Tuesday marked the second night of the current leg of Metallica’s North American tour. More important to the audience at U.S. Bank Arena was the fact that the band was back in town for the first time in years.
“Maybe Metallica should come to Cincinnati more than every five (darn) years,” shouted drummer Lars Ulrich, noting the obvious.
A whole lot of it’s-been-too-long love swirled through the arena for the two hour show. Sixteen thousand sets of fists pumped during the shoren shaking performance, and the band returned the favor afterwards mingling on the stage for 10 minutes, waving to fans, growling salutations into microphones, tossing guitar picks to general admission floor dwellers.
Though it’s the start of a new tour, there was no rust to be shaken off the Metallica metal machinery. If any of the fellas missed a note, it wasn’t apparent, which is pretty remarkable considering the speed and precision required for thrash such as encore selections “Whiplash” and “Seek and Destroy,” to name a couple. (There was also a thrashy cover of Queen’s “Stone Cold Crazy” thrown into the encore.) In fact, of all of their peers in rock who consistently sell out arenas worldwide year after year, nobody plays harder or louder.
Metallica’s 18-song set ranged from stuff off their 2008 return-to-original-form CD “Death Magnetic”; back to the classic thrash tunes that made them an ‘80s metal sensation; and rounded out with ‘90s crossover hits.Guitarist and lead singer James Hetfield sounded fine and looked fresh. The band performed in darkness during the opening tune, “That was Just Your Life,” with Hetfield’s face ducking in and out of spotlights as he moved between eight microphone stands positioned variously on the stage. The show was in-the-round, so the band did its best to give all sides of the arena a show, including Ulrich, whose drum riser spun in 90-degree increments. The rotating riser was one of several fancy production touches. Green laser beams fanned over the stage and across the ceiling. Flames shot out from behind the guitar amps, and grating on the deck of the stage emitted giant fireballs. Four casket-shaped trusses lowered from the rafters toward the band, setting an ominous visual tone during some classic “For Whom the Bell Tolls” riffage. That song, Metallica’s third of the evening, marked the first moment when the crowd went bananas. The old stuff always has ruled, according to diehards, and it always will. And though there were some nice riffs among “Death Magnetic” material like “Cyanide” and “The End of the Line,” songs like “One” and “Master of Puppets” were those with the power to make time stop.“Cincinnati, do you want heavy?” was Hetfield’s rhetorical question. “Metallica gives you heavy!” If Hetfield’s lead vocals made him the star of the show, the guy who added the most value was bassist Robert Trujillo, who looked like a cross between a high school burnout and an AND1 baller with his basketball jersey and his long, stringy hair. Trujillo’s finger-plucking approach brought a thunderous element to the music. It was as if he were inventing new low notes during “black album” songs “Sad But True,” “The Unforgiven” and “Enter Sandman,” providing a rumble that lent some eyeball rattling heaviosity to radio friendly fare.
A whole lot of it’s-been-too-long love swirled through the arena for the two hour show. Sixteen thousand sets of fists pumped during the shoren shaking performance, and the band returned the favor afterwards mingling on the stage for 10 minutes, waving to fans, growling salutations into microphones, tossing guitar picks to general admission floor dwellers.
Though it’s the start of a new tour, there was no rust to be shaken off the Metallica metal machinery. If any of the fellas missed a note, it wasn’t apparent, which is pretty remarkable considering the speed and precision required for thrash such as encore selections “Whiplash” and “Seek and Destroy,” to name a couple. (There was also a thrashy cover of Queen’s “Stone Cold Crazy” thrown into the encore.) In fact, of all of their peers in rock who consistently sell out arenas worldwide year after year, nobody plays harder or louder.
Metallica’s 18-song set ranged from stuff off their 2008 return-to-original-form CD “Death Magnetic”; back to the classic thrash tunes that made them an ‘80s metal sensation; and rounded out with ‘90s crossover hits.Guitarist and lead singer James Hetfield sounded fine and looked fresh. The band performed in darkness during the opening tune, “That was Just Your Life,” with Hetfield’s face ducking in and out of spotlights as he moved between eight microphone stands positioned variously on the stage. The show was in-the-round, so the band did its best to give all sides of the arena a show, including Ulrich, whose drum riser spun in 90-degree increments. The rotating riser was one of several fancy production touches. Green laser beams fanned over the stage and across the ceiling. Flames shot out from behind the guitar amps, and grating on the deck of the stage emitted giant fireballs. Four casket-shaped trusses lowered from the rafters toward the band, setting an ominous visual tone during some classic “For Whom the Bell Tolls” riffage. That song, Metallica’s third of the evening, marked the first moment when the crowd went bananas. The old stuff always has ruled, according to diehards, and it always will. And though there were some nice riffs among “Death Magnetic” material like “Cyanide” and “The End of the Line,” songs like “One” and “Master of Puppets” were those with the power to make time stop.“Cincinnati, do you want heavy?” was Hetfield’s rhetorical question. “Metallica gives you heavy!” If Hetfield’s lead vocals made him the star of the show, the guy who added the most value was bassist Robert Trujillo, who looked like a cross between a high school burnout and an AND1 baller with his basketball jersey and his long, stringy hair. Trujillo’s finger-plucking approach brought a thunderous element to the music. It was as if he were inventing new low notes during “black album” songs “Sad But True,” “The Unforgiven” and “Enter Sandman,” providing a rumble that lent some eyeball rattling heaviosity to radio friendly fare.
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