Metallica - a class act delivers
TD Banknorth Garden, Boston, January 18, 2009
Reviewed by Jeffrey B. Remz
Metallica was just elected to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame a few days before their first Boston gig in years. But you wouldn't know about the huge honor from them. Nor did it go to the heads of the metal veterans either. Neither did anything else in a very solid, well-thought out show that showcased the glory of the quartet.
Metallica's acclaims rests on a strong front man, James Hetfield, excellent musicianship, solid songs plus the ability to put it all together live.
Metallica is touring behind the fine new CD, "Death Magnetic," and were not afraid to delve into the CD, playing six songs, starting with That Was Just Your Life and The End of the Line.
They showed from the get go what was to come. Metallica mixed it up between hard rocking songs with a lot of bite to them (and loud, but not bone crunchingly so at all), but they also knew how to soften up their sound, sometimes within the same song. It was not a case of Metallica eschewing their roots, but, instead, offering musical diversity, making their music all the more effective since it didn't constantly mining the same territory.
Metallica also went back in time to the two-decades old chestnut Master of Puppets, to the closing Seek & Destroy. And the songs they played from the new CD did not come as a case of pushing the new material at the expense of the catalogue. The new songs rocked.
Hetfield was a very solid lead singer on several counts. First off, he sang well, and you could actually hear just about every word from the musical singer with little difficulty. There was a passion and ownership about the music and band that came through.
Hetfield also played guitar just fine with a number of leads, but Kirk Hammett was the ace. He had a very low key in his approach, but he sure can dish out the lines - fast, slow, steely, whatever was needed. Bassist Robert Trujillo did his part for the rhythm section.
Drummer Lars Ulrich was the most showy of the quartet, but like the others, he didn't overplay and belt the hell out of the skins. He relied, instead, on a lot of subtlety even when sticking out his tongue. He got out of his chair several times during the 130-minute show nodding his head and smiling, clearly pleased with the proceedings.
A bond existed between Metallica and its fans. Hetfield, who showed zero ego, made it personal, for example, when he saw a youngster in front of him and asked him how old he was. The youth said he was 13 to which Hetfield said, "You have really cool parents. I didn't go to my first concert until I was 16." No dissing parents needed here. In fact, just the opposite.
Metallica gave a lot of respect to its fans and its music. No pandering, no constant cursing (until the very very end). Just having a fine time in Boston.
That was underscored by the quarter after it closed with Search and Destroy. Instead of running off stage, into the limo and onto the next gig, all four members hung around the stage in the middle of the floor for a good five minutes, clapping and waving towards the crowd, absolutely enjoying the moment. They soon may be R&R Hall of Famers, but chances are that won't affect them either.
Machinehead preceded Metallica in a numbingly dull 50-minute set. They may be thrash metal musical veterans, but they came off cliche filled. Lead singer Robb Flynn howled and screeched his way through the set, which sounded awfully the same.
Flynn also showed a sense of humor with his stage banter, although probably not by design. "We're Machinehead," he told the crowd. "Our fans call us Machine Fucking Head."
He followed that up with other hackneyed lines like "Are you reading to go fucken crazy?" On another song, he warned the crowd, "Keep those hands up. Don't get fucken tired." Flynn's word usage was extremely limited to say the least, and so was the band's musical palette. Label this boring on every account.
Faring far better was the opening act, The Sword from Austin They played a 30-minute set. Their sound meshes well with that of Metallica, meaning a thoughtful approach to the music. They didn't register all that high on the charisma meter, but they also aren't all that used to playing big venues either. In fact, the staging worked against both The Sword and Machinehead. With the stage in the middle of the floor, but somewhat cluttered with equipment, such as a covered drum set for the next band, it made it difficult to see them. At times, the musicians had to have their backs to chunks of the crowd. Not a good way to connect.
The songs worked well enough, although it was hard to hear exactly what J.D. Cronise was singing about. In their closing song, The Sword displayed some finesse in their approach to the music, which will work to their advantage long-term.
