My Metallica Show report for August 17, 2004
After finding our seats and waiting for 40 minutes Godsmack started up as the opening act. I'm not that big of a Godsmack fan, great music, but some of their music just doesn't live up to the live tour atmosphere, especially Voodoo.
Granted I still think it is a great song and all, but sometimes there are some
songs that are best when you let the band sing them, or where its better where a
screechy voice like mine doesn't chime in to ruin the song for everyone else :). They sang about 8 songs, and there were 3 things I liked from them......the songs "Straight Out of Line" and "I Stand Alone" and the lead singer getting the crowd motivated and saying something to the effect of how we shouldn't be sitting down and watching MTV and to stand up cuz this is a mothafuckin rock concert!! Overall, not too terribly impressed, but they set the tone for Metalllica.
Me, and fellow friends and co-workers Corey & Carlos, (pictured above, Carlos left, and Corey, right) made the hour long journey to Fargo from Grand Forks, and still had several hours to spare. So we checked into our hotel, and grabbed a bite to eat before heading to the venue (Fargodome) for the show. We got there still fairly early as the arena was still filling up. I found out
later that about approximately 8,500 filled up the Fargodome, but from the latter crowd participation it felt like a whole helluva lot more.
After about a 30 minute intermission for setup and whatnot, Metallica took the stage and rocked the fucking house off. They opened with "Blackened" then proceeded with "Fuel" and "For Whom the Bell Tolls." They did 11 songs in their first set, and I was very into "Battery" "Sanitarium" "St. Anger" and "Frantic." Screw you guys, St. Anger album fucking kicks ass! Once u give it a few run-thrus the album grows on you big time! Anyhoo, back on track, during the first set I unfortunately got this random tired high, and I was out of it for about a good 2 or 3 songs, but once Frantic came into effect I was back into the swing of things. Ya, I get these random tired highs for some damn reason when I alter my sleep schedule where I'm awake one instance, and within seconds im dead tired, which lasts for about a 30-45 minutes on the average before I'm back in the swing of things. Here are some actual live pics from the Fargo event that I found on the 'net just hours ago.
Back onto the show report, they closed their first set after 11 songs with "Battery," but then came back for a 5 song encore with an awesome Full Metal Jacket setup for "One" complete with one helluva pyro sequence that actually made it feel like you're down there on the battlefield. Those pyros are fucking loud too, I damn near jumped when each and every one of them went off. They also did "Enter Sandman" and the crowd was totally into it, as was I. I forgot how much I loved that song and it was just a blast to hear and participate in it live.
That song finished the 2nd set, then Metallica walked around the stage tossing guitar picks and I thought they were finished and they came back for two more songs. First they did Leper Messiah, and then James egged the crowd on if they wanted one more song, James' response: "Fargo, you guys deserve one more!" Fuck yeah we do! And what a way to finish with Seek and Destroy. Man do I love that song, and participating in it was flat-out awesome! After that Metallica tossed out some picks, then walked around the stage for awhile posing around and then got on the mic. James said we rocked and said that Metallica will be back very soon, then their main guitar guy said "Fargo, you guys fucking kick ass!" and then and Lars said, "you know what's fucked up? that it's been 7 years since we were here at Fargo, we're not going to let that happen again!" Here's the set list from their site:
Blackened
Fuel
For Whom The Bell Tolls
Welcome Home (Sanitarium)
Frantic
King
Nothing
I Disappear
St. Anger
Sad But True
Creeping Death
Battery
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No Leaf Clover
Nothing Else Matters
Master of Puppets
One
Enter Sandman
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Leper Messiah
Seek And Destroy
Overall, a damn great show in the end, I didn't know a couple of the songs they played so I was out of tune for those, but that still doesn't take away enough for me to say that it was, hands down, one of the the best concerts I've ever been to. I had a fucking blast, I didn't give a damn about Godsmack when it was all said and done, and Metallica playing 18 songs for 2 and a half hours and they just blew me away as I was in friggin Metal heaven. For a while I was thinking I would find it hard to believe that Metallica can still put on this great of a show after 20+ years, but they proved me wrong after today. I think this will probably be the only time I find myself saying that I got my money's worth for the $74 I paid for my ticket. Thank you Metallica!
If any of you guys have been to a live Metallica concert email it to me at dkulas@hotmail.com and I'll more than likely post it here