I saw Metallica on the opening night of their concert tour for the new CD Death Magnetic. Let me say right up front that I am not a Metallica fan, although I do like a few songs. I have a policy, however, that I will go hear any band, no matter how bizarre or outside my sphere, if you buy the ticket (my Sister in Law bought this one). If they suck, I will drink a beer. If they still suck, I will drink another beer, until such time as either they sound good, or I am drunk (in the case of Primus I just ended up drunk). This policy has served me well. I saw Nirvana, Pearl Jam, and the Red Hot Chili Peppers (a show I thought I would hate) and, low and behold, I had a blast! Additionally, I saw Velvet Revolver on someone elses dime and I was pleasantly surprised. Conversely, I saw Bon Jovi when a friend bought the ticket and I later wished she hadn't wasted her money. That said, let's return to Metallica.As I said, I am not a Metallica fan but I do like a few songs. I was, however, again pleasantly surprised. I really enjoyed the performance. I thought they were very polished and they put on a very energetic show. They had laser beams, flames, and coffin shaped lighting fixtures which I thought were fun (albeit campy). For me, the high point was when they performed Master Of Puppets. The audience knew every word and sang louder than the band. That's pretty cool no matter what genre. It was also a very good rendition. My only real complaint is that the sound engineering was truely bad... literally atrocious. The distortion was so bad that your couldn't make out words even when they were speaking directly to the audience. Lars' double bass drum riffs just sounded like a dull roar and sixteenth notes were indistinguishable in every lead guitar solo. From an entertainment standpoint, the show was great. From a technical audio engineering stand point, the show was an utter failure. I'm still glad I went. Somebody else paid and I had a great time.
