Metallica Vancouver show reviews from KISW?s Mistress of Booze!!
by Jolene,posted Sep 12 2012 9:05PM
Metallica Vancouver show reviews from KISW’s Mistress of Booze!!
Catch Jen singing with The New Originals this Saturday for Dreamfest at Louie G’s in Fife!
KISW Loud and Local Presents DreamFest
Saturday, September 15th
Louie G’s Outdoor Stage
Featuring The New Originals, Witchburn, Klover Jane, Riot In Rhythm, The Fail Safe Project, Jason Kertson & The Immortals, Amadon, and more. Tickets are $15 ADV / $20 DOS and available through Brown Paper Tickets. Please bring a non-perishable food donation to be collected for NorthwestHarvest.org. This all ages show starts at 3 PM.
On with Jen’s Metallica show review!!!
METALLICA FILMS MOVIE – Blog 9/6/12
Metallica is my favorite band. EVER. I’ve adored them for over half my life now, longer than any relationship I’ve been in! I have been a card carrying member of The Metallica Club since 1996. I’ve seen them live every time they’ve come through the Northwest since 1992’s Guns/Metallica final stop at the Kingdome. I’ve even flown to California TWICE to see them, the last time being to see THE BIG FOUR show at the Empire Polo Club. From the front row.
You can then imagine my excitement when I found out that the Mighty Met was going to be playing a couple shows in Vancouver, BC this summer. The excitement hit overload when I also learned they would be FILMING the shows in Vancouver. HELL YEAH! Tickets were purchased, hotel rooms booked. At the last minute I ended up with tickets to both shows at Rogers Arena. I was now not only going to witness the filming of a Metallica movie, but I was going to do something I’ve never done before: See Metallica TWICE in a row! I was giddy like The Mens Room finding free booze.
It was ON, my head-banging friends.
On the way into Vancouver on Friday (8/24), we heard the local DJ say something about how the band wanted everyone in their seats by 7pm. When we arrived at the venue, we learned why: Comedian Jim Breuer was there to warm up the crowd! No opening band, just Jim Breuer and his legendary “heavy metal” comedy! It was brilliant.
As Jim gave any Metallica-virgins in the audience lessons on what to do during certain songs, the cameras were already going crazy capturing crowd action and gearing up for the actual show. The show had been christened, THE FULL ARSENAL, and once we got to our seats and could see the massive stage, we knew why. The stage was HUGE and in the middle of the arena. It featured two small Snake-Pits and coffin-shaped lighting rigs that were similar to what they had during the Death Magnetic tour. Lars’ drum kit was in the middle, on a rotating riser. Microphones were everywhere, indicating that James would be singing to every side of the arena all night.
After many belly laughs and many “YEAH!!! YEAH!!! OOOOOH!!!!” (in full James Hetfield style of course) exchanges with Jim Breuer, he finally felt we were ready for the band and announced they’d be out shortly. We happened to be right next to two of the bigger cameras, so we found out which song would play before they came out (it was an AC/DC song).
As expected, the lights fell and the opening notes to “Ecstasy of Gold” started. The crowd erupted as James, Robert, Lars and Kirk snuck onto the stage from opposite sides of the arena. (I tried to get video of Lars & Kirk’s entrance, but it was too dark.)
A few short moments later, the ass kicking began.
To my absolute surprise, Metallica opened the show with “Creeping Death” – WHAT?!?! Yes, they opened with “Creeping Death.” James could have announced, “We are going to fully and completely kick your ass tonight!” but opening with that song did the same thing, only better.
They went right into “For Whom The Bell Tolls” and then “Fuel” after that. Just when you thought that they’d stop to catch their breath, they started “Ride The Lightning,” complete with an electric chair and lightning machine that came down out of the lighting rig during the song!
The first four songs completely kicked our asses. Then, the lights went out and the familiar sounds of war started… for those unfamiliar with a Metallica concert, this means they are about to play, “ONE.” Lasers timed perfectly with the machine gun sounds made you almost forget you were in a sports arena and not on a battlefield.
Once the opening notes to “One” kicked in, giant sheer screens came down all around the stage, and images of soldiers going into battle appeared. You could still see the band, but these other images just enhanced the song and the vibe that was in the arena – trust me.
The rest of the show continued in the same total ass-kicking fashion, with every surprise Metallica has ever used, re-imagined and re-introduced, song by song. Yes, even a toilet with “METAL UP YOUR ASS” made an appearance during the encore of “Seek & Destroy!”
Here’s the complete set list for Friday’s show:
8/24 Rogers Arena
Main Set
1. Creeping Death
2. For Whom the Bell Tolls
3. Fuel
4. Ride the Lightning
5. One
6. Cyanide
7. The Memory Remains
8. Wherever I May Roam
9. Sad But True
10. Welcome Home (Sanitarium)
11. ...And Justice for All
12. Fade to Black
13. Master of Puppets
14. Battery
15. Nothing Else Matters
16. Enter Sandman
Encore
17. Hit the Lights
18. Seek & Destroy
This is probably one of the most solid sets I’ve seen from them, EVER. Of course, like every die-hard Metallica fan, I’d add a couple more songs that I would have loved to hear mixed with these favorites, but overall, I couldn’t complain. It was an amazing representation of their entire career, with the fun Metallica hijinks mixed in, just like you’d expect. (I don’t want to spoil EVERYTHING for y’all – I’ve got to leave some surprises for the movie!!)
We all left the show Friday beaming and just in awe of what we had just witnessed. I even bought a “THE FULL ARSENAL” concert t-shirt because even that was just too cool to pass up. (It featured something from every Metallica album cover… just awesome!)
Saturday night I had completely different seats. We were up in the balcony, with a perfect view of the entire stage. What we immediately learned as the band hit the stage that night was that the ENTIRE stage was covered in video screens! And during each song, the video screens were running images related to the song. For example, during “Creeping Death” the entire stage would be white, then suddenly, blood would (seemingly) start pouring out over the entire stage from Lars’ drum kit. It was creepy as hell but awesome all at the same time!
Later, during “Cyanide”, while the Coffin lighting rigs were showing videos of people trying to get out of, well, coffins, the stage was (again, seemingly) covered in maggots thanks to the video screens. Intense? YES. VERY.
As you may have guessed, because they were filming both shows for the movie, the set list did not vary. However, having the new view of the stage made it seem like we were watching a brand new show! As usual, Metallica had taken their entire live show to another level. A level not fully realized unless you were actually in the seats higher up too! I have to give major props to them for creating a concert environment where there TRULY was NOT a bad seat anywhere.
8/25 Rogers Arena
Main Set
1. Creeping Death
2. For Whom the Bell Tolls
3. Fuel
4. Ride the Lightning
5. One
6. Cyanide
7. The Memory Remains
8. Wherever I May Roam
9. Sad But True
10. Welcome Home (Sanitarium)
11. ...And Justice for All
12. Fade to Black
13. Master of Puppets
14. Battery
15. Nothing Else Matters
16. Enter Sandman
Encore
17. Hit the Lights
18. Seek & Destroy
The “tricks” that they played the night before still fooled the newbies in the crowd, which made it more fun for those of us who knew what to expect. There’s something about watching the crew build Lady Justice and then having her come crashing down all over the stage that just never gets old. EVER.
For me, getting to hear “Master of Puppets” live TWO nights in a row was probably as close to heaven as I’ve ever been. It was metal magic at its best –truly! James, Lars, Kirk and Robert sounded as good as I’ve ever heard them – they were CLEARLY super pumped to be filming their movie and were feeding off the crowd just as much as we were feeding off their energy. Watching their faces, you can see how much they STILL love playing live music – even after doing it for 30 years.
That, my metal friends, is truly magical. And it’s probably part of why they have been able to do this for 30 years, successfully. (If you wish to debate that, see the comments below. Thanks.)
So thank you Metallica for the chance to see “The Full Arsenal” twice and bring my total Metallica concert total to 14. I cannot WAIT to see the movie. For any Metallica fan, new or old, you too will want to go see/buy this movie as soon as it comes out. Trust me – I was there. It was EPIC. It was THE FULL ARSENAL. And it kicked our asses. Just like a Metallica show should!
ROCK ON!
~ The Mistress of Booze
THANK YOU MISTRESS OF BOOZE FOR THE KILLER REVIEW!
Jolene
