I saw Metallica last night...

[Kink Rimson]

... At the O2 Arena in London, the 'Death Magnetic' launch party. I'm still grinning like a fool, it has to be the best I've ever seen 'em play. Even the endearingly ramshackle Lars held it together (except for one almighty comedy fluff near the beginning).

How's this for a setlist?

'That Was Just Your Life'
'The End Of The Line'
'The Thing That Should Not Be'
'Of Wolf and Man'
'One'
'Broken, Beat And Scarred'
'Cyanide'
'Frantic'
'Until It Sleeps'
'Wherever I May Roam'
'For Whom The Bell Tolls'
'The Day That Never Comes'
'Master Of Puppets'
'Blackened'
'Stone Cold Crazy'
'Jump In The Fire'
'Seek And Destroy'



The sound was surprisingly clear for a venue that size (except for a murky couple at the beginning), but sadly Rob was a casualty, bass and arenas just don't seem to mix and he was for the most part an indistinct booming.

Still, he did a short but groovy as hell distortion soaked solo, leading into 'For Whom The Bell Tolls', but the biggest cheers seemed reserved for the bass and drum poundings on 'Cyanide', which really got the crowd going and brought an even bigger smile to my face. Nice to see that sometimes, just grooving on the root gets to the crowd more than anything. Nice one.

Plus, all the rest of the band were in clear high spirits, especially James, and a party atmosphere all round, particularly when the house lights came full on and what seemed like hundreds of giant black metallica beachballs dropped from the ceiling and were booted by audience and band across the stage and crowd.

A special gig. But I admit, I did go for a beer during 'Frantic'.

[Qvist]

Sounds like an awesome gig, a shame with the bass not being that audible.. But hey, it's metallica, what could you expect It's cool they still play blackened reguarly, that song is so freaking awesome!

[StanFan]

I like seeing Of Wolf And Man in the setlist. This is the only song off TBA I'd want to hear if I saw them live. Overall, looks like a good variety (the setlist) and I hope you had a blast.

[nickbear]

i was there as well! great value for money as well! a fiver for a ticket!

one of the best times ive seen them for sure

[bassaficionado6]

Did Trujillo break out the 8 string (or was it twelve?) for Wherever I May Roam?

[quasiz_bassist]

I'm going to see them this October in Kansas City! Glad you had fun man, set-list looks pretty good. Shame Trujillo's bass wasn't very audible.

[John Deacon]

Wait no Enter Sandman??

At least they did Queen.

[Kink Rimson]

Nope, no Sandman.

Stone cold crazy was probably my highlight of the evening. Completely unexpected!

[f'nar f'nar]

I'm very suprised about the no sandman. I like to see the thing that should not be on the set list, I do love that song. Actually, the song isn't that great but that line "Not dead which eternal lie, stranger eons death may die" gets me EVERY time, shivver moment!

[Qvist]

Originally Posted by f'nar f'nar

I'm very suprised about the no sandman. I like to see the thing that should not be on the set list, I do love that song. Actually, the song isn't that great but that line "Not dead which eternal lie, stranger eons death may die" gets me EVERY time, shivver moment!

Dude! That song is one of my favorite metallica songs! The solo just blows me away with it's creepyness.. And that riff during the solo, gotta love that palm-muted E string... /drool

[Mad Russian]

Originally Posted by Kink Rimson

Still, he did a short but groovy as hell distortion soaked solo, leading into 'For Whom The Bell Tolls',

From everything Ive seen in the past It was probably "God of Thunder" by Kiss as an intro to Bells - very cool on a distorted bass!

[magickbass]

No Creeping Death? Sacrilege I say!!! Seriously though, sounds like an awesome concert. Hope they come anywhere close to my town so I can catch them.

[landry.bass]

Man, I want to see them so bad... Especially since I was very pleasantly surprised with the new album.

[JimmyM]

I hate bands that refuse to play their biggest hits. Sorry, but that's what people are there to see.

[Kink Rimson]

Originally Posted by JimmyM

I hate bands that refuse to play their biggest hits. Sorry, but that's what people are there to see.

I wasn't!

[nixdad]

The fact that the bass came through as nothing but a rumble makes me crazy. I have been to dozens of metal and hard rock concerts and it's the same result 99% of the time. The bass is mixed in a "bi-amped" type fashion, with the lows in the same frequency range competing with the bass drum, and some high end "click" in the same frequency range as the guitars or cymbals - no wonder the bass can't be heard. It doesn't seem to matter if it's an indoor or outside venue. Why the bass is not brought more into the low mids & mids so it will cut through and add punch to the mix is beyond me - the sound engineers have to hear that it sounds like crap. I can't believe after all of these years that it seems to be the same result every time.

...Then again, Metallica has a history of not having much bass on any of their recordings, so maybe no bass live is just a by-product of wanting their live performances to match the sound of their records. What a shame.

[bohemond]

Thats an awesome set list.! Now just add Battery, Escape. and Last Caress/Green Hell and Am I evil. The old stuff is the best IMO

[Lokire]

Originally Posted by JimmyM

I hate bands that refuse to play their biggest hits. Sorry, but that's what people are there to see.

What!? Seriously, Enter Sandman is literally the LAST song I would want to hear Metallica play live. Maybe the casual Metallica listener would like to hear it, but as a big fan, I've hear Sandman enough. I'd much rather hear them break out some of the less common stuff like Blackened. Up until recently, they almost never played Blackened live. Awesome song

[JimmyM]

Sorry, I forgot that Metallica fans are too cool for the hits.

[Lokire]

It may be their 'radio hit', but it's honestly one of my least favorite Metallica songs. Call me crazy. I guess I'm just too cool for Enter Sandman.