Metallica / Godsmack @ the Allstate Arena, Chicago IL, 8/27/04, Night 1
It’s been 5 years since I’ve seen Godsmack and 7 since I’ve seen Metallica. I have been disappointed in the most recent releases by each band. St. Anger is actually better than the last 3 Godsmack releases. In any case, disappointing albums and extremely expensive concert tickets have kept me away. This time around, I obtained “free” tickets to the show. I found myself getting a bit excited as it drew closer.
Godsmack was the only band picked to open on this tour, which is good because then you don’t have to sit through such horrible acts as Kid Rock, Sevendust, Limp Bizkit (is it ‘Bizket’ or ‘Bizkit’ – does it matter, they’re freakin’ horrible anyway!), Linkin Park and, well, you get the idea. Compared to them, Godsmack rules!
The last time I saw Godsmack was Ozzfest ’99 and they were good then, but lacking some sort of energy. 5 years later, they have increased their energy and tightness of playing. Most of the songs are good, but the Faceless era songs are a bit repetitive. Thank God they only played 2 or 3 songs from the album. Most of their 55 minute set contained the songs from their first and strongest album. Last time I saw them, Sully and the drummer at the time (who’s name I can’t recall, but I know it’s not the same as their current drummer – who is Shannon Larkin formerly of Amen, if you don’t know them, check them out, they rock!) did a bit of a drum battle with Sully on bongos. It was interesting. They pumped it up to 11 with their drum battle. To me, that doesn’t get boring, they kept it at a good length, Sully played bongos and then moved to a full blown drum set in which the two mirrored each others drum solos eventually ending in 3 popular classic rock song endings; Walk This Way, Moby Dick, and Tom Sawyer. They were tight, and exceeded my expectations.
45 minutes later, Metallica’s intro music played. The theme from “The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly.” Then a recording of the beginning of “Blackened,” which I’ve noticed lately; bands using a recording of an intro to a song live before they play the full version. Slayer did this at Ozzfest. Odd. The band seemed more full of energy with everyone prowling the stage looking to attack the audience. They played almost every song at break-neck speed. After seeing “Some Kind of Monster,” I kept my eye on James to see if there was any difference in his ‘drunk’ stage presence and his ‘sober’ one. And there was, he seemed more energized, more just plain happy to be there. He was smiling and running around the stage like crazy. His singing was better than the last time I saw Metallica, which was on the “Load” tour. Metallica cruised through their 2 hour and 20 minute set like nothing. Bombs, fire and flash pots going off through their respected songs and the center of the stage rotating so everyone can see Lars drum right in front of them. One complaint might be that Lars needs a seatbelt for his drum stool. I don’t think he sat on it for 2 songs in a row. In many cases at a pause in the middle of a song, he was out from behind the drums running up to the audience. It can be construed as ‘kinda cool’ but for the most part they could have played about 2 more songs if we didn’t have to wait for Lars to get back behind the drums. Something must be said for Robert Trujillo, which is he rocks. The very first time I saw Metallica, he was the bassist I the opening band, Suicidal Tendencies. I’ve been a fan of Mr. Trujillo since I was 13. I’ve followed him from Suicidal to Infectious Grooves to Ozzy Osbourne and now to Metallica. He’s a solid bassist and performer, congratulations to him. Overall, I would have to say that, whether you like Metallica or not, they do always put on a good show. If the set list contained more “Load” era songs, I would have been disappointed, but I can stand 2 “Reload” songs. Below is the set list, its in 90% correct order. They played a lot for a long time and fast, so after the 6th or 7th song, things may be slightly out of order, but they did do Disposable Heroes, which James said was the first time in 9 years and they closed with Search and Destroy directly after that. After S&D, the band stayed on stage throwing out picks, drumsticks, and thank yous for at least 10 minutes. All had big smiles on their faces and all took the collective bow at the end with a “see you tomorrow friends!”
Ecstasy of Gold (intro)
1 - Blackened
2 - Fuel
3 - Wherever I May Roam
4 - The Memory Remains
5 - Frantic
6 - Some Kind of Monster
7 - I Disappear
St. Anger
Fade to Black
Master of Puppets
Fight Fire with Fire
Nothing Else Matters
Sad But True
Creeping Death
One
Enter Sandman
2nd to last - Disposable Heroes
Closer - Search and Destroy
