Hope the show is good and you have a ball. Report back, ya corn!
yup, yup, and you asked for it...
SHORT VERSION:
what little of the sword that i caught was really good. i was unimpressed by machine head, except for the iron maiden cover the the following song. metallica totally kicked ass.
LONG VERSION:
due to train delays and slow restaurant service, we got to the venue in time to catch the sword's last two songs. they sounded good and i would have loved to hear more, but their set was really short - they were off the stage by 7:30.
machine head just wasn't my thing. i need a more discernible melody, MH came at me like a wall of fuzz with an occasionally lead guitar going wingly-wangly @ 200 bpm. their cover of "hallowed be thy name" was cool (melody!) as was the following song, but other than that i would have been happier skipping them. the singer did have an impressive set of pipes, but his attempts at fostering crowd participation generally fell flat.
if the evening had ended at this point, i would have been incredibly disappointed. luckily metallica came out and pulled off a 2+ hour set that can best be described as blistering (for some, literally - i could feel the heat from pyrotechnics from 50 feet back, i can only imagine what is was like for those in front). from start to finish, they had me (and about 20,000 other folks in attendance) on their feet and pumping their fists. i went in with huge expectations. the band surpassed them.
the opening song, "that was just your life", was incredible - the laser show that went along with it was one of the best that i've ever seen. they only brought them back for one other song, i would have loved
them to stay on for the entire show. other highlights for me were "cyanide", "hit the lights", "blitzkrieg", "all nightmare long", "...and justice for all", "for whom the bell tolls"... oh, who am i kidding - there wasn't a bad moment in the set. "one" has been over-played over the years, IMO, but their rendition on saturday was thoroughly enjoyable. ok, fine, there is no saving "enter sandman" but i needed a bathroom break by then anyways so it fit in just fine
from a technical standpoint, this show was top-notch: sound was amazing, lights were incredible (did i mention the lasers?), no instrument/mic eff-ups, etc.
further proof that this show kicked (metal up your) ass: the missus, who isn't a fan of metal by ANY stretch of the imagination, thoroughly enjoyed the show and told me to put them on our must-see list. it was infectious. i'm glad that i got a chance to catch them at one of their career peaks.
THE CAMERA ODYSSEY: when i picked up my ticket at the will-call window, it read "no cameras allowed". i shrugged this off, assuming they meant no video cameras or weren't going to be serious about it (i've been to many shows where "no cameras" wasn't enforced). unfortunately, they were serious. it was telling that the security dude told me "sorry sir, you'll have to take your camera back to your car" - this is jersey after all, everybody drives everywhere... except me, who took the train in. so i told the missus to head on in to our seats (it was absolutely FREEZING outside), and that i'd join her in a minute. i walked back out, hid the camera on my person - it was either that or hide it in a snow bank and hope to find it after the show - and tried my luck with another security attendant. got through security that time, although i had to walk a little funny as i felt the camera slipping
the lack of camera flashes going off during the show was noticeable. half way through metallica's set, security came over and busted me for taking pix. i was getting cocky, and given my seat location i probably should have been much more conservative. but here's the cool part: instead of ejecting me, or confiscating my camera or my storage card... they took my batteries. given how blatantly i had broken the rules i though it was nice of them to let me off like that. could have been much worse for me.
here are the pix i managed to sneak.
p.s. anyone want to trade livemetallica.com download codes? i've got an extra for the 2/01 newark show, i'd be interested in trading for the 1/31 show or the DC show. PM if you've got an extra.
