One of my favorite bands of all time is Metallica, so of course I had to go to their concert in support of their new album, Death Magnetic. My partner in crime for this particular show was Shawnna's brother, Mike, who has a similar taste in music - gotta love the hard stuff. We took BART to the Oracle Arena (Oakland) and were there as the opening band (The Sword) began their set. The stage was set up in the center of the arena and we were standing in the center of one of the sides of the stage, about 5 people from the front. This ended up being a great spot to see the show.
The Sword played for 30 minutes and then the stage was set up for Lamb of God. We had the perfect vantage point to see the Lamb of God drummer - he's amazing! The sound quality of their set wasn't the best, but they played with a lot of energy and got the crowd into it. Their set lasted about 45 minutes and their setlist included Laid to Rest, Ruin, Now You've Got Something To Die For and Black Label among others. It was the perfect setup for Metallica, but the stage changeover took 45 minutes to complete. By the time Metallica took the stage, the crowd was restless and needed a release.
Metallica gladly obliged with lots of lasers, pyro and of course, their signature sound. Lars' drum kit was on a turntable in the center of the stage which rotated about every 5 songs. James, Kirk and Robert didn't stand in one place very long as they made use of the entire stage. The band really seemed happy to be back "home" and rewarded the audience with a nice performance - the crowd responded in kind. Their setlist was as follows:
1. That Was Just Your Life
2. The End Of The Line
3. Creeping Death
4. For Whom The Bell Tolls
5. One
6. Broken, Beat and Scarred
7. Cyanide
8. Sad But True
9. The Unforgiven
10.All Nightmare Long
11.The Day That Never Comes
12.Master Of Puppets
13.Blackened
14.Nothing Else Matters
15.Enter Sandman
Encore:
16.Last Caress (Misfits cover)
17.Whiplash
18.Seek and Destroy
Metallica played for 2 hours and when their last song started, they released a bunch of black beach balls from the ceiling. I was lucky enough to grab one to bring home to Kaitlyn. I also was fortunate to nab one of James Hetfield's picks when he threw it into the audience. Immediately, a teenager asked if I would sell it to him for $26 (the amount of cash in his pocket). He said that he plays guitar and it would be awesome to play with one of Hetfield's picks. Of course, not wanting to crush this kid's dream, I took his cash and gave him the pick - win-win. I had a fun time, it was a good show (not great, since there were a bunch of songs I wish they would have played instead of all the new stuff - 6 new songs!) and I went home happy and satisfied with my Metallica fix.
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