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Sam Morris / Las Vegas Sun
Metallica bassist Robert Trujillo, left, and guitarist James Hetfield perform during their sold-out show at the Mandalay Bay Events Center Saturday, December 5, 2009.
Sunday, Dec. 6, 2009 | 6 p.m.
SET LIST
- That Was Just Your Life
- The End Of The Line
- Ride The Lightning
- The Memory Remains
- Fade to Black
- Broken, Beat & Scarred
- Cyanide
- Sad But True
- One
- All Nightmare Long
- The Day That Never Comes
- Master of Puppets
- Fight Fire With Fire
- Nothing Else Matters
- Enter Sandman
ENCORE
- Die, Die My Darling
- Whiplash
- Seek & Destroy
Sweat, spit, fire and lasers.
Metallica - Fade to Black
Metallica brought heavy metal's four key elements to Las Vegas Saturday night in an ear-splitting shredfest that left the sold-out crowd at the Mandalay Bay Events Center deaf and hoarse. Their two-hour performance made one thing perfectly clear: Metallica is back -- and they know how to bring the heavy.
The band's set list seemed to acknowledge a hard truth: The metal giants have been in an artistic rut since 1991's "Black" album, struggling to maintain relevance in a decade of cheap, sololess punk riffing before having a good cry about the nightmares their personal lives had become. How else do you explain the one-two sucker punch of "Load" and "Reload" and whatever "St. Anger" was supposed to be?
On Saturday, Metallica torched through epics, old and new, playing just one song from that bygone era, "The Memory Remains." Eager to showcase new material, the band leaned heavily on its latest offering, "Death Magnetic," performing six of the 10 songs. The tunes mark a return to form and fit comfortably among a catalog heavy on shredding and musical pyrotechnics. Guitarist Kirk Hammett's solo on "The Day That Never Comes" is pure "Ride The Lightning."
Six songs in, Metallica hit its stride with a hair-raising "Broken, Beat & Scarred." Frontman James Hetfield spat lyrics that seemed to be as much about his own battles with addiction as Metallica's struggles to be a band. "You rise/you fall/you're down, then you rise again/What don't kill ya make ya more strong."
Another revelation: Metallica actually has a bassist, something you would never know from the way the band is producing records these days. Robert Trujillo, wearing an athletic jersey, shorts and gym socks, came ready for a workout, his bass slung low between his legs. He locked eyes with a grinning Hammett during "Ride The Lightning," slipped five with Hetfield mid-solo on "All Nightmare Long" and faced down drummer Lars Ulrich atop a stack of speakers on "Cyanide." It was an all-star performance.
The intensity had matching theatrics, as flames burst from the floor -- and then the speakers -- during "One," giving the war epic an "Apocalypse Now" feel. "Master Of Puppets" featured a laser light show straight out of Pink Floyd's "Dark Side Of The Moon" tour. Sometimes, simple spotlights enhanced slow-burn classics like "Nothing Else Matters," with Hetfield, on his knees, bleeding the song's last note into "Enter Sandman."
The crowd was calm by traditional Metallica standards. Not a mosh pit in sight. That's in stark contrast to my first Metallica experience in 1997, a free concert in a sports arena parking lot in Philadelphia. An unruly crowd waited in line for hours, tossing beer bottles and jugs of urine into the air. Eagles fans were better behaved.
At Mandalay Bay, Hetfield whipped the crowd into a sea of pumping fists and devil horns, chanting the obligatory "EH! EH! EH! EH!" He challenged them to compete with the PA system and they obliged, finishing whole verses. "Tonight, we're going to make each other feel good," Hetfield said at the set's opening. "We're going to trade energy."
Mission accomplished. Metallica finished with "Seek & Destroy," house lights up and black beach balls dropping from the ceiling. The crowd went nuts, grasping for souvenirs. I have mine: My ears are still ringing.
I was there..and it was a great performance...
one of the best I have ever seen.. Megadeth is ok, but Metallica is much better, and much more popular. Remember,they were sold out..
this band is to 30 - 40 somethings as the who is to 50 - 60 somethings.
they should have packed it up a long time ago.
stevem, what we 30-40 somethings were listening to when you were in diapers, which includes Metallica, is so diverse and heavy, you apparently don't understand. Pull your head out of your ass and listen to everything and find some context.
Cool slideshow, BTW.
SteveM. There are about 12,000 people there Saturday night that would disagree with you! It was sold out back in April!
Great show, great review. Mighty Met can still bring the heavy and hard stuff. They fed off the crowd energy. For the record, Megadeth is Metallica's bi*ch!!
megadeth rocks and all, but metallica...sucks? are you mentally challenged son?
kill, ride, master, garage, & justice: all metal classics, and the new one is more thrash than it's been in years. i agree about all the other stuff, never really listened to it.
umm...i bought "ride the lightning" on vinyl, idiots. i'm 39 years old, and love the 80's metal.
just because something is popular, doesn't mean it's good.
didn't hannah montana sell out as well?
this band hasn't been good for nearly a decade.
Never has a band went from 60 to 0 so fast ..they were great then they got fat ...rich and lame....Slayer...never did....Metalica use to say we dont sell out as soon ass the wrote the black album the bent over and let the record company have there way with them buy that time they were so strung out on fame they got self indulgent and lame... now they need money...to continue the spend fest james needs more classic cars....and 12000 people showed up ...Lars dont car about his fans he was too worried the napster was going to take a few buck off his plate...thier late carreer undid every thing they did in the past.....after Justice they do not matter unless your just some lame rock to whateve guy......
To Cruiserhd, your lame. I bet your one of those kids that plays guitar and struggles with the opening riff of Enter Sandman. Megadeth's new album wipes Metallica straight off the map. Who cares if they are more popular. Taylor Swift is popular, I suppose you love her too.That must mean she is good in your eyes. Maybe Nickleback is real heavy for ya, ha ha, or wait, Sarah Palins new book must be good cause its in the news all the time, your such a tool.
You younger guys can slug it out about Metallica/Megadeth/Pantera/Motorhead, etc., etc. You can't argue with success but I suppose the heavy metal purists will take exception to a band that went mainstream the way Metallica did with their black album. Although there are tunes from these bands that I enjoy, I'd rather stick to my era of Black Sabath, Robin Trower, Led Zeppelin and, of course, Jimi.