Metallica have long been considered heavy metal gods in the eyes of millions. But, with the release of last year's Load, an album heavily criticized for sounding "alternative", it seemed like they had lost that title. On May 28th, in Edmonton Coliseum, the last date of their year-long tour, they took it back.
Now, maybe I am biased because Metallica is one of my favorite bands, but Metallica rocked the place to the ground. The tour's stage is set up right in the middle of the arena, where the Edmonton Oilers normally play hockey, and there is space around it for 900 people. Because of its placing, everyone gets a good view of the stage. There's actually two stages, a large one shaped like an eight, and a smaller circular one. During the show, the band switched stages a couple of times.
During the opening band, Corrosion of Conformity's, set, the Coliseum was barely one-quarter filled. That was really a shame, because they were really good. Good and heavy. I take it not many people that were there were COC fans, as the only song that really got a response was "King of the Rotten" off of their new album Wiseblood, as it has been heavily played on local radio.
Metallica, the heavy metal gods, the captains of crunch, the dukes of distortion, came on about 50 minutes after COC ended. There was no dramatic entrance, no announcer, just four guys running in and giving the crowd five. Those four guys then got on their instruments and ripped through "So What" with the house lights still on! Next came some awesome pyrotechnics to accompany "Creeping Death". During the show, Metallica mainly played their best songs, including "Enter Sandman" (which everyone sang along to), "One", which boasted the night's most awesome pyro, "Master of Puppets", "Seek and Destroy", "For Whom The Bell Tolls", "Fade To Black", "Sad But True" (which, as one reporter put it, is "the heaviest song ever written"), and "Hero of the Day", during which the barrage of lighters held up probably overpowered the stage lights!
Metallica has this amazing charisma that gets everyone in the act, whether it's singing along, shaking your extremities to the beat, or participating in James Hetfield's "repeat after me's" ("F**k no, James!" "We don't give a s**t!"). Oh, yeah, I forgot the most emotional part of the show, Jason Newsted's melodic bass solo, after which two tears came running down his face. Here's a devil sign for you, Jason.
All in all, an ass-kicking show, exactly what you get every time with Metallica. This was the last show of the tour, and in a month Metallica will be going back into the studio to finish their new record, then it's back on the road to kick some more ass.
