(Video after the jump) As it turns out, my lady has a friend connected to Metallica. And that afforded us a VIP pass to the second of Metallica’s concerts in Chicago, along with a pass to Club Magnetic and near-front row seats. His name is Rob Trujillo, Metallica’s bass player.
So, as the lights went down and the band walked on stage, I was fixated on Trujillo’s performance. And he can play. He plays with his bass down low, plucking fast with his right hand and shuffling frets with his left. It’s a torrid, yet measured pace, and not since the departed Cliff Burton have I felt the bass’ influence on the band.
From the beginning of the show, the set list remained largely the same as Monday. But there were variations, including an early For Whom the Bell Tolls – a song so perfectly Metallica and perfectly suited to get the crowd involved …”the march is on!”
Again, the rocked some classics like One, Sad But True (my personal favorite) and Enter Sandman. This time, being off the floor but close to the stage, we got a better look at some of the pyrotechnics and lighting effects. As you would expect from Metallica, there were plenty of fireballs and some cool multi-colored flamethrower-like effects, especially during One (video below.) Songs played from the new album, Death Magnetic, were mostly the same from Monday, including Cyanide which turned out to be one of the weaker songs on both nights.
Both nights they closed with one of Metallica’s best and widely-known songs, Seek and Destroy, among a barrage of large, black inflatable balls coming from the rafters and thumping unsuspecting fans in the head.
But on Tuesday, during the final song of the night, Trujillo suddenly dropped his bass on the ground – it appeared to be an equipment malfunction. As Trujillo struggled to get a grasp on the fallen instrument, a roadie quickly jumped on stage with a replacement. Suddenly another roadie ran up behind him and shoved a shaving-cream pie in his face. That was followed up by other crew members, friends and even some kids, dousing the victim with more pies and a torrent of silly string, while James Hetfield continued the song, trying desperately to suppress his laughter. Turns out the crew member was celebrating a birthday – Trujillo’s equipment malfunction was all a ruse to get him onstage for the traditional Metallica birthday bashing. Kirk Hammett got the same treatment on his birthday.
After the show, the band stayed on stage throwing guitar picks and drumsticks to the crowd, taking bows, waving and telling Chicago how much they were appreciated. We headed back to Club Magnetic for a drink before being summoned by security into the hall, where Trujillo was waiting. We spoke briefly and met his wonderful wife. They are both seem like great people. He thanked us for coming and hoped we had a good time. A couple of young fans walked up and told him they were fans, one since he was four – which made me feel very old, but happy. “Dude, that was @#*! sweet!” one of them exclaimed while walking away.
Then a father and son walked up. They thanked Trujillo, who said he saw them in the stands and was trying to throw a pick to them. At which point he started patting his pockets, searching for a pick and started to turn away so he could go find one for them. But before he got away, they said they caught one, and Trujillo was relieved. “I hear you’re playing guitar now,” said Trujillo. “Good, keep it up. You have a good teacher in your Pop there.”
Below is some video from the show. Some of it is a little shaky – because I was having a hard time staying still. Don’t forget to click the bottom right of the player after you start the video to view it in high quality.
Read the review from Monday’s Metallica concert.
Sad But True
One
For Whom the Bell Tolls
(Video and photos after the jump) Metallica has been doing one thing for the past 25 or so years – rocking. And they continued that tradition in Chicago, at Allstate Arena, playing in front of a house packed with dedicated fans. I went to Monday’s show – little did I know that come Tuesday night, I would have a special invitation from a very special person to attend Tuesday as well. More on that later.
Metallica opened up with That Was Just Your Life, followed with The End of the Line, the first two tracks off the new album, Death Magnetic
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From there the show raced on. Singer and guitarist James Hetfield sounded great and Kirk Hammett continues to prove that he’s more than just a thrasher, he’s an extremely talented musician. This was the first time I’ve seen Rob Trujillo on bass in person, and he was equally impressive – matching the intensity of Hetfield and flashing serious skills.
I had seen Metallica twice before this show, and the same thing happened on Monday that happened twice before. They kicked ass. They are powerful. They deliver metal in a way that’s sharp and melodic but still makes you want to mosh (usually a fleeting thought – I was on the floor, and a few moshes broke out, but I only got punched once and never lost my footing, even as an unwilling participant.) And there’s nothing like a crowd that knows just about every word to every song – as such, Hetfield repeatedly stepped back to let the crowd take over and that’s an awesome sound. And here’s the other thing – they were having fun and it showed. Hetfield gave several mentions of Chicago, and tacked a home-made “Chicago Loves Metallica” flag to an amp. And none of it felt gratuitous – that geeked up the crowd even more.
Speaking of the crowd, it was what you might expect and some of what you might not. There’s the guy with nicotine-stained long blonde hair, wearing all black (including the required beat up black leather jacket) who walks up to you and tells you that he got hit by a train on his way over, possibly because of the fifth of vodka he drank, which he shouldn’t have because of the side effects from his anti-psychotic medication. Then there was the young guys and gals who weren’t yet conceived when Metallica started out, but are old enough to drink. There are the lifetime metal heads who look scary but are just plain nice guys. But what really struck me was the abundance of father-son combos. In short, we’ve grown older, and maybe grown up a bit. And so has the band – drummer Lars Ulrich spewed some water out of his mouth onto the crowd. To which, Hetfield remarked, “That’s rude.” So Ulrich retrieved a towel from his drum kit and handed it to the doused fan. A rock star move, followed up by a paternal reaction.
Some personal highlights for me were Master of Puppets and a new track, The Day That Never Comes. Both are included in some partial video below. Make sure to hover your mouse at bottom right of the player after you hit play, and click “HQ” for a higher quality video.
So, about Tuesday – I ended up getting invited by my girl, via someone mentioned in this article. Come back for Tuesday’s review, more video and photos, and the revealing of the mystery man.
Read the review from Tuesday’s Metallica show. More photos and video!
The Day That Never Comes
Master of Puppets
| Sep 14 2009 | 8:00P | Sommet Center | Nashville, Tennessee |
| Sep 15 2009 | 8:00P | US Bank Arena | Cincinnati, Ohio |
| Sep 17 2009 | 8:00P | Conseco Fieldhouse | Indianapolis, Indiana |
| Sep 19 2009 | 8:00P | Bell Centre | Montreal, Quebec |
| Sep 20 2009 | 8:00P | Bell Centre | Montreal, Quebec |
| Sep 28 2009 | 8:00P | AT&T Center | San Antonio, Texas |
| Sep 29 2009 | 8:00P | American Airlines Center | Dallas, Texas |
| Oct 1 2009 | 8:00P | Bank Atlantic Center | Ft. Lauderdale, Florida |
| Oct 3 2009 | 8:00P | St. Pete Times Forum | Tampa, Florida |
| Oct 4 2009 | 8:00P | Philips Arena | Atlanta, Georgia |
| Oct 12 2009 | 8:00P | MTS Centre | Winnipeg, Manitoba |
| Oct 13 2009 | 8:00P | Target Center | Minneapolis, Minnesota |
| Oct 15 2009 | 8:00P | Quicken Loans Arena | Cleveland, Ohio |
| Oct 17 2009 | 8:00P | JPJ Arena | Charlottesville, Virginia |
| Oct 18 2009 | 8:00P | Time Warner Cable Arena | Charlotte, North Carolina |
| Oct 26 2009 | 8:00P | Air Canada Centre | Toronto, Ontario |
| Oct 27 2009 | 8:00P | Air Canada Centre | Toronto, Ontario |
| Oct 31 2009 | 8:00P | Colisee Pepsi | Quebec City, Quebec |
| Nov 1 2009 | 8:00P | Colisee Pepsi | Quebec City, Quebec |
| Nov 3 2009 | 8:00P | Scotiabank Place | Ottawa, Ontario |
| Nov 9 2009 | 8:00P | Van Andel Arena | Grand Rapids, Michigan |
| Nov 10 2009 | 8:00P | HSBC Arena | Buffalo, New York |
| Nov 12 2009 | 8:00P | Times Union Center | Albany, New York |
| Nov 14 2009 | 8:00P | Madison Square Garden | New York, New York |
| Nov 15 2009 | 8:00P | Madison Square Garden | New York, New York |
| Dec 5 2009 | 8:00P | Mandalay Bay | Las Vegas, Nevada |
| Dec 7 2009 | 8:00P | Idaho Center | Boise, Idaho |
| Dec 8 2009 | 8:00P | ARCO Arena | Sacramento, California |
| Dec 10 2009 | 8:00P | Honda Center | Anaheim, California |
| Dec 12 2009 | 8:00P | HP Pavilion | San Jose, California |
