Metallica Tear Up New Songs, Ear Drums at Tour Kickoff
The icy home of the Phoenix Coyotes got a blast of hot metal as Metallica kicked off their tour Tuesday night at Glendale, AZ’s Jobing.com Arena. True to form, the metal godfathers arrived on stage to the sounds of “The Ecstasy of Gold” from The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, followed by the buzzsaw that is “That Was Just Your Life.” Though the songs are new, the Death Magnetic tracks fit seamlessly into the rest of the band’s catalog, and the months of road testing made those tunes feel both well-worn and razor sharp.
Photo Gallery: Metallica Shred Through Death Magnetic, Dance With Coffins at Tour Kickoff in Arizona
Much to the pleasure of the black-clad, devil horn-thrusting crowd, the quartet performed extended versions of deep cut classics like “Master of Puppets,” “Fight Fire with Fire” and “The Four Horsemen,” tunes that on previous tours were reserved for medleys. The casket rigs floating above the stage, which play off of the Death Magnetic album cover, ominously descended and tilted toward the stage during “Sad But True.”
Though Metallica are veterans, age hasn’t caught up with them. James Hetfield took turns at several microphones placed around the rectangular stage set in the middle of the arena, giving himself a solid cardio workout. Lead guitarist Kirk Hammett strolled calmly around the stage as bassist Robert Trujillo paced like an animal about to pounce. Drummer Lars Ulrich sprung like a jack-in-the-box after each song and tossed drum sticks to the waiting crowd. Despite the heavy atmosphere, the band’s clear sense of fun was contagious, and it was hard not to smile along with Hetfield even as he sang lines like, “Suicide, I’ve already died, you’re just the funeral I’ve been waiting for.”
“It’s great to be back indoors and hearing you real loud,” Hetfield said. “Have you been waiting awhile for your friends in Metallica to show up?”
“Metallica has been around for 100 years and you keep coming back,” he added later. “We appreciate it.”
Set List:
“That Was Just Your Life”
“The End Of The Line”
“Sad But True”
“Wherever I May Roam”
“One”
“Broken, Beat And Scarred”
“Cyanide”
“Frantic”
“Until It Sleeps”
“The Four Horsemen”
“The Day That Never Comes”
“Master Of Puppets”
“Fight Fire With Fire”
“Nothing Else Matters”
“Enter Sandman”
Encore:
“Last Caress”
“So What”
“Seek and Destroy”
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• Metallica Face Criticism Over Sound Quality of Death Magnetic
• Behind the Cover Story: Metallica