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Review Tue Jan 27 2009
Review: Metallica @ Allstate Arena, 1/26
It's 2009. Metallica is being inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, selling millions of albums, and playing to full arenas. The crowds are a hodgepodge that's discovered the band at various points throughout their much storied career. Books could be (have been?) written about what people have or haven't liked about them during their 28 years. But people adore them. And even those who have some issues with them still go to their concerts.
Photo by Brian Leli
At last night's show, the first of two at Allstate Arena near the end of a tour that began in October, Metallica roared out with the first two songs from their latest album before indulging those who apparently shun the band's recent output. (Definitions of "recent" tend to vary, naturally.) Any mention of "new stuff" by James Hetfield was met with lukewarm applause. Even his clever attempts to draw in longtime fans ("We figured out what goes good with the new stuff - old stuff") were met with some hesitancy. But that dissipated as soon as the band tore through the old stuff that almost everyone can agree is good. "Creeping Death" and "Ride the Lightning" back-to-back early on injected some energy into the crowd and kept the momentum rolling for most of the 120-minute set. However, just to show that Metallica can't even please all of their fans, I saw someone roll their eyes for "Master of Puppets" and a stoic girl in front of me texted "I hate this song" during "Enter Sandman." Other than them and some people commenting "Lots of new songs tonight, huh?", everybody seemed pretty pleased.
Photo by Brian Leli
For an arena show, the stage setup was relatively simple in the center of the floor. Eight microphones gave Hetfield an opportunity to play toward every corner of the arena. Kirk Hammett and Robert Trujillo roamed the stage to wherever Hetfield wasn't. Lars Ulrich's kit swiveled every few songs. The hanging coffins, rows of amps and pyrotechnics were spot-on for a metal show. The laser lights and beach balls? Not so much.
Photo by Brian Leli
Although, at that point, with the house lights on and "Seek and Destroy" ripping, I don't think the props really mattered. It's 2009. Metallica is who we thought they were — an extremely popular metal band past their prime who's making great strides to make their fans happy. And they pull that off quite well.
Photo by Brian Leli
Machine Head opened with a rather pedestrian set that seemed far removed from their glory days. But their drummer is amazing. The Sword also opened, but the nightmare that's I-90/Allstate Arena traffic kept me from seeing them, unfortunately. (At least they ruled when they played Bottom Lounge in November.)
[Editor's Note: To see more Metallica pictures shot by Brian Leli, as well as more pictures from The Sword's set, check out our Flickr photostream. Below is a taste.]
Photo by Brian Leli
Photo by Brian Leli
TJ Mapes / January 28, 2009 8:57 AM
Dem be some nice photos! Can we see more?