“Scanning the scene at Bonnaroo tonight . . .” screamed the ferocious James Hetfield during “Seek and Destroy” the last song of Metallica’s blistering 2-hour, 40-minute set at Bonnaroo on June 13. Having the pleasure of seeing Metallica nine times over the last 16 years, I have seen a lot of different phases during their amazing 27-year career. Although last night was not the best Metallica show I have ever seen (it’s hard to surpass the first time I saw them in 1992), it was definitely the second best. They had a fire that I had not seen in years, probably since I saw them in 1994. Every time I have seen Metallica, they deliver a memorable performance and never let down their fans, but that night they just seemed very focused, determined and willing to kick Bonnaroo’s ass, and they succeeded in doing so.
Opportunity Rings
Let’s backtrack a little bit to Thursday evening. I had just gotten home from work and I was checking e-mails, doing laundry, and getting ready to go to band practice when my phone rings. It’s my buddy Brent telling me that he had just heard that Metallica was playing a secret show at Grimey’s.
I immediately called some close friends of mine, Hardy and Mindy, Cristy, Cory, and Fahad and told them all basically the same thing, “Get your shit together and come over to my house because we’re going to Nashville to see Metallica right now!!!”
Everyone was basically in transit within 15 minutes. Off to Nashville we go!
Come to find out on the way there, they were playing a “secret” show at The Basement in Nashville for a few friends of the band and for guest-list only fan club members. But we didn’t care. We had to try to see them. We arrive at The Basement to find tour buses lining the street and people wearing Nashville shirts. Metallica was in Nashville, Tenn!
Unfortunately, we could not get into the show to see them and they were almost done playing, but we stood outside the venue listening and could hear them perfectly. I heard them play “Motorbreath” and “Seek and Destroy,” and both songs sounded great. I can only describe it as if you were at a practice room listening to a great band play, only this time the band was Metallica.
After they played we walked back out to the alley behind the venue where all the members walked right by us and got on their tour bus. A representative of the band told the crowd that they would possibly be out to sign autographs and take pictures after they changed their clothes. I was not leaving no matter how long it took.
The first one off the bus was Rob Trujillo and he was escorted to another bus, possibly his own bus. Next off was Kirk Hammett, and unfortunately he did not stick around. He got into an SUV with a few other people and they drove him off. About an hour later Lars Ulrich got off the bus and signed autographs and took pictures with the fans. He was real talkative and personable with everyone and seemed really appreciative that we were all there. Rob came back out a few minutes later and took pictures and signed autographs and was really cool as well. He took the coolest picture because he posed by throwing up the metal horns with us.
Now the wait for James Hetfield was filled with anticipation. He walked to another bus where we learned that he was doing an interview with Revolver magazine. After waiting what seemed like forever (many people had left), James Hetfield finally emerged from the tour bus to greet his fans that waited patiently for him. He greeted everyone and took as many pictures as his time would allow. To be honest he was a little standoffish and kind of quiet, but he was a super nice guy. When my chance came to get him to sign my Master of Puppets CD cover, I didn’t want to bombard him with another “fan story” that he has probably heard a million times over. I didn’t want to tell him that his music and his lyrics literally saved my life when I was going through some very rough and dark times. I just thanked him for the picture, autograph and the years of great music. He looked at me, smiled and said, “Yeah, cool man. Thanks!”
I still can’t believe that I got to meet my musical heroes!
To The Festival
On Friday, Fahad and I headed down to Manchester and surprisingly ran into very little or virtually no traffic. We got in with no problems, parked and proceeded to set up some camping chairs and started drinking beer. I know it was early to be drinking but it was “METALLI-ROO”!
We blasted the album . . . And Justice for All in my Jeep while we were tailgating and had several Metallica fans stop by to chat. After we drank a few beers it was time to go see what Bonnaroo was all about. We walked around and there were so many people and so many things to look at! I had a great time just people watching. Every person I saw who was wearing a Metallica shirt got a fist in the air and a “Metallica baby! Yeah!” shout-out from me.
One guy wearing a Metallica shirt and carrying a case of beer said to me, “Anyone who is wearing a Metallica shirt gets a free beer from me!” Free beer? Sweet! I was wearing my old and faded Kill ?Em All shirt.
We saw some musical acts, walked around, talked to people and had a great afternoon. But I could hardly stand still because I was anxious to see Metallica. We went back to my Jeep to relax for a little bit, drink some beers, and wait for my friend Crystal to show up. She wanted to see Metallica, so she took the day off work, bought a ticket from a scalper and amazingly parked near us. It worked out perfectly.
So the three of us proceeded back toward the stages where we saw Les Claypool perform, and he was amazing. We also saw a little bit of Willie Nelson’s set but we had a mission. Metallica was taking the stage in two hours and we had to get as close as we possibly could. We weaved our way through the crowd and managed to get to the front of the general admission area. We could not get to the front of the stage because that was reserved for V.I.P. admission. But we were close enough.
Chris Rock was on right before Metallica and was introduced by Lars Ulrich and Kirk Hammett. Chris Rock was hilarious but all I could think about was Metallica. It was almost time.
Around 9 p.m. the light rain stopped, the lights finally went down and the familiar intro music of “The Ecstasy of Gold” started. The fans were so pumped up that they were singing along with the intro music. Metallica exploded into “Creeping Death” and they were on fire! The crowd was literally singing every word almost as loud as Metallica! After the guitar solo, the drum and bass breakdown occurred and the crowd was chanting, “Die! Die! Die!”. James stepped up to the mic and screamed, “Metallica loves you Bonnaroo!” They finished the song and immediately blasted into “For Whom the Bell Tolls” followed by “Ride the Lightning” and “Harvester of Sorrow.” I can’t believe that they came out of the gate playing three songs back to back to back from the album, Ride the Lightning. From beginning to end Metallica delivered a memorable performance. Every song was nothing short of flawless and spectacular, from “Whiplash” and “No Remorse” to “Fade to Black” to “Master of Puppets” (my personal favorite which also manages to always draw a tear to my eye whenever I see them play it live) to the 2 1/2-minute pyro intro to “One” and finally “Enter Sandman.” At the end of the show, James got on the mic and was really appreciative to the crowd and thanked them repeatedly for having Metallica out to Bonnaroo. He explained, “We support live music and that’s why we’re here. Thank you all very much.”
I will never forget the two days that I have spent with Metallica?in my opinion the greatest band of this generation and maybe the greatest band of all time!
