Here’s a sign that you’re doing it right: A check on craigslist for tickets weeks prior to the concert showed a massive disproportion. There were dozens of postings from people desperately looking for tickets to the show – just one posting actually selling tickets. Did ticket brokers miss the boat? Possibly. More likely, Rod Gab fans anticipated their arrival very early and made sure they scored tickets. And once they had them, they weren’t letting them go. That’s refreshing.

On to the show. We won’t spend a lot of time here talking about the magic of Rodrigo y Gabriela. If you’re not yet familiar, read this post from our review of a Rodrigo y Gabriela concert in Milwaukee. Besides, all you need to do is watch a little video – you won’t need convincing from me.

The highlight of the night (and one of this year’s best concert moments) came as a stunning surprise. Between songs, Rodrigo teased the audience about a special guest, then introduced Rob Trujillo – bass player for Metallica. It turned into perfect synergy (well, almost perfect – you’ll see) between the two styles of music represented by Rod Gab – their mind-blowing classical chops fused with their metal influences and inspiration while they jam Metallica’s “Orion.” It was the icing on an already sinfully outstanding cake. And the fans … let’s just say you can expect to hear them loud and clear as the music grapevine grows. Check out the crowd reaction at the end of the video “Part 2″ and you’ll understand.

Enjoy the video below. It’s excellent and comes courtesy of TP1134. Below that are two more videos shot by Sound Citizen, if you want more Trujillo. Also, check out TP1134′s account for more of the concert from an excellent vantage point. An outstanding job.

Only three dates remain on their U.S. tour schedule: Oct. 20 in Austin, TX, Oct. 22 in Philadelphia, Oct. 23 in Boston and Oct. 24 in Baltimore. If they’re coming through your area, you’d be an irresponsible Sound Citizen not to go. No excuses. Overseas? Check out more tour dates below the videos.

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(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

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One

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For Whom the Bell Tolls

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Metallica is one of the best metal acts of all time. Their huge talent and soaring popularity also makes their live shows very expensive. If they come near your town but you lack the funds to purchase a ticket you could look into payday loans on the web.

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. They were good. Then Hetfield remarked that what goes good with the new stuff … is the old stuff. It turned out to be Creeping Death – and the crowd exploded with life, applause, metal hand salutes and singing.

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

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Master of Puppets

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