My'Tallica Experience

March 11th 1989...the day when the GODs of Metal set foot on the port city of Norfolk for the ...And Justice for all tour.
15 years since we (Anoop,Pushkar,Srikant,Jitin and I) were present for a revisit of Metallica to the hallowed grouds of scope arena. Unlike the Summer Sanitarium tour Godsmack opened for GODs instead of Limp Park and other yuppie bands. Though not exceptional, Godsmack played a tight set which was strictly OK. A certain 'jugalbandi' with the lead vocalist on a Congo and their drummer gave such a desi feel to the metal concert that it prompted anoop to quip 'Trilok Gurtu thyair!!!"

There was a point where their drummer threw his drum stick at us....anoop and myself managed to hold one end of it....the tip of the stick....we looked at each other and said "yeh chut ka sticks kisko chahiye". This led to a mass melee for the stick with ppl biting, scratching, kicking each other...hell yeah welcome to Moshpit.

Godsmack played for an hours time approximately and right from the time they left at exactly 7:50.....hearts stated racing...emotions ran high...gootex moomex syndrome was omnipresent. We started joking arnd...smoked a few here and there with the security gaurd scratching his head unable to catch the culprit (smoking wasnt allowed inside the closed arena).The disappoint abt the arena besides the smoking aspect of it was the capacity.The mammoth show that Metallica brings to town requires much larger quarters and so the scope arena with a capacity of 12,000 was a joke.

We waited and we waited...looking at our wrist watches every 5-10 seconds.
As Jamyz said in the title track of Ride the Lightning ..
Time moving slowly
The minutes seem like hours
The final curtain call I see
Approximately 20,000 people that were rabid to see Metallica had probably the same thoughts on their minds. The energy in the air was electric. You could literally feel the anticipation. Chants of "Metallica…Metallica" echoed through the walls.

At almost exactly 8:40, the lights lowered and out of the darkness came the familiar opening of every Metallica show, Ennio Morricone's haunting instrumental, "The Ecstasy of Gold, from the Clint Eastwood film, THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY. With that, the band launched into a 18-song set beginning with a blistering version of "Blackened," as they circled the enormous stage never staying in one spot for longer than a few seconds. Lars Ulrich's drum kit rotated around the stage as the show progressed to allow the entire crowd to witness his still impressive skin bashing.
We had a little trouble at the moshpit being relatively small guys. We were pushed and showed arnd pretty badly. Here i have to sincerely commend Srikant on doing a wonderful job to make sure that Bhaiyya and myself were not entirely bashed up....Thanx a ton for ur effort Srikant...cudnt have enjoyed without u.

Coming back to the concert...the first three songs came and went without a trace....while i was fighting and wiggling my way forward/to stay on my feet. There was an amroo saand right in front of me....I wasnt able to see a thing...coz i was still in the 5th row at that time. A brilliant idea struck me....told him..'Sir i came all the way from india to see this concert...and im not able to see a thing'. He took pity on me and pushed me all the way to the front row!!!! Ahh isnt everything fair in Love and War.

Everything seemed so surreal....as if i was watching them on TV. Jamyz trashing his guitar or Kirk's breakneck speed axing or Lars pounding his kit was all being registered in some corner of my miniscule brain.... 802.11 MAC layer protocols paving way for Metal memories of a lifetime.The band sounded great. This was twenty years of touring experience here, people. Everything was a beautiful mesh of sonic fury. I was absolutely stunned that they played everything in it's entirety. This is something Metallica is not known for. I cannot say this enough. The entire band is the tightest unit I have ever seen. They know every niche, every note, every stop, tempo change, etc. Sure, it's their job but it is still impressive.

The lighting, the pyrotechs were top notch...the pyrotechs a little to loud for comfort coz of the closed arena. The pyros during One were a sight to behold ...brilliant it wud have made Pink Floyd proud. The heat from the fire that blasted out of the stage during "Fuel" nearly singed my eyebrows off and the explosions that were used during the build-up to "One" were deafening.The lasers on No leaf clover were a class act as were the lightings during Nothing else matters. Picture this....a black stage with just a stream of white light on Kirk and jamyz...boy was that Orgasmic or what!!!!

The band didn't leave a stone unturned and every single Metallica album was given a nod, even the S&M album "No Leaf Clover" and "I, Disappear" from 2000's MISSION IMPOSSIBLE 2 soundtrack. And what abt the overall setlist...well only one thing to say abt it...a real stunner. We could count ourselves lucky that we had the pleasure of listening both 'Sanitarium' as well as the much much vaunted and talked abt 'Fade to Black'. While Metallica played hit after hit, the audience kept pace even if it was blistering. And the setlist...well here it is...
Blackened
Fuel
The Four Horsemen
Welcome Home (Sanitarium)
Frantic
I Disappear
St. Anger
Sad But True
Creeping Death
Fade To Black
Battery
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No Leaf Clover
Nothing Else Matters
Master of Puppets
One
Enter Sandman
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Jump In The Fire
Whiplash

High Point of the day: I touched Robert (bassist) when he bowed down and stuck his hand out.

Lowest point of the day: Lars Ullrich that peer spat water on me.

Man of the Match: jamyz Hetfield.....GOD....wat do i say....He sounded great, his voice clear and he was hitting high notes he hasn't hit in fifteen years. Sobering up was the best decision he could have made. Because the intensity of the show did not diminish; in point of fact, it only heightened the experience. He was having FUN up there, and this spilled right into the crowd.

Cons of the show : As bhaiyya puts it...it wud be difficult to go to another concert after this.

Final point....I was blessed to be there...Metallica is simply the greatest band to have played Metal.Here’s to the hope that the band continues with its renewed passion and brings those of us who still care plenty more great metal in the coming years.

Emotionally
Balls