Metallica

A most memorable night as the boys set out to open the new Royal Arena with a bang. And that they did!
From the opening of Hardwired it was clear they were here and they meant business! The most in-your-face opening of a Metallica gig I have ever witnessed. While there were a few noticeable "hiccups" in James' voice it was, to my ears, nothing major. But evidently it prooved to be just that.
James told us he and a few of the others weren't feeling well and about 30 minutes into the show he had a talk with Lars, center-stage, and at this point most of us looked at each-other and thought, "Uh-oh. Something's up. They're gonna cancel..."
James adressed the crowd, saying the band weren't sounding good and that he hated giving us a bad show. He wanted to stop. He asked the crowd outright, if we wanted a make-up show later with Metallica in full force or if they should continue at half mast. The crowd roared a reassuring and supportive "No!" - meaning: It's OK, James. We are here for you. We want you to battle on. We can do this together.
He laughed warmly, thanked the crowd for our support and said, "You asked for it".
They reorganized, changed the set-list and came out again and this time it seemed there was more energy in their performance. They were out to proove that they could do this, illness be damned! And as James asked for the crowds help in singing the lyrics, it didn't feel like all the other times he had done so. This was special. For once, you actually felt as if you were helping James, helping the band, through this ordeal. Together. And it felt mighty good. Sometimes this whole "Metallica-family"-thing gets a bit worn-out and cliché, at least for me. But in that moment I felt it. The kinship. The coming together. And that was a mighty thing. A mighty good thing.
The band soldiered on, ripping into a mighty version of Fade to Black, that hit home a bit more than it used to.
Yes, there was an incident with Kirk during the intro, first missing his cue and then playing false notes, but not one of the critics questioned why. Just prior to Fade Kirk had done a solo thrasing his guitar around. For Fade he was then given another guitar, but the receiver on it cut out leaving him muted. They quickly gave him another guitar, the same he'd used for the solo, which was not tuned to Fade thus producing false notes. He finished the intro and they quickly changed guitars again, this time with a working receiver and in-tune.
It's ok to criticize if the criticism is justified. Factless criticism is just whining.
So they battled on raising the roof with a feroscious rendition of Seek and Destroy and the most pummeling version of Battery I've ever heard. Absolutely blistering.
And closing out with Sandman with the crowd in full roar was just perfect.
It was a truly memorable concert both performance and set-wise. Oh, and they even included Harvester of Sorrow which was a very nice surprise for me.
The stage was beautiful with a built-in screen. And a screen in the ceiling as well. Epic and beautiful.
A memorable night I won't forget as long as I live. As a fan, they did me proud with this one. I just hope James recovers and regains his strenght once again.
Hetfield, rise!

The impatient wait had been going on for months - I booked this show when tickets went on sale back in March or whenever it was, and October had take so long to come around - but finally it was here: Metallica day!

The day started with a trip to the pop-up merch store in London, then onto the O2 for an agonising queue (good thing it's what us Brits do best, apart from moan about it of course) before finally getting in and finding my seat - which, by pure luck, was a superb view. Again, what felt like days, but in reality was only 30-40 mins wait, the lights dimmed, the background music shut off, and the familiar notes of the intro track, "The Ecstasy of Gold", complete with video footage from "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly", began to ring out, to rapturous roaring and whistling from the 20,000 strong crowd. The hairs on my arms are standing on end just recounting it for this review. And then we were in: full-bore, 100mph, Metallica took to the stage and belted out song after song after song with barely a moment to catch your breath before the next does of thrash metal came your way. "Thrash metal?", I hear you say, "Metallica hasn't been thrash metal since the 80's!". Oh my friend, trust me when I say thrash metal - we had some of the best early work represented tonight, not least with half a dozen track from the new album "Hardwired... To Self Destruct" that included unrelenting riff after riff, from the likes of "Hardwired", "Atlas Rise", "Moth Into Flame", coupled with one of the heaviest tracks they've ever written "Dream No More", plus "Halo on Fire" and "Now That We're Dead". All segmented in-between some of the bands greatest songs; "Seek & Destroy", "Through The Never", "Welcome Home (Sanitarium)", "For Whom The Bell Tolls", "Through The Never", "One", "Sad But True", "Fuel", the obligatory cover, this time from the Misfits' "Die Die My Darling", before ending the show with "Master of Puppets".

Of course, it wasn't the end - back for the encore the intro to "Damage Inc" came on, before they ripped all the way through it, eventually slowing the pace to play the ever-loved "Nothing Else Matters" and finally ending on probably their most well known song "Enter Sandman"

It was a great varied selection of tunes that spans most of their career - the only notable exceptions being there was nothing from "Load", "St Anger" or the previous record "Death Magnetic". But otherwise all the other studio albums were represented. Some guitar and bass doodles from Kirk and Rob, before Rob gave us a wonderful tribute to Cliff by playing "Anesthesia".

If you get the chance to go, then go see this show - it's truly magnificent, from a band with 36 years experience in being the biggest metal band on the planet, and it shows you just why they are. I just wish I had a ticket for tomorrow night too.

We went to a concert in Toronto to see; Volbeat, Avenged Sevenfold, and the show I have been waiting my life to see; Metallica. They all sported the Blue Jays jersey with their names at some point and thanking them for the gifts. The show had a Dj mixing up songs before/between acts from groups like Beastie Boys to Black Sabbath. Volbeat and avenged Sevenfold were great acts my first seeing all. My 16yr old is really into Avenged Sevenfold and was not disapointed. (end of grade 10 present). Volbeat i have heard in passing once and will do my best to spread the word about them.Glad i made it there in time to catch Volbeat if you ever have a chance make sure you catch them! Avenged Sevenfold was everything my 16 year old had told me. Those who missed them may be may be able to catch them soon as they alluded to coming back. They make me glad that metal is carring on to the younger generation these days. "We love Canada, we love you guys you're so nice and you always get us @#$!*&-up!" They were amazed that as Canadians when he made reference to the flag from another country someone was holding up we cheered not booed "cause thats just how nice you all are!"Finally but not least in any way Metallica.First of all their pyrotechniques were amazing boasting two small hot air ballons above them. The stage was set up so everyone had a good view and sported large screens for those further back to follow the rifts as well. At one point they were all on drums together each sporting their own.James Hetfield after noticing a young 8 yr old in the audience made reference to the"...Metallica family, young, 'medium' and old." They played flawlessly and didnt disapoint their fans. My 16 year old was excited to see Metallica and who influenced not only her Mom and friends but the music yet to come out. The screens showed videos like clips from "the unforgiven" to lead up the one of the many big hit songs. The encore was what i was waiting for...the two songs my friends and I have been singing since grade school. What a great venue; no big line up for anything but marchandise. Thanks to all who made the show work:-)

Metallica@RoyalArena03feb2017
Overall it was great. A blast of a concert! What wasn't so great mostly has to do with inexperience among staff of the arena itself, and the fact that it was premiere night on a brand new untried venue. Plus the tech geeks victory over common sense in arena design.

There was trouble with wi-fi connections, which initially meant doors opened 10-20minutes late due to ticket validation.(whiplash experience)

Bar staff initially unaware of validity of drink tickets (VIP-bracelet)

Understaffed bar and merchandise shop in lounge area.

Lounge area cramped. The room could have been 3 times the size to comfortably hold that many people. This was only a problem until early access was given to GA floor, as many went in at that time.

Luggage handling/storage at Royal Arena is a total disaster. There were no oversized lockers. People had to be in possession of an IOS or Android smartphone (not windows compatible) with mobile pay on it, which excludes 10-25% of Danish concertgoers and 100% of foreigners. Redo ASAP! Loose codes and an arena tech was assigned to deal with the issue analogous, but it was too little too late, and will be a reoccurring issue in the future.

Those were - except for luggage - all minor things, and this review has to end on a very positive note with a great shoutout to the crew at CID entertainment for going the full mile to make everyone as comfortable as possible and making everything work on the fly. Thanks guys!

General arena design is also top shelf, and can endure LOUD bands to the extent that no other large scale arena in Denmark can follow. Thumbs up for that!

As for Metallica - James wasn't well. We could hear it; he told us himself too. The crowd wanted it to happen so bad, and it did. I only hope there has been no permanent health damage induced by playing the (almost) full show. Metallica delivers - every single f#$!ing time!

Electrifying as ever with their incredible performance and stage presence, the members of Metallica delivered the goods and more last night with a nice cross section of numbers running the gamut of their colossal catalog! There were occasional pauses to interact and converse with the crowd, but the band segued their way into one song after another the majority of the evening. The night opened up with an intro of the Ecstasy of Gold followed by the title cut off of the band's latest effort Hard Wired to Self Destruct. James Hetfield's vocals were as strong as ever from beginning to end. Kirk Hammett engaged in one brain crushing guitar solo after another, Lars Ulrich brought a great and almost nonstop back beat with his furious drumming and Rob Trujillo provided excellent bass work including a great treatment of the solo the late Cliff Burton was well known for on Anesthesia (Pulling Teeth). During the aforementioned bass solo video footage of Burton performing onstage accented the music perfectly. Other exceptional highlights included Kirk's stellar guitar shredding accompanied frequently by usage of his wah pedal. Cuts such as Welcome Home (Sanitarium), Creeping Death and the encore Enter Sandman in particular contained solos showcasing his seemingly boundless talent! Things heated up literally as well during the songs Fight Fire with Fire and Sandman when pyrotechnics were activated and flames shot up from the stage. At the end Ulrich tossed sticks out into the audience. Hetfield, Trujillo and Hammett threw and shook picks from little jack o' lantern tins out into the crowd, the picks of which boasting the band logo as well as the theatre's location and concert date on them. Great souvenirs in even something so small right there as my husband and I each scooped one up off the floor! A grand night out, the next one of which cannot come soon enough!

2nd September show in Cobenhagen.

Tallica promised us a unique show because this concert was postponed show from February. Many people travel a long way to see them in February including me traveling from Iceland.

The moment when I heard Seek & Destory in the #3rd slot then I knew this was going to be something special.
They performed Thought The Never in slot #4 and that song has not been played for 4 years. The next song was The Day That Never Comes and we did not believe that because in our wildest dreams we hoped to have that on the list, we jumped like there was no day tomorrow.
Dream No More was in the slot #7 and that was the second time Metallica has played that song. It was nice to hear Breadfan in slot #10. We saw many drons flying over the stage in Moth Into Flame, which was amazing!
Fight Fire With Fire was in the encore faster than ever.

Me and my friends walked away from Royal Arena in great mood with a big smile on our faces and with a hoarse throut, like James was in February.

About the unique show as we where promised in February it was only UNIQUE for 2 days because Amsterdam got almost the same setlist. But we got a free T-shirt, that was probably the unique thing for us.
We where hoping for some live debut like Murder One, Spit Out The Bones but it did not happend.
The song ManUnkind was performed tonight in Paris (10th September) and that is unique.

Iceland has been waiting since 2004 for Metallica to come back to Iceland when they held the biggest indore concert in Reykjavík. We do not want to wait another 23 years like we did before 2004.

All the best,
Gauti Sigurpálsson

Over 10 years, I got to see Metallica 7 times and each experience was in a different country. I have to admit the venues look different and incorporate a new way to watch the band but the musical vibe remains intact. They have shaped into an incredibly professional and hard-working live band. We can argue about and discuss their new album materials but one thing is guaranteed with Metallica: you will get only the best from their live performance. If you have not seen them live, just go to one gig. Doesnt matter if you are not a metal fan because the experience they deliver is incredible. I have seen families at their shows and even people who do not understand nor appreciate metal, but they all seemed to be excited from what they were witnessing. The only pity with Metallica is that you will most likely never have the chance to see them in a small venue. They are just too big of a band in demand and only deliver in large outdoor festivals or stadiums.
This summer they had a new style of set list where people could request via voting for songs. The top songs define the set list and this gives a chance for people to vote for what they want to hear. The only unfortunate thing about all this is that people are voting for songs they already play each tour. People should vote to get them to play new songs from their past, which they havent performed over 20 years. I was in Helsinki (their first European gig for 2014) and they had to play "The Frayed Ends of Insanity" and it was ecstatic. \m/

Do you like your rock shows huge, loud & engaging? Do you like stage sets that fill entire arena floors, filled with gigantic set pieces & enough pyro to blow up a small country? Do you like singing along to tightly played, iconic songs for 2-3 hours with thousands of friends? If yes, Metallica are your guys.

Each show starts when The Ecstasy of Gold (theme song from The Good, The Bad & The Ugly) plays over the PA, and crowd anticipation hits a fever pitch with thousands shouting along with the melody. Just thinking about the opening gives me goosebumps. Once Ecstasy hits its crescendo, they hit the stage like a thunderbolt, hammering through their lineup of classic tunes to a screaming, fist pumping, metal-sign-throwing crowd. Grizzled metal fans join together with legions of kids (oftentimes their own kids), shouting out every word of every song, and even singing along with guitar solos & melodies. Their set list varies each night. There are standards that they have to play, and you'll of course hear plenty of their big songs such as Enter Sandman and Master of Puppets. But they mix things up extremely well and no two nights are ever quite the same. It's amazing to me that after 30+ years and thousands of shows, the guys in the band still love mixing things up, still love goofing around on stage, still love engaging with the crowd, and obviously just love playing live & generating crazy crowd energy.

Quite simply, they are the kings of arena metal. Bow to the kings!

May 17, 2017 Nassau Coliseum

This was the first time I have been to a Metallica show. James has the best personality on stage. He gets the entire crowd into the show; into the mood; very laid back style. I like the fact the guys walk around the stage from different angles so that no matter where you sit, you can take excellent photos of them; that I have to give credit for that they do think of the fans in that aspect. The special effects were beautiful and showed in my pictures with my camera. James is very considerate of the fans from all aspects, you have to be in the Metallica Family...and you have to sing along with them...you just have to...the band played all the hit songs from present to past, no complaints. Saved the best song for last...Sandman....The sound system was excellent all around, no complaints. I am in still in shock; this was the best show I have ever seen in my life. They really have fun while playing they keep your interest up...James will not let the fans down..this band wants total audience participation...that is what to me, really stole the show. they do love and appreciate the fans....that is what stuck with me the most for a 1st time live performance is they really care about the fans..that really impressed me...

It was my first time in Turkey. From São Paulo to Istanbul I needed to take a 12-hour flight. 12 hours and 5 days. The necessary time to enjoy the unique atmosphere of the city before finally seeing one of the most amazing concerts I have ever seen! For me the concert had started when I met another crazy fan at the metro stations, going to Istanbul Technical University Stadium. So, after a few minutes, I was there. And I was able to see the power Metallica have to gather so many people from many countries. Lebanon, Kazakistan, Iran. Like me, a Brazilian guy. I admit I have not known the opening band, Pentagram. But the sound those guys had played left me so surprised. What an awesome performance! I had felt the emotion of being part of a rock concert when people started to sing the lyrics. Two hours later, time has come. Metallica by Request. The last European tour concert. The moment to listen the powerful voice of James Hetfield, the aggressive way to perform his guitar riffs, and all the greatest Metallica classical musics in front of me. In front of thousands of fans. Starting the concert playing "Master of Puppets" had been their way to say: Enjoy the best concert of your lives! Long live Metallica! Horns up! \m/