Member Review: Metallica

JGrunge wrote to us:

I remember the day that I read about the Metallica passes on your blog. I went nuts. Two months later, there I am backstage and out of my mind.

The show opens with “Broken, Beat & Scarred.” Hetfield screams “This song is about you, and it’s about Metallica”.

“Show your scars,” .......................everyone is up and yelling “We die hard!"

The Mighty Met flowed seamlessly from Death Magnetic’s “The End of the Line” to Kill ‘Em All’s “The Four Horsemen” and played for a solid two hours without a break before a three-song encore. And when it seemed like they couldn’t possibly top the power of “The Day That Never Comes,” Hetfield rose from his knees slowly and smashed into the opening chords of “Master of Puppets,” the first part of a brutal two-front aural assault that featured “Battery” at the back end.

The setlist was heavy on material from Death Magnetic — six out of the ten total tracks from the album were played, and each one of them went over better than the previous one. It was obvious the boys took great pride in playing the new album. Alot of St. Anger and Load and Reload was AWOL, surely by design.

Hetfield's guitar was as crisp and devastating as ever, and Kirk Hammet’s notoriously sloppy soloing was unusually tight. Rob Trujillo’s thundering low-end bass and Lars Ulrich’s righteous double-bass drums drove the signature groove that sets Metallica apart from the overblown metal acts that have tried so hard to follow in their footsteps. The boys called up the house lights and turned the focus to the raucous crowd for a revelatory rendition of “Seek and Destroy” to finish the show. Black beach balls emblazoned with the iconic “MetallicA” logo rained from the ceiling as the veterans revived their thrash glory days. Two and a half hours later, their sound still echoed. Louder, faster, and harder than ever.

Do they belong in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame? Dumb question!

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Member Review: Jack Johnson

BPD member Stella Rose wrote:

Everything that you see about Jack Johnson when he is onstage is the same in the back. When I was introduced to him, he greeted me warmly and sat with me asking questions about myself and the music that I liked. Then, he took me around and introduced me to his crew. I couldn't believe that all of this was going on when he was due onstage in fifteen minutes. Talk about laid back!

Johnson opened with “Do You Remember” from In Between Dreams, and, like the clapping crowd, remained upbeat through the entire night. One thing about Jack Johnson: he could be singing an upbeat melody or a slow, heart felt love song, and he always looks and sounds the same - standing there in the middle of the stage with a guitar (or a ukulele, which he used for “Breakdown”) slightly swaying and smiling. On stage he sounds just as good as when he’s in the studio, which makes for a more than pleasant listening experience, even if the tempo never seems to change. Even his latest album, Sleep Through the Static, which a lot of the night’s set list was from, has alot of similarities to his first album, Brushfire Fairytales.

Jack frequently digressed about some of his environmental causes, or simply applauded the fact that the stage was littered with clothes thrown up from the front rows (“We appreciate the nakedness and the clothes'). The highlight of the show was when pianist Zach Gill joined Jack on stage to play that end of the night, sing along, Bob Dylan/Band classic, “I Shall be Released.”

For his encore he came back with Gill and finished properly, unleashing his two love songs that have now become staples at every wedding: “Angel”, from Sleep Through the Static, and “Better Together”, from In Between Dreams. Oddly enough he also squeezed in a song about loving Jesus that sounded like it came directly from Bible camp. If it was anybody else but Jack I’d have to accuse them of trying to brainwash the audience, but given the fact that he donates one percent of all his revenue to charity and the concert was used as a platform to raise money for and awareness of environmental causes, you can only love the guy for being so positive.

And just so I don't forget, props to BackstagePassDirect for making this all happen for me. I will never forget it.

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