Metallica/Godsmack Dallas Concert Review

(Non .NET Posting)

Other than seeing Godsmack headline earlier this year, this was the first hard rock show I’ve been to since now-defunct Candlebox at Deep Ellum Live in 96!   

First, let me start off by stating something that I realized after this show… I’m too old for this!  Man, did I feel old!   It started from the beginning when Andy (long time friend since 6^th grade, co-headbanger in crime now college professor) & I, waiting to get into the American Airlines Center started to talk about various topics: our wives, kids, new employers & 401k rollovers, various aches & pains, stuff like that.  We received nothing but blank stares from people around us… way too funny!  Already riddled with a bad case of Tinnitus (caused by playing my own drums and going to concerts without ear plugs), I came armed with Eckerd’s best pair or foam earplugs!  This mid-30’s music fan is going to keep his hearing!

Now, I’m really going to sound old and fical-tight-wad-type, but $30 for a concert shirt?  $38 for long sleeve?  $90 for a jacket?  LOL.  I remember my first real rock concert (not some country or pop show with my parents) was Def Leppard in 1983 – the show was $10 and the shirts were probably $8-12.  Yes that was a long time ago.  For that matter, concerts have really gone up in price.  I remember paying $25-35 for all day events, such as Lollapalooza or OzzFest and thinking that was a lot!  Metallica was $55 or $75 for the floor.

TVs were setup all around the arena, showing the promo for the Metallica movie, Some Kind of Monster.  If you are a fan of the band, a fan of rockumentaries, then definitely check it out.  I never knew how close the band was to splitting up!  The DVD is coming out very soon, January  25, 2005.

Venue was awesome – anyone that hasn’t been to the American Airlines Center in Dallas needs to attend an event there.  Ideally, we would have a hockey season, and the Dallas Stars would march toward that Stanley Cup championship.  But the players are locked out by the evil owners, who are too busy using fans as pawns in their chess game with the NHLPA (can you tell where I stand on the matter?!?  I will hold those thoughts for another post)

Godsmack

The band was unbelievably tight, and I thought they put on a perfect performance.  The Boston-based quartet put on a heck of a show that contained mostly their singles, including Keep Away, Alive, Voodoo, Bad Religion, Whatever, Mistakes, Straight Out Of Line, I Stand Alone.  The highlight for me (being the wanna-be drummer) was the drum solo - La Batalla de los Tambores.  Lead singer Sully Erna showcased his chops by working the bongos and killer drumset in tandem with new-band drum stud Shannon Larkin.  The entire solo was backed up by the rest of the band, and to me was a great classic.  Wanna see for yourself?  Checkout their new DVD, Changes, which was taped during their headlining tour, earlier this year.  The funniest part of the show was watching Sully give crap to anyone sitting down in the audience!  

Metallica

First, their album St. Anger is heavy – FINALLY!  After over 8 years of lame, Album Oriented Rock with Load, Reload, I Disappear, and new songs for Garage, Inc, they finally put out a heavy album.  Say what you want to with the level of production and the fact that there are NO guitar solos, but it is an aggressive, heavy album.  That, mixed with the fact that they planned these shows to be 2+ hours, with rotating set lists, and promised some old stuff was the sole reason I wanted to attend the show.  How was it?  I can sum it up with lyrics from a popular children’s TV show, “Would you be mine?  Could you be mine?  Please won't you be my neighbor?”  

The post-rehab, refined James Hetfield was an interesting one to watch!  Between songs went from phrases that I can’t post here, to “Dallas, that gave me goosebumps!”  OR “Metallica Loves You… Do you love Metallica?”  OR “Do you have energy to give tonight?  If so, each song provides you with the ability to do so!”  Now, being a family man myself, I’m happy for James in that he is at peace, and released those demons that  plagued him in the past.  I just didn’t expect the “Mister Rogers”-side of him during the show.  The only other thing I noticed was that the Hetfield-Growl is gone, and replaced with a vocally, trained musician!  Maybe not for others, but for me, that took a little out of the heavier songs.

The band sounded fantastic!  They dug deep into the oldies to belt out tunes such as, Wherever I May Roam, Fade to Back, Fight Fire with Fire, Disposable Heroes, Seek & Destroy, One, and opened the show with Blackened.   As you can tell, I’m not a fan of anything between Black and St. Anger, and they did play a few songs from that era – Memory Remains, the horrid Bob Seger cover, Turn the Page, and something from the S&M album.  For those who are interested in downloading the show for $9.99, checkout http://www.livemetallica.com/show.asp?show=102  (It is blank now, but should be available in the next two days or so).

New bassist Rob Trujillo was fantastic – and I’d argue is the best musician in the band.  Outside of his great stage presence, his solo was a lot of fun.  He’s definitely miles ahead of Jason Newsted.

For those who are planning to see one of the remaining shows, prepare yourself for the massive amount of pyrotechnics - lots of flames & explosions from the stage floor.  For someone who values your hearing and vision, as soon as you hear “Full Metal Jacket” from the loudspeakers, plug your ears and close your eyes!  Against a black stage, what ensues is a mirage of wartime audio that leads to big, frequent explosions that was too loud and too bright for my taste – probably because I’m OLD!  LOL

Reliving my concert youth was a blast!  While drinking Sprite, standing all night, knowing I had meetings the next day :p  It was a great night – I had a blast.  My arms, neck, and throat weren’t as sore as I expected them to be :p 

Rock On!  Now, it’s off to more time with TDD, Unit Testing & Whidbey as well as ASP.NET 2.0!