Nothing Else Matters!

I've marked December 2nd, 2008 as a day I won't soon forget. The Metallica concert was un-freakin-believable. The concert beat out the whole Vegas trip, no doubt in my mind.

I got the tickets to the box suite from work, winning it in a draw. I missed out every time I put my name in including concerts from Oasis and AC/DC but did I ever luck out for these tickets. There were a few people I had in mind to take to the concert but I ended up taking Norm, his birthday played no part in my decision...From the looks of it, he enjoyed the concert.


We got there at 7-ish in time to see The Sword. They were pretty good, not my cup of tea, but I could still appreciate it. I tried to go and get some food and alcohol and found out that I could order a 6 pack to the suite for $50. My eyes could not get any wider.



Lamb of God came on, I've never heard their music but I could tell that they were a heavy death metal sort of band. The band members all sported long hair and full beards. On top of that they were all in the "Power Stance." I love the Power Stance, if I'm ever in doubt in life I'm just going to assume the Power Stance. I'd like to give a presentation one day, all while in the Power Stance.


The songs Lamb of God played were loud as expected, I couldn't make out what the lead singer was coarsening, but I felt like punching the wall. A mosh pit started at one end of the stage, the stage was set up in the middle of GM Place. I told Norm that I didn't understand mosh pits, and he explained that when you listen to slash and thrash you feel like pushing something, which is what mosh pits are: people jumping around pushing other people.

Lamb of God finished at 8:30pm, and Metallica wasn't to come on until 9:15. I ended going upstairs to the third floor to get some food and drinks. Two hotdogs, a pretzel, popcorn, coke, and a beer: $29. I really wanted to buy a Metallica t-shirt, but the financial planner in me said that $40 was too steep. The same t-shirt at Wal-Mart was probably under $10.

It started out with just Norm and I in the suite box, I guess no one else cared about The Sword. More people came in when Lamb of God came on, and it was pretty full right before Metallica started.

At 9:15pm the lights went out, but the crowd roared with cheers and chants of Metallica (which is a really awkward chant to do, it'd be easier to chant something with two syllables, like Nap-ster, or something like that).

A barrage of lasers lighted the darkness, then came the guitars and bass ripping through the sounds of This Was Just Your Life. It really was amazing to see them live. Hearing their songs in the car or at home is one thing, but yelling lyrics at the top of my lungs, while James Hetfield, Kirk Hammet, and Robert Trujillo tore through their guitars and bass, all the while Lars Ulrich pounding away at the drums on center stage is something that is incomparable.

The song list (taken from http://www.vancouversun.com):

That Was Just Your Life
The End Of The Line
For Whom The Bell Tolls
Ride The Lightning
One
Broken, Beat And Scarred
Cyanide
Sad But True
Wherever I May Roam
No Remorse
The Day That Never Comes
Master Of Puppets
Battery
Nothing Else Matters
Enter Sandman

Metallica ended off with Enter Sandman but came back on for an encore with:
Am I Evil?
Stone Cold Crazy
Seek and Destroy

Highlight of the night for me was James Hetfield apologizing to the crowd. He apologized in advance because the next song they were going to play offended some people. The song tends offend people because it's too HEAVY! Then they played Sad But True with the whole arena yelling out: Hey! Hey! I'm your light, I'm the one who takes you there!"

The other highlight was during the encore, James Hetfield asked for the house lights to come on, and for the first time that night I was able to not only hear, but to see the 19,000 strong at GM Place all holding up the devil horns screaming the words Seek and Destroy to the playing of Metallica.

I look some pictures and videos, none of them were any good though. If anything you should go to Vancouver Sun's posting of the concert as they have a great article (http://www.vancouversun.com) and a gallery with professional photography (http://www.vancouversun.com)



I was kind of disappointed that Metallica didn't play The Unforgiven, Turn the Page, or Whiskey in a Jar. They also played some songs that I didn't even know the words to, but I didn't care, I was smiling ear to ear the whole night. I hope Death Magnetic isn't their last album. If they do come to Vancouver again, there's no doubt in my mind I'd go again, I'd be holding up the devil horns on one hand, $8 for beer in the other hand.

Long live Metallica!