I almost forgot, yes after 11 years of blogging, that I
have every right in the world to review the shows I attend. Last night (actually, Wednesday, August 9th)
in Seattle with friends watching Metallica play in the home of the
Seahawks... my former blogself would have had this practically
live-drafted, but I guess times have changed for me. Or maybe the days,
weeks or months leading up to the show hadn't woken me up. You would
think otherwise, but it was going to take meeting the band to wake me
the fuck up. That did not happen, but there is plenty of space for
reflection on the show. Prior to going into the show, my buddy informed
me one of the new songs is about Amy Winehouse and her lost soul.
Interestingly, during the show, there was no mention of Amy, but James did mention the fact that "No, Lady Gaga is not here tonight,"
(in fact she was in concert in Inglewood) "but more on that later."
While there was no further direct mention of Gaga, later, Metallica did
perform Moth Into Flame. Winehouse is now Gaga, right? I get it.
Admittedly,
I had not previously heard much of the new album but the songs the
legendary outfit performed were loaded with raise your fist mantras for
the die-die-hard fan. And Seattle has many of these. And my non-metal
self loved that love.
Then came the onslaught, a
rousing performance of Master of Puppets got me banging and audience
roared and lit trees and it was on. Lars sounded winded during the
salutations after their encore, the band really was trying to give
Seattle props all night... maybe because they only offered them a Wednesday night?
One
was great, for so many reasons. As was Enter Sandman, the band's
closing hymn. The lights were amazing. Aside from Seattle's C-Link
stadium making it difficult to find anything above 15% alcohol, there
was nothing to be let down about. 18 great songs and some of the
finest people watching on Earth.
