Metallica

w/ The Sword and Fear Factory

September 15 2010 – Rod Laver Arena, Melbourne

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Metallica are back on our shores after a six year absence for a 22 date tour of Australia and New Zealand. Back on a high after the release two years ago of their back-to-form album Death Magnetic, Metallica are here to show us if they’ve still got it. Metal Obsession was there for the first of these shows at Rod Laver arena in Melbourne.

On another cold night in Melbourne we arrived early to catch the support acts who faced a tough task winning over the Metallica faithful. The first of these bands, Texas’ The Sword, is just like their fashion and haircuts, a product of the 1980’s. It’s quite good music, if a little generic, and it had the small crowd gathered quite entertained. They sound like a modern stoner version of Black Sabbath, helped in no small part to singer J.D. Cronise’s vocal homage to Ozzy, who would be rolling in his grave at the similarities if he was dead. Full of fun and interesting guitar work, the Sword helped pass the time and gave us a chance to examine the 360 degree set.

This is the first time I’d seen a live show with the stage in the middle of the venue, and it was an exciting prospect to see Metallica on a stage like in their old 90’s music videos. The Sword maybe weren’t the ideal band to witness on this stage, as the lumbered their way from one side to the other just to loosen the muscles a bit. Ideally though, the circular stage does bring everyone closer to the action, especially if you’ve scored front row tickets, which would otherwise be a good 40 meters away in the normal Rod Laver Arena set up.

So the Sword came and went, and after a record breaking 15 minutes changeover, it was Fear Factory’s chance to face the loyal Metallica audience. Thankfully, the American industrial metal quartet stepped up to the plate and played an energetic set for the growing crowd. It was pretty remarkable the way the crowd got into their set. My only previous encounter with Metallica live was at the Big Day Out back in 2004, when the big fat old ugly trucker population increased exponentially on previous years BDO attendances. Tonight however, Metallica showed that their fan base is growing with them, with most of the people circling the stage in their mid twenties.

That’s not to say the Fear Factory had an easy job winning the crowd over. After getting a courtesy round of applause following opener ‘Shock’, the band worked hard to get the crowd fired up. Although Fear Factory isn’t the most able bodied band going around, they did their best to get full use of the stage, and played well. Burton’s voice seemed to go towards the end of the set, something which is a common occurrence at their recent shows, but given his age and the energy he puts into it, it’s not a bad effort, and the worst moments of his voice are between the songs when his voice regularly breaks, rather than mid song.

By the end of the set the crowd were well and truly involved, and when ‘Replica’ finished their performance, the crowd cheered more than I’d have ever expected from the loyal Metallica fan base. Job done.

And then there was one. As it got closer to the 9pm kick off, the average age of the crowd quickly grew as the stereotypical Metallica fan entered the venue, with the ‘best of Load and Reload’ in their head and their wife beater singlet on their back. After a fifteen minute delay, the lights dropped and the Ecstasy of Gold started, sending that familiar chill down the spine. Without turning on the lights, the band hit the stage, breaking into two songs off the latest album, and sending the young crowd surrounding the stage into a mosh pit, and leaving the older fan wondering what it was they were listening to. Treated to a quite spectacular laser display that might have looked less out of place at a Gary Numan show, That Was Just Your Life and End of the Line made way for For Whom the Bell Tolls, the lights came on, the entire venue erupted.

Fuel followed to keep the Triple M audience happy, while Metallica made their best efforts to justify the $120 price tag with a solid flaming of the stage – I never knew fire came in so many different colours! As that song ended and the flattest acoustic guitar ever was brought out on stage, so began the first highlight of the night with Fade to Black. Without getting too emotional, it was a truly beautiful performance of a great song.

Broken, Beat and Scarred from their latest offering was up next, so there was a chance for a breather and to step back and evaluate. Despite what was said earlier about age and singing, the same cannot be said about James Hettfield. His voice, which hasn’t over the years always sounded up to scratch, could not have been better, as was demonstrated up next on No Remorse from Kill ‘em All. He sounded just like he did back in the day, and with that and his trendy-midlife-crisis hair cut, it was easy to forget that this guy is 47 years old.

Lars Ulrich cops a lot of stick for his drumming, especially in an age where drummers are expected to do more than just keep the time. But live, Lars is a great entertainer.  He seems to spend most of his time standing up considering the drums are typically performed, well, sitting down. However, Lars didn’t let tradition get in the way of a good show, circling the drum kit to play he symbols from the back, and racing over to the crowd at the end of songs to get them even more pumped up.

Kirk and Robert performed their parts well, with Kirk nailing most of his guitar solos and just generally looking good, while Trujillo simply attempts to get his bass to touch the ground as often as possible.

The depth of Metallica’s back catalogue was demonstrated next by a five hit best of. Sad But True, Sanitarium, All Nightmare Long, One and Master of Puppets took the show to the next level, with the introduction to One just adding to the energy in the room, and the fire works helping with the feel of the wartime sound effects.

Classics Nothing Else Matters and Enter Sandman finished off the set, with the crowd clapping, singing and moshing themselves silly for one last time. They left the stage, but no one really thought they were leaving. So after a thirty second wait, they were back on stage to announce a cover of Diamond Head’s Am I Evil? Whiplash was the meat in the encore sandwich, and then came balls. Lots of balls. Lots of large, black, blown-up balls. Yes, really.

The encore finished with Seek and Destroy with the band running past the 11pm curfew, and me wishing they might have left something bigger up their sleeve to finish the show with, but really, who could complain. I’d been given two hours of classic metal, performed by a band, that although they might be ageing, have only gotten better with it. The sound was perfect, the lighting and fireworks were amazing, and the set list was great – the only thing left to ponder was that whichever gig comes next is going to pale in comparison.

Set List

That Was Just Your Life
The End Of The Line
For Whom The Bell Tolls
Fuel
Fade To Black
Broken, Beat And Scarred
No Remorse
Sad But True
Welcome Home (Sanitarium)
All Nightmare Long
One
Master Of Puppets
Blackened
Nothing Else Matters
Enter Sandman

Encore:
Am I Evil? (Diamond Head cover)
Whiplash
Seek & Destroy

Photos by: Anwar Rizk