Wow, so where do I even start? How does one even commence retelling the experience of catching his favorite band of all time LIVE – in his own backyard?

Well, at the very beginning I guess =)

I picked up Metallica sometime in 2008, having been introduced to the band by my good friend John Sergeant, whom I got to know at the English Debating Society of the University of Ottawa. Well, introduced isn’t really the right word: I had picked up their (much trashed) 2003 album St. Anger on my own volition, and liking what I heard, had asked for his opinion on which album to get next. John did one better: he offered to lend me his whole Metallica collection, on a weekly basis, two at a time – starting with Kill ‘Em All and Ride The Lightning, which were the band’s first two albums. I gladly accepted his offer, and in no time and all, was slowly getting acquainted with the thrash metal band that is James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich, Kirk Hammett, and Robert Trujillo (although it should be noted that none of the albums John lent me contained Trujillo in them, the latter only having joined the band post-St. Anger).

With these first few albums, it actually took quite a while (back then I was still very much a Darren Hayes and Mika-liking kinda guy) but gradually I learnt to appreciate breakneck thrash metal pieces like The Four Horsemen, and understand the beauty behind intricate guitar solos like those found on One and Fight Fire With Fire. As the …And Justice For All and Master of Puppets albums segued into The Black Album and Load, I quickly found myself completely at home with this new interest of mine. I found that for the first time ever, I actually appreciated a band’s evolution as an artist – it was extremely interesting to be able to trace the sonic changes of a group over the course of a few years. Even better, I found that Metallica’s was to my liking, for Load soon became one of my favourite contemporary rock albums of all time.

The passion came to an almost feverish pitch by the time the Fall of 2008 rolled around – for now, not only was I a full-on, “hardcore” Metallica fan, but news had just broken out that the band was about to release their ninth studio album Death Magnetic that September 12th. I still remember the day of its release so clearly. I woke up early and went for a quick jog along the Rideau Canal before hurriedly rushing over to my favorite record store in downtown Ottawa just in time for its 10 am release. Having bought it, I got home, plonked the CD in, and found myself in absolute thrash metal heaven. Death Magnetic turned out to be everything I had hoped for, and more: it was vintage Metallica, but with a new sound. Never mind the shitty mastering quality – this was the release I had waited for for a good five months! The album turned out to be my favorite of the year, to no real surprise of followers of my blog.

Some time after I had exhausted my Death Magnetic CD’s re-playability beyond redemption, I received a text from a friend that there was a rumor that Metallica would be coming to Ottawa sometime soon as part of their World Magnetic Tour. I immediately rushed to check www.metallica.com, and it turned out to be true – lo and behold, my favourite band was scheduled to play in Ottawa on the 29th of October 2009, and tickets would go on sale April 4th.

I swear I went absolutely nuts. I immediately ticked of the sales date on my calender, and endeavored to be at the Rideau Canal’s Sens Store (where tickets were sold) the moment the box office opened up that morning.

By the time I got there, only the cheapest tickets were left @.@ And mind you I did get there virtually on the nose @.@ Nevertheless, I had not budgeted for an expensive seat anyway, and was more than content with my CAD 63.45 seat =)

Between the ticket purchase and my return to Canada after summer holidays back in Malaysia, nothing major happened, save for the fact that the concert was postponed to the 3rd of November due to the band’s commitments to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame’s anniversary celebrations. As a result, all of us who attended would be getting a complimentary download of the day’s show – a rare bonus which I was only too happy to agree to =) In any case, my high enthusiasm for the event actually died down a little, mainly due to the large gap between the actual ticket purchase and the concert (7 months!! @.@) and the fact that I was indeed enjoying my summer back home in Malaysia. My interest in U2 also did not help matters I suppose =p

But by the time I was back in Canada, and safely past my midterms, the old ferocity came back: I found myself yelling along to That Was Just Your Life all over again, and humming Until It Sleeps while on the way to class – my much-awaited concert was just around the corner! It probably helped as well that the concert happened just after my final midterm, at a time when I was much in need of a destresser. I had found out earlier that two of my friends – Syikin and Shireen of Carleton University – had also bought tickets to the show, and that we were in fact in the same section; even after having bought tickets independently!! =D!!

The list grew. Leigh and Eric from my Geology classes said they would be attending as well, and so did Rachel of the EDS. It was going to be some party indeed =)

Thus it was that on the 3rd of November 2009, I excitedly grabbed my camera, glasses and tickets before hurrying over to meet Syikin and Shireen at the Hurdman bus station. We left for Scotiabank Place at 5.40 pm, and arrived at about half past six.

I had never been to Scotiabank Place prior to this, and my first impression of it was this: WOW, THIS PLACE IS HUGE. Home of the Ottawa Senators, the stadium fits 20,500 people at maximum capacity, and from time-to-time also hosts varsity games and shows aside from hockey games and concerts.

Scotiabank Place.

I don’t think these images provide a sense of scale though.

In any case, the three of us arrived at Scotiabank Place completely raring to go =D We had spent much of the bus ride speculating on what songs might be played, what were our favorite songs, and contemplating whether to buy souvenirs from the show or not. This, as you may guess, really helped us get into the mood =) Obtaining the answer to one of our questions didn’t take long though – the moment we entered Scotiabank Place there were scores of counters, selling t-shirts, tour programs, and lots of other miscellaneous merchandise – even a Metallica hockey jersey LOL! Without further ado, the three of us joined the throng of eager shoppers at the main doors of the stadium. I came away with a Death Magnetic t-shirt and a tour program =)

We then scanned our tickets at the gate, and proceeded to head up to our seats. It was here that I discovered that I had an admittedly rather average view of the stage, as I was located at least 50 meters away from all the action. Syikin and Shireen fared even worse, ending up one or two meters behind me, and much higher up from the stage. One of the opening acts was already playing: it was the Danish band of Volbeat, and they were pretty much rocking things up as it were, getting the crowd into a bouncy groove with their rockabilly style of play. Not knowing much of Volbeat’s setlist as it were, I took the opportunity to check out the acoustics of the place, and experiment with my camera’s lighting functions.

Volbeat.

I discovered that my camera produced the best shots on full auto, with flash, and with stabilizers off. It was slightly counter-intuitive for this camera noob, but I recalled that similar circumstances had occurred while watching Linkin Park over a year ago. I thus placed the settings to optimum yield, and settled down to enjoy the opening act.

After Volbeat, Lamb of God was up; I had tried to prepare for this opening act by picking up the band’s latest effort, Wrath. Unfortunately I found that to me, they yielded nothing more than a wall of sound, with ambiguous vocals, and barely discernible numbers. While trying out Wrath, I felt that frankly, you could play any of the album’s songs and I wouldn’t be able to distinguish one from the other…such was the impression of Lamb of God to my ears. I was actually hoping that seeing them live would allow me to appreciate them more…turned out to be wishful thinking lol. With regard to the band’s setlist, I know the band played In Your Words and Walk With Me In Hell, but only because they announced the titles of the song just before they played them.

I would have no idea what they were attempting to do otherwise. But here are some pictures of the band:

In Your Words.

A walk in hell indeed.

Partway through Lamb of God’s performance, I left my seat to go grab a quick dinner (pizza and a bottle of water) and catch up with my friend Leigh who had texted me to say she arrived. Lucky girl had got a pair of 100-level seats, which put her two levels below my place on the 300-level. From where she was seated, she had an awesome view of the stage, and the atmosphere there was apparently a few decibels better than the higher levels. I could only go green in jealousy =) She introduced me to a few of the friends she had come along with as well. I can still remember how pumped we were at that point lol =)

After a few minutes of chatting we decided it was best for us to get back to our seats and get comfy before the concert proper started rolling. I gave Leigh a hug and told her we’d have stories to share the next day for sure I headed back to my seat and began flipping through my concert booklet. Around me, gradually the seats began to fill up. My row was suddenly full of people, and the sections below didn’t look so half-full anymore.

And then, just as I finished reading my tour booklet for the second time running, the lights began to dim and go out completely.

The crowd went CRAZY.

Everywhere, cameras started flashing, and the pinpricks of LCD screens off cellphones and iPods began piercing the darkness of the stadium. Gradually, the pitch grew louder and louder as people started whooping all over the stadium in excitement. I couldn’t contain my feelings for much longer, and began hooting along with the rest of them as well =p One could seriously feel the anticipation in the air – the lights were out, the mood was right…Metallica would be appearing any minute now, guitars belting an electric rhythm.

I swear I had already gotten into a hooting match with the section directly below me when a low hum began emanating from the speakers. The crowd exploded once more, screaming along with the rhythm; these screams grew louder as all of us realized the recorded tune being played was none other than Ennio Morricone’s The Ecstasy of Gold, off the soundtrack of The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. Over the years, this song has become known as Metallica’s entrance music, as the band commonly play it just before they begin their concert. In fact, I would even define this moment as the “actual” beginning of the concert itself; the moment Morricone’s score begins playing, you know that it’s only a matter of time before the band comes onstage.

The moment the recording ended, the stadium’s speakers went quiet for an infinitesimal moment before the slow thudding sounds of what sounded like a heartbeat began to reverberate from them. Slow and meticulous, the thudding sounds were instantly greeted by rapturous cheering and applause from the audience as we recognized them as the opening bars of the first track of Death Magnetic, That Was Just Your Life. I was beside myself in excitement, and could barely keep my bum in my seat – so great was the desire to stand up and start cheering. The audience obviously felt the same way as well: just below me in the 100 and 200-levels, people were beginning to stand up and were thumping their fists against the air madly.

Then the first live drum boom came, and I lost it completely. The bum was no longer gravitationally held by the seat.

If I thought the audience was loud before, then I knew now that that was nothing compared to the sonic boom that the throng at Scotiabank Place was now giving: it was incredible. Twenty thousand voices were all screaming as one, cheering on the machine-gun riff of That Was Just Your Life. The drumbeats were getting louder now, more and more frantic; above, the laser lights came on, a dazzling array of light that seemed to thrash wildly along with the music. I barely recognized my voice as the source of the whooping sound barreling across my eardrums.

And then Hetfield started singing:

“Like a siren in my head that only threatens to repeat…“

I have a video of the whole affair, self-made:

Unlike my reservations with Linkin Park back in Montreal, I had no such qualms here. I found myself head-banging with these American rockers from the get-go, screaming out every single line of the extremely fast-paced opening song. There were parts of the song that I was absolutely waiting for, like the segue into the chorus due to it being scintillatingly melodic, and I’m glad to say that James Hetfield – the vocalist of Metallica – sounds just as good live, if not better.

“It’s your life!!!“

With that line I was treated to my first thrash metal solo – Kirk Hammett launched into the extremely quick bridge of the song with great aplomb, Hetfield providing the rhythm guitar for all he was worth. Behind them, Lars Ulrich thudded relentlessly on the drums, as Trujillo’s bass reverberated in the background.

That Was Just Your Life laser show.

“Ottawa – THIS IS YOUR LIIIIIFE!!!“

That Was Just Your Life ended with Hetfield yelling the above line – it was the first time that anyone from the band had mentioned the name of the city they were performing in out loud, and it brought a fantastic response from the audience. I completely understood why this is always the case in live shows: it is an acknowledgment of the individuality of the crowd, of the locale, of the concert-goer. Audience recognition at its best.

The End of the Line – second song off Death Magnetic’s tracklist – was up next, with the incredibly energetic Hetfield starting the opening riff and leading the band through. Briefly, my thoughts flew back to my first impressions of the Death Magnetic album: if there was one song which I felt didn’t quite gel with me on that record, it would have been Line. However, all such reservations were gone now – I just wanted to hear Line live. Just for the sake of it being live.

“Drop the hourglass of time, spilling sand we will not find…“

Need more and more indeed. And Metallica were ready to give it.

“YOU’VE REACHED THE END OF THE LIIIIINE!!!“

Line ended to yet more cheers from the audience, and for the first time, the band put their instruments down to properly acknowledge the audience as a few lights came on and illuminated the place.

“OTT-A-WA, how do you FEEEEL!!?!?!“

Roars from the crowd. Very loud.

“And I hope, it includes…some old stuff.”

The reason half the people in the stadium were there – the older material. If anything, Metallica is known for their earlier releases – pioneering pieces of thrash metal that set the stage for other heavy bands such as Slayer and Anthrax…and it was one of their older pieces that now greeted us: Creeping Death.

A sardonic tale about the Plague of the Firstborn, Creeping Death has its origins from the band’s sophomore album Ride The Lightning, and is easily one of the heavier Metallica songs; with lyrics like “Blood, running red and strong down the Nile; Plague, darkness three days long, hail to fire!!!“, this song is, for lack of a better term, absolutely kick-ass. The best part of its live performance? When we, the audience, got to sing the “DIE!!! DIE!!!” refrain originally popularized by Metallica’s late former bassist Cliff Burton. I had balls of fun throwing my fist in the air and randomly screaming the desire to kill objects out loud LOL.

Creeping Death’s bridge. Note the moving “coffins” up above.

Death ended with a long whining tune hold by Kirk Hammett. Clearly pumped just like the rest of us, Hetfield went up to one of the microphones and shouted to Ottawa at large: “SO YOU THINK YOU’RE LOUD HUH?!?!!”

Oh yes indeed. We screamed back our proof of the matter.

Unfazed, Hetfield said: Give me an M!!!

M!!!

Give me an E.

E!!!

T!!! A!!! L!!!…GIVE ME FUEL GIVE ME FIRE GIVE ME THAT WHICH I DESIRE!!!

The band burst into the first single off their seventh album ReLoad. Easily one of the band’s most accessible songs, this number has been covered by many artists, including Canada’s own Avril Lavigne. And did I mention it sounds amazing live?

Oooh, and I burn; fuel is pumping engines…

BURN BABY BURN!!! I was simply ecstatic that Fuel was indeed being played live. For those of you who remember my dream setlist published the night before the concert, you’ll recall that Fuel was indeed on it. This was a double-edged request however: being one of their least popular albums, it would be near impossible to hope for two songs being played from ReLoad in one night. And thus, my hope of hearing The Memory Remains live faded away forever =(

As if they heard me though, the band immediately switched to what might even be seen as a make-up ballad to Memory: Fade To Black was next on the setlist. One of the band’s slowest ever songs, Fade To Black generated a significant amount of controversy when it was first recorded by the band, as many saw it as evidence of Metallica selling-out its thrash metal roots to gain a larger audience.

Here, Hetfield can be seen playing the opening bars of the song with an acoustic guitar. Apparently, this is the first time it has been done live. Ever =)

Kirk Hammett, soloing away =)

“Emptiness is filling me…to the point of agony…“

Up to now, this was easily Hetfield’s best vocal performance. Emotional, controlled (I say this because there were brief parts in That Was Just Your Life that he seemed to lose control of the higher notes a little XD) and energetic, I loved this  particular rendition of this slow Ride The Lightning number.

After Fade To Black, James took it upon himself to interact with the audience, taking a census of the amount of people attending their first ever Metallica concert (I raised my hand enthusiastically and started jumping in my seat).

“Wow, that’s a lot of people. What took you so long?!?!?!“

Well James, if you insist on only coming once every five years…

A Death Magnetic double followed another brief pause: Broken, Beat & Scarred and Cyanide made their live debuts in Ottawa, with Cyanide in particular getting an extremely enthusiastic reception. I always felt that Cyanide was a great choice of live song ever since it was the first Death Magnetic song debuted live – extremely bouncy and groovy, I couldn’t help but jam along to Rob Trujillo’s bass.

DUM-DI-DUM-DUM-DUM-DI-DUM-DUM-DUM…

=)

Cyanide.

I particularly like this photo =)

It was somewhat strange that up to this point, Metallica’s The Black Album was still unrepresented. With over 14 million copies sold, TBA is one of the best-selling albums of all time, and roughly represents the moment that Metallica went mainstream. Sad But True was the first TBA track played, and the ninth of the night. Hetfield was sure to dedicate it to the bands on tour with Metallica – Volbeat and Lamb of God.

Rocking in Ottawa.

How loud can you get?

The next images are nuts:

Check out those coffins man.

If you look carefully, the position of the coffins has changed – they can move and swivel about from the ceiling; how cool is that? =D?

Look:

Pretty cool IMHO =)

=D!!!

So now we had songs from four different albums already: Ride The Lightning, The Black Album, ReLoad, and of course Death Magnetic. Diversity was the order of the day, as the band opted to play a track off …And Justice For All next…and it was no other than my favorite Metallica song of all time, One.

Some will chide me as a stereotypical Metallica fan for favoring One when there are tonnes of arguably better Metallica songs out there. I guess I have to beg to differ: for me this ballad is one of Metallica’s strongest pieces, with riffs that simply flow into one another and a fantastic outro. Indeed, the band did treat it as one of their most important songs, as it received a visual aid that no other number had so far received:

Pyrotechnics!! =D!!

Even from the amps!! =D!!!

Bluebells.

Neat LOL =)

I guess it was all the more apt, as One IS about a man who has suffered first-hand the horrors of war, and is all the worse for it.

I guess I needn’t say it really, after all the enthusiasm already bleeding out of the pages of this post; I’ve always wanted to hear One live, and managing it here was an experience I’ll never forget =) I remember cheering so loudly during the playing of the song’s opening – a montage of explosions, machine-gun fire, and detonations…and when the guitars started, oh boy.

“I can’t remember anything…“

Just like Fade To Black, Hetfield’s singing was spectacular on this one. Adding another dimension to things was the fact that the original album on which One had been on had a particularly pertinent criticism with regard to its production quality – many said that the album had been poorly mastered, and indeed, the band does sound a bit flat on the original as their guitars buzz thinly and the drums click more than thud. No such limitations here.

“Fed through the tube that STICKS IN ME!!!“

Solid all around.

Gotta love how they made all those coffins tilt inwards…engineering at it’s finest.

Shot from during the playing of One.

In hindsight it’s getting harder and harder to describe the rush of emotions I felt upon hearing this song being played live. All those evenings listening to the number whilst I jogged along the Rideau Canal, and all those nights of slogging at my desk accompanied by this song…all the thoughts just came flooding back just as the main bridge of the section came about.

“Darkness, imprisoning me!! All that I see!! Absolute horror!! I cannot live, I cannot die!!“

“Landmine – has taken my sight, taken my speech, taken my hearing, taken my arms, taken my legs, taken my soul -“

It was indeed like coming home.

Up next was the boomer from Death Magnetic, All Nightmare Long. While not the best Metallica song of all time, it does come pretty close in my books Just like Fuel, this was a number on my wishlist playlist, and was thus more than happy to jiggy with it =D Hunt you down without mercy indeed LOL. Have to say I loved the refrain of “Luck…runs…out…” employed in songwriting genius in the original, and to great effect by the backup vocals of Trujillo and Hammett. The number was then followed by a quick solo from Kirk Hammett to calm things down after such an energetic package of high-octane numbers. I have to say that I found the solo to be a bit random and unfocused as Mr Hammett appeared to be hitting notes in no particular tune. Oh well, just saying =)

He will hunt you down…All Nightmare Long.

After the brief solo, the first single off Death Magnetic finally appeared: The Day That Never Comes was essentially the first piece of new Metallimaterial for five years when it debuted in 2009, and is probably the best known song off the band’s ninth album. It’s appearance here made it the sixth track from Magnetic to be played that night – a pretty good track record for the band’s newer stuff, especially as seeing that the Madly In Anger With The World Tour was reduced to playing only a single song off St.Anger as the tour reached its midpoint. Death Magnetic indeed shows no sign of such shunning from the Metallica family =)

Opening bars of The Day That Never Comes.

The next song is perhaps the first time that the audience went up another level on the scale of nutsiness – the moment the first few notes of Master of Puppets was played, the song needed no more introduction; this was the moment that perhaps more than half of the throng 20,000 had been waiting for…the end of passion play. We were already about 12 songs into the setlist; I’d say it was about time. As Hetfield screamed out loud the word “MASTER!!!!” I abashedly remember air-guitaring along with him…good God I hope no one saw me lol.

Also, just like on Creeping Death, we were given the opportunity to fill in the gaps of the song. It was here that I realized that the chorus of Master of Puppets is absolutely fabulous for some audience participation. I wish I could convey to you how loudly Ottawa screamed out lines like “Come crawling faster!!”, “Your life burns faster!!”, and “Obey your master!!” as the band barreled closer and closer to the signature bridge of the song, ranked number one by Q magazine inits list of the 100 Greatest Guitar Tracks of all time.

Catch it here =)

The line “FACE ME OTTAWA!!” (adapted from the original’s “Face me baby!!!” as you can guess, was very well received =)

There was no let-up; Master segued immediately into Battery, the rapid-fire opening song of the Master of Puppets album. As with many of the other songs played that night, the slow intro was played via recording, with the band only jumping into action with the introduction of the main riff. I should randomly add here that I have already downloaded my free copy off the show, and it is quite amusing to hear a “I LOVE YOU!!” screamed out by a random (male) member of the audience while this recording was being played XD

“Smashing through the boundaries, the lunacy has found me, cannot stop the battery!!!“

Battery.

Battery ends with an amazing thrash metal jam session in where the band just pummels the notes on their guitars with an increasing intensity; I was anticipating this section from the moment the song began, and I was not to be disappointed. The pyrotechnics made a reappearance and the band was exceptional, riffing along for all they were worth; Ulrich sounded insane on the drums, and Hetfield even let loose a mad yell that had us all in a head-banging frenzy. And yes, this was a frenzy that had to be cooled with a second Kirk Hammett solo (a  much better one this time also LOL XD).

Truth be told, the solo actually reminded me of the in-game music of Blizzard’s Diablo when the player is at Tristram town LOL.

Anyway, as I had mentioned earlier, Sad But True was the only piece from The Black Album played thus far. That changes now, as not one but two TBA pieces were played back-to-back, beginning with Nothing Else Matters. Probably the most contemporary and love-struck of Metallica’s ballad catalogs, this piece needed a soft acoustic delivery setting and atmosphere to get it right, and the band managed just that. The lights went off briefly and came on again to reveal James Hetfield sitting on a metal chair, guitar in hand, slowly strumming.

“So close…no matter how far…“

Loud applause. But more controlled this time…civilized, even =)

“Couldn’t be much more from the heart…“

The lighters and cellphone backlights came on.

“Forever trusting who we are…and nothing else matters…“

Slow waving. The crowd starting swaying. There was less applause, and for the first time during the night, more of a homey feel to things.

It was at that moment that my thoughts flew off to Bangkok, Thailand. Of all the songs to remind me of the little one lol =)

“No, nothing else matters…“

The rest of the song is a blur to me; not much do I remember. The next thing I knew, Hetfield was kneeling on the ground, winding up a whining guitar solo.

As he knelt, the lights dimmed, and a certain three bar riff began playing…the same three bar riff of Enter Sandman.

Here you can actually see Hetfield kneeling while starting to play Enter Sandman lol =)

Atmosphere went to orbit as the crowd went ballistic. I have a faint suspicion that a significant amount of people there only memorized the lyrics for Enter Sandman, because suddenly…the singing got a hell lot louder LOL.

Exit light.

Enter night.

Sandman ends.

Enter Sandman ended to rapturous applause once more. With the playing of this song, the band had reached the end of their main setlist (to my admitted sadness LOL). However, by chanting along to the playful imitations of the riffs of The Frayed Ends of Sanity, we the audience managed to get the encore going.

We were now down to our final three songs.

=(

Hetfield took up the mic again, explaining that as part of the encore, the band would be playing a cover song from a band that had inspired Metallica’s foray into the music scene. Elaborating further, he stated that tonight’s cover song would be of the Misfits.

“I GOT SOMETHING TO SAY!!!“

The exceedingly loud rocker entitled Last Caress got us going. Unfortunately I have to note here that although I knew of Metallica’s cover of the song which was released on the Garage, Inc. album, I didn’t know much of the lyrics (if at all), and was reduced to mere fist-pumping and whooping lol. Still fun though, all this mindless-hopping business =) Last Caress segued immediately into the next track, the even faster Motorbreath. One of the few Metallica songs to be credited to Hetfield alone, Motorbreath is also the shortest ever Metallica number, clocking in at 3.08. It served as an epic song within the context of an encore though – nothing like uber-fast thrash metal to end a show.

The band got up to applaud the gathered Ottawan throng at the end of the setlist, telling us that were were all out of time. The cheering didn’t subside however, as the audience clamored for yet one more. Way up in the rafters (in a manner of speaking), I wasn’t so convinced that the show was over. Having stalked Metallica’s setlist for the longest time, I knew that they were due for one more – the full set was 18 songs long lol XP

So it was no surprise when Hetfield picked up his guitar again, and said that they would play one more. The band was smart though, telling the crowd that in order to deserve this one “more”, they’d (or we’d) have to promise that our voices would be gone tomorrow due to our singing so loud on the last number. Done deal LOL.

The house lights came on, and Hetfield yelled “SEEK & DESTROYYYYY!!!“

Beside him, Kirk Hammett starting playing the opening of Seek & Destroy, the penultimate song on their debut album Kill ‘Em All. As the song began rolling, large black amorphous objects began to fall from above the stage – they were huge balloons, with the Metallica creed emblazoned on them.

“Searrrrchiiinnnnng….SEEK & DESTROY!!!“

This was actually it. The end of my first and last Metallica concert ever.

“SEEK & DESTROY!!!“

I say last because I will be leaving North America in two years, and I do not envision the band ever playing near me ever again within that time period. And of course, they will never come to Malaysia.

We don’t enjoy fun enough to let them perform at Stadium Merdeka.

“SEEK & DESTROY!!!“

A few months after I first got introduced to Metallica, I confided in a friend that I would very much love to go and see the band. At least before they started getting slower; at least before they stopped touring for good; and maybe even while they were on their Death Magnetic Tour. I told him I would go as far as Toronto if I needed to; maybe even New York.

In the end, I didn’t need to. They came to me.

“SEEK & DESTROY!!!“

James Hetfield, Metallica frontman.

Did I enjoy the show? Definitely. Probably a bit too much. Because for the past few days its been all I can think about.

The end of the line.

So how much did I spend for this one-time concert experience in total? All in, at least CAD 120. That’s two months of saving up my measly CAD 264 per month for two hours of head-banging fun. And was it worth it?

Hell yeah. Every single cent.

My seat at Scotiabank Place. Section 328, Row A, Seat # 11 =)

I end this post listening to the live recording of Seek & Destroy from the show, handed out free by the band due to their scheduling mix-up. To me, this recording serves as more than just a souvenir. It is a symbol. Partially of my time in North America and the cultural items available to the region, but also of the good times that I keep having, time-and-time again, here in Ottawa.

I won’t hope to see them live again, but not only because I don’t think I will…it is also because if I do get to seem them perform ever again, I’d like to have another reason to be all the more grateful.

Salutations to the Metal Militia.

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Metalheads galore.

Reciprocity.

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