Random Thoughts On Metallica Reheasal
Looking back on Metallica's "rehearsal" at the Cow Palace on Friday night, I would have to say I was pretty damn impressed with the band, which, after giving up on them many years ago, is something I though I'd never say again.
While standing on the floor of an almost eerily empty Cow Palace, and I
couldn't help but pick up on the good "vibe" that was going around.
There were conversations involving shopping at The Record Vault, the
latest Death Angel and Testament records, and Mercyful Fate T-Shirts. And if I can get all fan-boy here, meeting and shaking hands with both legendary journalist Steffan Chirazi and one time Metallica guitar tech/band member John Marshall was pretty damn cool. It was a good time {even sans alcohol} and made waiting for the band to hit the stage {they were an hour and a half late} more than bearable.
Although there were a few "kinks" in a couple of the songs off of Death Magnetic that still needed to be worked out, Metallica
still sounded pretty damn good, and are still a pretty impressive live
band, even after all these years. Yeah there was a bit of a "lull" in
the middle of the set {"Until It Sleeps", "The Day That Never Comes"}
but overall the songs flowed relatively smoothly, and if it weren't for
James saying something to the effect of "We'll fuck -up more than usual to make it extra special for you guys", or a complete guitar meltdown during one of the new songs (Broken, Beat And Scarred)? it could have been just another Metallica
show, except for the fact that there were only 700 people or so in
attendance. And although I am not going to give away the entire setlist
of the evening, I will say that highlights for me included "Cyanide"
"Master Of Puppets" "The Four Horsemen" "Fight Fire With Fire" and the
3 song "encore" during which they ripped through "Last Carass"
"Blitzkrieg" (!!) and "Seek And Destroy". Not a band way to wrap
things up. Another highlight was seeing legendary photographer Ross
Halfin on stage and casually getting right in the face of each band
member to get his shots. As I watched him I couldn't help but gravitate
towards the front of the stage to see just how he works his magic, and
to say that I was envious of him would be an understatement. Although I
hear he is a real prick ( and probably rightfully so} I'd love to get
the chance to shoot a show with him and see just how he does it.
As far as the "production" portion of the show, the set was full of muti-colored lasers, multi-colored flames and eight pretty fucking cool coffin shaped lighting rigs, four of which would hover directly over the band at times. It was a nice touch, and maybe was meant to serve as a reminder to the audience that this band is still "metal". A friend and I did agree that there was a serious lack of explosions, but hopefully all the pyro will be in place once the actual tour starts.
If I had only one complaint about the evening, it would have to be the 'in the round" style set-up of the stage. To me the rotating band member really takes away from the "dynamic" of the show, especially with a band like Metallica. After seeing them on tiny stages like The Stone, or on a huge stage which they completely hi-jacked at The Oakland Coliseum {Day On The Green, 1985} its hard to get a sense of energy from the band when you can't see them all head-on at any given time. But I guess that's what bands do these days. Oh Well...
So with all that being said, will I go see Metallica when they return to the Bay Area for a proper show in December? Honestly, yes I will. As much as I wanted to continue to write off both them and there music, I just can't do it this time, as I am stoked to see that Metallica has returned to form.
And please excuse the shitty pictures below. After much debate, I decided
not to pursue obtaining a photo-pass, and at the last minute decided
not to even bring the 5D. And I gotta admit that after shooting
approximately fifty or so shows this year, it was nice to go with just a point and shoot
watch as a fan for a change.
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