beach balls that dropped in the finale. Personal highlights were my first time hearing "The Wait" and "The Judas Kiss", plus it's been a long time since I heard "Wherever I May Roam" and that is just perfect to hear while traveling in Europe.
This winter I'll be seeing Metallica again back in Boston. WooHooo!!

Set List:
That Was Just Your Life
The End Of The Line
Creeping Death
Wherever I May Roam
One
Broken, Beat And Scarred
Cyanide
Sad But True
No Leaf Clover
The Judas Kiss
The Day That Never Comes
Master Of Puppets
Damage, Inc.
Nothing Else Matters
Enter Sandman
- - - - - - - -
The Wait
Phantom Lord
Seek and Destroy


I was right around the guys holding this sign all night. You can see half of Matt's mug to the left. Think I'm behind the banner.

Metallica World Domination

Metallica is just everywhere these days. Guitar Hero: Metallica was released this week, this weekend they'll be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, they are in middle of European Tour for Death Magnetic and have announced another leg for the US this fall and winter.

I got my copy of Guitar Hero: Metallica yesterday and was amazed. Once their normal entrance music of "Ecstasy of Gold" started, I got chills just like I was at live show. The game play is fantastic and features all the stages and tours through Metall-istory. Even playing along with animated versions of James, Lars, Kirk and Robert I'm nervous and thrilled. This is first music game I could be playing guitar and singing at the same time from the first moment I start playing. The only thing I wish the game had was seeing Metallica as they were for each era - would love to see the long haired metal monsters of the 80's and 90's plus having Cliff be in the game would be fantastic. Maybe such things show up later as I play - who knows.

I'm seeing Metallica in Germany on May 9th. I'm beyond psyched for my first international show. US dates for the rest of 2009 have been announced, but don't include anything in New England - a big shock since they only played one date in Boston on the first leg. Normally they play Boston, Providence, Hartford and Worcester. That can only mean 2010 will be featuring many visits, I hope.

The R&R Hall induction goes down Saturday, April 4 and will be covered live by FUSE TV. In fact FUSE is doing a week long of Metallica specials. The ceremony will be live from Cleveland on Saturday, April 4 starting at 9:00 pm EDT. Don't have FUSE? No biggie - you can watch it online!
Check out www.fuse.tv/rockhall for more info. and the schedule for the week is also posted here.
Metallica is bringing EVERYONE to celebrate the induction - very cool.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090328/music_nm/us_metallica_1
Jason Newsted will even take over as bassist for the day!
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090331/music_nm/us_metallica_1

Metallica Rocks Newark

We made the 4 hour drive down to Newark to see Metallica last night. This was my 25th show and 7th state for seeing the mighty Metallica. They only played one show in New England on this tour, that was just unacceptable. I am so glad we made the trip. Even though I was very pleased with the Boston show, this one blew it away. The energy level, the interplay and fun in the band, our seats and view... all just made for an amazing show. In my Boston review I remarked on the fact of much less pyro than prior years, well that was true just for that show. For some reason Boston didn't allow all the flames that were flying high, often and in one case a little longer than they were supposed to in Newark. Also unlike Boston, the floor was general admission last night and having some pits break out makes such a difference in the overall energy level of the building. Got a couple songs different from two weeks ago; Ride The Lightening, the very rare cover Bliztgreig plus a tease of the instrumental Suicide and Redemption.

Our seats were about the same distance from the stage as in Boston, but we weren't on the floor so could actually see the whole band and stage show this time; all the lasers, pryo and lights. What a difference. Just a great show, great crowd... I was just going off so much... sweat was flying from bald head from the first song and splattering on the girl in front of me. Deal with it baby! My neck and voice are way more shot today than after the Boston gig. Some of the new songs sounded just fantastic last night, with the whole crowd screaming out every word - especially on All Nightmare Long and Cyanide. One lucky 10 year old got plucked out of the crowd and joined Lars on drums to start of Seek and Destroy. It is in that final song that dozens of black Metallica beach balls get dumped from the rafters, and last night while James was running along kicking a bunch of balls into the crowd he fell down. He bounced up quick, laughing at himself. Then he and Robert did some seal tricks bouncing balls off each others' heads.
Before Metallica started we were talking with everyone around us. People were trading stories about how many times they'd seen the band. There were a ton of Metalli-virgins. I just said "I saw them with Cliff" and that conversation ended with a hush of admiration. Newark was the last stop on the US tour and band heads off to Europe after a short break. I'm hoping to score tickets to see them in Germany this May.

Set List
That Was Just Your Life
The End Of The Line
Ride The Lightning
For Whom the Bell Tolls
One
Broken, Beat And Scarred
Cyanide
Sad But True
...And Justice For All
All Nightmare Long
The Day That Never Comes
Master Of Puppets
Battery
Nothing Else Matters
Enter Sandman
- - - - - - - -
partial jam of Suicide and Redemption
Blitzkrieg
Hit The Lights
Seek and Destroy

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

Death Magnetic. Best. Album. Ever

Last night Metallica debutted about half of the new album "Death Magnetic" which will officialy be released next Friday Sept 12. And though I've only heard 6 songs so far - it's not a big stretch to say this is their best album yet. You can check it out yourself:
http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/BLABBERMOUTH.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=104111

Sweet - just got phone call from Boston Casting, I'm working on "Edge of Darkness" tomorrow. Lori was booked for this a few days ago, now we both have to be at South Station in Boston for 5:30am, so goodnight!

Metallica: "Death Magnetic"

The mighty Metallica have announced the release date for their first album in five years; "Death Magnetic" will hit the streets and Internet on Friday September 12, 2008. "Death Magnetic" features a few firsts for the band - it is the first album appearance for bassist Robert Trujillo who joined the band after 2003's "St. Anger" was recorded. It is also the first Metallica release produced by Rick Rubin. Bob Rock had been Metallica's producer (and unofficial fifth member by playing bass on St. Anger) since 1991.
Check out lots more at http://www.metallica.com/ and http://www.missionmetallica.com/

The first single and video will be "The Day That Never Comes."

"Death Magnetic" tracklisting:
That Was Just Your Life
The End Of The Line
Broken, Beat & Scarred
The Day That Never Comes
All Nightmare Long
Cyanide
The Unforgiven III
The Judas Kiss
Suicide & Redemption
My Apocalypse

Mucho Metallica

Metallica's new album is expected this September and they've recently launched a new site, Mission: Metallica, to give an inside peek. There are already a few videos available and they all give teases of some new tracks. And I must say the new music sounds killer. Though in all honesty if Metallica released a collection of burps and farts I'd proclaim it to be the best, heaviest, most ass-kicking burps and farts I'd ever heard!
In other news in Metalliland - you've got to check out this a capella version of Metallica's "Battery". It is simply amazing and brings air guitar to a whole new level. Plenty of bands have people cover their stuff, but the wide range of experimental treatments done to Metallica songs amazes me. From the powerful four cellos of Apocalyptica, to bluegrass, to the hilarious mashup of the Beatles and Metallica by Beatallica - somehow it all works. Here is a clip of "A Garage Dayz Night" and a video of Apocalyptica doing "Creeping Death" just to give you a taste.

Metallica Rules The World

This Thursday, March 31st, be sure to catch the premiere of the VH1 special "Metallica Rules The World" at 10 pm Eastern. This one hour documentary covers all the drama, debauchery and tragedy of the mighty Metallica. For more showtimes and an exclusive clip, visit Metallica.com!

Plus "Some Kind of Monster" the acclaimed Metallica documentary will be shown commercial free on VH1, Saturday, April 9th at 10pm. For more info, be sure to visit VH1.com!

More Metallica

YeeeHaaaa! Night two of METALLICA was another top notch show with 11 different songs from night one. We were on the floor for this one so the crowd seemed even louder than night before. Check out the set and a review of night 1 from Boston Globe.
And the Red Sox are up 3 games to none in the World Series. What have we done to deserve such a blessing? Oh yeah, 86 years of heartbreak.

Go Pats! Go Sox! Go METALLICA!!

What an amazing day to be in Boston yesterday was. The New England Patriots beat the NY Jets to extend their record setting winning streak to 21. The Boston Red Sox were playing Game 2 of the World Series at Fenway with Curt Schilling pitching on his miracle ankle. And METALLICA was in town for two nights with Boston's own GODSMACK opening. Full Story...

Metallica Starts Tour

METALLICA kicked off their "Madly In Anger with the World Tour" last night in Arizona. Opening for this leg of the tour are Boston's own GODSMACK. As of yet there are no dates scheduled for New England. Since its been too long since I've seen them last and I'm not willing to wait and see when they'll finally get out here - I'm headed out west to San Francisco to see them Monday March 8th. More..

They have also just launched a new web site http://www.livemetallica.com/ where you can download the audio from each night of the tour.

Another Grammy for Metallica

A big shout out for METALLICA for winning their 7th Grammy Award this past Sunday for 'Best Metal Performance' for St. Anger. The Grammy folks seem to still be trying to make up for giving Jethro Tull the first Metal Grammy instead of Metallica, as METALLICA has won every year since. I'll be seeing them next month in San Francisco. YEAH!

Time for some AF recommendations: Dave Grohl's long incubating all star metal project "Probot" is finally out and is getting raves. It is quite ironic that a guy from Nirvana, the band the pretty much single handily killed off metal, is now paying tribute to it. Also just discovered that one of the best TV shows ever is now available on DVD. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you "Freaks and Geeks".