Man was i disappointed.

So my band, through several events that came together, including my lead singer winning tickets a day before the show, drove 10 hours to Vancouver to see the Metallica concert.

Now theyve always been a band that i consider a little dramatic, one minute youre hardcore, the next minute your sniffling about napster lol i dunno, rubbed me the wrong way, but hell, i dig some of the tunes and my ticket was free, plus its a road trip with the boys.

We get to the show...opening act....comedian Jim Breuer, who rocks, but seemed out of his element "over complimenting" the band if it makes sense.

Anyways he goes off...over 25 mins later metallica finally comes out, The Stage they had was AMAZING, the whole act and AWESOME surprise conclusion to the show was masterfully done.

Unfortunately...i think there might have been 1-2 songs where they didnt noticeably mess up the song. During one song, they got so out of sync that the crowd....30,000 people who had been singing along the whole night had to stop and listen to get back into it lol.

My main disappointment was Lars. Now im not gonna start a "he sucks" thread, because, quite frankly the guys worth millions, and if he was that awful he wouldnt be there. He might not be the most technical drummer, but ive always regarded him as "simple, but steady".

I was surprised as hell that almost every drum roll he did, he came back into the song off 1/2 to a full beat. It just wasnt his night at all, they were constantly wandering over him to get back into things. Factor in several flat notes, missed sweeps and squeals from the guitars and it was kind of a bummer for us.

The very end of the night, they walked off stage, typical concert were all yelling "ONE MORE SONG" so they stand there throwing sticks and picks for 25 mins before they thanked everyone and walked off for good.

I dunno, ive always just thought that "well its not my thing, i like some of the tunes, but any band with that many fans cant be all bad, and i hear their live show is killer!"

But i walked away with the "Man, they were better at acting out the theme of the show, than musicians playing the music"

The whole thing kind of rubbed me the wrong way, but i did have a hell of a time with the band anyways lol. We were really surprised when a promoter set up a meeting with us after the concert cause a band wed played with from there had been raving about how professional we were and how much they liked our music.

Saw em on the Master of Puppets tour in 86 I think with Cliff they were awesome. In front of about 2000 people

you saw them about 20-25 years too late my friend

It can't be that they're no good because they used to be really good (IMHO).

But age and more grown up stuff takes it's toll. I suspect they live largely separate lives these days and don't interact much musically outside of cobbling together a bunch of songs in the studio (with no actual songs written beforehand and using tons of cut and paste to stitch new ones together) and rehearsing for shows, which apparently, they don't do enough of. Maybe you need to see them half way through a tour when they're warmed up? Who knows.

It's a little hard to admire how they've "milked" their success, as if just riding their own coattails. But that's not to say that they suck, because they were good back when they were really into it. Also not to say they couldn't conjure the motivation or find the inspiration to make something epic and cool. I'm not betting on it, but it's not outside of the realm of possibility, either.

Bummer about the show. Good that you have a new promising contact, though

Every band can have a bad night.

I'm not a big fan of Metallica. It's no secret. But they are icons in music. Everyone who listens to metal knows they are.

That being said... They have not earned the respect that The Rolling Stones have...
When the stones were touring in the 2000s, their live performances in a few instances were terribly messed up. A lot of songs you could barely recognize. But they are the Rolling Stones. Just seeing them together is a trip. You can overlook the mistakes they're making.

Metallic will never have that sort of props in my eyes.

It's been confirmed that rehearsals have taken place. In 2013 we will see a Rolling Stones 50th anniversary tour. It's just a matter of the band announcing dates. But if they're practicing, and working together, maybe this tour will be mesmerizing in each and every way.

Yeah, the show the night before ours was equally disappointing.

We actually had the producer guy of the movie they were filming come up on his morotcycle and hand us some stage passes (used by the crew) as a cool keepsake, whe nhe asked how we liked it we said the show was awesome but the band didnt seem tight; I guess they were supposed to be done filming on the Friday show, but there were so many flubs they decided to extend it, and i guess the first leg of the tour was hit and miss as well.

Im not saying that i think they suck, dont get me wrong, obviously they arent poor musicians. im just saying i kind of had the hope that theyd turn my opinion around by blowing me away. The real treat of the whole show was being around so many die hard fans, it was my first major big city type of show so that was cool. But i probably wouldnt spend $125 on a ticket to go see them.

I guess the real issue was more of a "they didnt seem to have their heart in the music part of it" is all lol. I really was diappointed by Lars as well, because like i said, ive always considered him one of the great "play for the song and hold it down without show boating" type of drummers, none the less he did inspire me to try a few different things.

I've seen Metallica maybe 15 times.

They USED to be amazing live.

Not so much anymore. I haven't bothered going to see a Metallica show in a long, long time.

But if you had seen them in the 80s, or even early 90's, they would have blown you away like you expected to be.

Pimento said:

I really was diappointed by Lars as well, because like i said, ive always considered him one of the great "play for the song and hold it down without show boating" type of drummers, none the less he did inspire me to try a few different things.

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Either you're not familiar with Lars' playing at all or you just haven't been paying attention over the years (not sure which).
The LAST thing Lars does (live at least) is "play for the song"- what with overplaying/ inappropriate fills every 5 seconds/ getting out of time.
Don't get me wrong I love Metallica (going to see them in Feb for Soundwave 2013 in fact) but Lars' playing is definitely hit and miss and he has his good and bad nights (like everyone else I guess).
Another member brought up a good point- they almost always suck live at the beginning of a tour before they've had a chance to warm up (not to mention rehearse). Fortunately for those of us in Australia we normally see them at the end of the tour cycle so the shows are pretty damn good by the time they get here.

I am just taking a guess, but is it possible that they just could not hear each other playing. Perhaps, there was some equipment problems preventing them from hearing themselves.

Just goes to show that even the top players need to practice of they lose it ... some would argue that Lars isn't a top player, but he was a top drummer in his day.

From the sounds of things, even many local bands would have played a tighter gig than Metallica did then. I think that's what bugs people ... there are so many strong unknown bands who really have their act together ... meanwhile fame allows performers so much more slack. "Fame goggles"

I think many actors go through the same frustrations seeing the lapses in artistic judgement of those being paid silly money to put in "okay" performances. I avoid big concerts these days - crappy acoustics, being seated too far away, the restroom hassles, and I don't much like crowds.

toddmc said:

Either you're not familiar with Lars' playing at all or you just haven't been paying attention over the years (not sure which).
The LAST thing Lars does (live at least) is "play for the song"- what with overplaying/ inappropriate fills every 5 seconds/ getting out of time.
Don't get me wrong I love Metallica (going to see them in Feb for Soundwave 2013 in fact) but Lars' playing is definitely hit and miss and he has his good and bad nights (like everyone else I guess).
Another member brought up a good point- they almost always suck live at the beginning of a tour before they've had a chance to warm up (not to mention rehearse). Fortunately for those of us in Australia we normally see them at the end of the tour cycle so the shows are pretty damn good by the time they get here.

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Not being a fan and never having seen them, in a way I'd feel a little ripped off. With the price of concert tickets the way they are, I shouldn't have to feel like the "warm up audience" for better shows down the road. That's just unprofessional.

I remember reading snippets of what Stewart Copeland thought of The Police on their reunion tour, especially when they came to L.A., which is where I saw them. He said there were all kinds of issues and how hard they're working and how it didn't feel right, and to me, I spotted no mistakes. It was a great show. The band either is doing it right for the audience or their wasting everybody's time. Too bad about Metallica. I've heard a few lounge covers of their stuff and like those. Wouldn't that just suck if the covers were better than the original?

Bo Eder said:

Too bad about Metallica. I've heard a few lounge covers of their stuff and like those. Wouldn't that just suck if the covers were better than the original?

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Sadly, there are HEAPS of Metallica drum covers out there that are better than the original (maybe not so much when compared to the studio recordings but certainly better than his live versions).

toddmc said:

Sadly, there are HEAPS of Metallica drum covers out there that are better than the original (maybe not so much when compared to the studio recordings but certainly better than his live versions).

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Well, I meant, actual lounge versions. There's a guy called "Richard Cheese" and he's doing lounge covers of all kinds of tunes, and Sandman was one of them, it was hilarious. Totally swinging.

I guess i should clarify and say that i had heard the album stuff and been pretty satisfied with the whole thing, but the things Lars did to "go over the top" while live turned me off and went against the song, and caused some screw ups.

Like i said, i know lots of people have seen these guys rock it, but i was really hoping to be blown away, hitting the show with a positive attitude and was let down is all.

Dude never was very good compared to others in the genre. Bad choices in sound the last few recordings as well. I cant watch one of my favorite bands from the past without cringing...

Pimento said:

Like i said, i know lots of people have seen these guys rock it, but i was really hoping to be blown away, hitting the show with a positive attitude and was let down is all.

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Ah! Now it's clear where you screwed up! Your expectations were too high!! Next time (if there is one), you'll go in with the bar set much lower and have better odds of coming away impressed!

If that doesn't work, then you got no business in the unquestioning ranks of the Metallica Army - Traitor!

If you do find yourself at another Metallica show where they're just hacking their way thru the material, basically phoning in the playing while hamming up the stage personas, just bang your head where you think the beat should be - but not for too long; you'll need to follow Lars on his little rhythmic detours - otherwise, you may get snuffed by the faithful mob. At least that's what I would do if I (god forbid) found myself at one of their shows.

Maybe it's karma because your brand new wife had to attend family duties while you and your mates whooped it up with Lars and co?

MikeM said:

you'll need to follow Lars on his little rhythmic detours - ..........

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If he spent as much time concentrating on his drums as he does spitting that friggen' orange juice out of his mouth, I'd argue his rhythmic detours would be a hell of a lot less frequent. I swear, if I was in the front row and got showered with that mess, I'd return the favour and gob right back at him. Wanker.....Christ it's off putting!!

That said, I caught 'em on the DM tour a couple of years ago. Apart from a few sound issues, I thought they were great. All except for his ever present OJ fountain, of course.

Lars is 49 years. Not old. Age is not an excuse not to play well. Their music is also not that taxing.
Usually every minute behind the drumset, every studio hour, every live show adds to our experience and makes us better drummers.Why not him? He has clocked a lot of hours.

Attitude I think, too much money in the bank.
His Protools adventures is well documented on youtube. His plays the fill 20 times and makes the Protools operator pick the best one.

Not much respect for his current drumming on my part.

The other guys in Metallica is way better musicians than him.