For those who have not had the opportunity to see a Metallica concert live, I encourage you to do so.  Even if you are not a fan of the band (ok, if you like country music or rap, you’re going to be a little out of place).  The show that they put on is nothing short of spectacular.

I had the opportunity to see them recently, and not only did I leave with a lot less hearing than I had before, it was the most enjoyable evening out that I have had in a long time.  The concert was at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit.  A note about the Joe – it’s an old arena, built in 1977, but it has a feel to it that it was constructed much earlier.  I liked it…and I also liked that I didn’t get ripped off going to the concession stand.

Metallica also gives fans the opportunity to download the concert that they attended for free.  They record it directly from the sound board, and post it online within hours of the concert finishing.  I don’t know of too many bands that do this, but consider it a little extra value and allows you to remember the concert forever.  In addition, they even post the cover artwork!  How cool is that!

Opening for Metallica was a band I’ve never heard of, nor can I remember.  No big deal, their music was decent but the lead singer (if you can call him that) was pretty horrid.  I don’t think I understood a single thing that came out of his mouth.  They were followed by Machine Head.  A decent band, and really did their best to warm the crowd up for Metallica.  They did a cover of Iron Maiden’s Hallowed Be Thy Name, which went over pretty well.

Metallica took the stage just before 10:00 pm.  It certainly did not feel that late, considering we got to the arena at 7:00 pm!  The show started of with a laser light show similar to Pink Floyd.  This played throughout the first two songs, as well as The Ecstasy of Gold.  Pyro throughout the show erupted from the stage, and more light tricks with the floating “Death Magnetic” metallic caskets above the band.

The track listing was as follows:

That Was Just Your Life 
The End of the Line 
Creeping Death 
For Whom The Bell Tolls 
One 
Broken, Beat & Scarred 
Cyanide 
Sad But True 
Welcome Home (Sanitarium) 
All Nightmare Long 
Kirk Solo #1
The Day That Never Comes 
Master Of Puppets 
Damage, Inc. 
Kirk Solo #2 
Nothing Else Matters 
Enter Sandman 
Last Caress 
Breadfan 
Seek and Destroy

The last three songs were encores, and the band played for about 2 hours and 10 minutes.  Obviously, they played a lot of material off of their new CD (six tracks), but mixed in some classics and favorites.  I certainly did not expect to hear Last Caress!

My next road trip will be for UFC 97 in Montreal in April.  For that, I can’t wait either…but I will elaborate more upon that event in a later post.