Bringing the Thunder; Metallica (Night 2) 11/5 Dome @ America's Center Concert Review

Arriving for night number two, we had a better game plan for parking, in addition to being on a Sunday night, helped make for a smoother entry into downtown. So much we arrived with an hour and a half to spare before the 6 PM start time. There was definitely more open seats and the guys that were to my left didn't stay but for maybe a part of the show. It was also unique seeing some of the same people. The guys next to us on the other side, talked about hitting up some of the Metallica pop up events over the weekend.
Ice Nine Kills took the stage and played for a little over a half an hour. They were all dressed in suits and their songs are inspired by horror films. They also featured theaterics, with several actors portraying scenes and the music. I'd classify them as sounding like EMO-Pop Metal. Again if I was more familiar with them, I might have enjoyed them more.
Then Five Finger Death Punch hit the stage and played for around 45 minutes. Their lead singer was similar to Pantea's, bald and working the crowd pretty heavy. But they had a bigger band, complete with someone on turntable and had more range in their songs and vocals. And their lead singer did address the crowd, asking they should be happy because, "The Chiefs kicked the Dolphin's ass today!"and he asked "Patrick Mahomes or Kurt Warner?" He at least he knew where he was at and his facts. I enjoyed them more than Pantera, but Nikki wasn't disapponted because they didn't sound like their records. We had a conversation on the way back on this topic, where I told her I prefer surprises, different songs and different arrangements as part of the live experience.
Metallica took the stage in similar fashion to Friday night, with the same two intro songs and about the same time. But tonight they brought the Thunder. The first quarter of the concert, the volume and drums seemed at a another level. And this was with still not having 100% of my hearing. They kind of tapered down through the rest of the set, but Lars was still pounding like a madman, or a mad conductor as Nikki called him. He was visibly sweating the rest of the night.
Again apart from the opening numbers, where they felt really on fire, again the 72 seasons numbers, including the title track and You Must Burn felt like the better numbers or the ones where they felt more passion for. Too during the title song, there was a mosh pit in front of us as well as some crowd surfing. Defintely matching the vibe from the power of the music
The Rob and Kirk jam was titled, St. Louis Freeze because, "It's cold here for a bunch of California boys like us. We're wimps." It was a pretty solid doodle and more bluesy than their normal routines. James Hetfield kept the banter to a minimum, adressing the crowd a few times and bringing his dad jokes. "How many of you like the new album? followed by, "About 15 of you all," when there was a cheer. And one time when Lars was having difficulty with his monitoring system, he joked that he must be changing his thong out.
As me and Nikki both talked about, we probably enjoyed night one a littler better, because we didn't know what to expect. With a no repeat weekend, you had a general idea what songs that weren't played Friday we were going to hear. It was close because the opening part of the concert the guys were on fire. But I definitely gained a greater appreciation of Metallica. Not that I'll become a metal-head though...


Riverfront Times Review


Metallica Set List
Whiplash
For Whom the Bell Tolls
Ride the Lightning
King Nothing
72 Seasons
If Darkness Had a Son
Welcome Home (Sanitarium
You Must Burn!
The Call of Ktulu
No Leaf Clover
Wherever I May Roam
Moth Into Flame
Blackened
Whiskey in the Jar
One
Enter Sandman


Five Finger Death Punch Set List

Lift Me Up
Trouble
Wash It All Away
Jekyll and Hyde
Bad Company
IOU
Wrong Side of Heaven
Burn MF
Welcome toe the Circus
The Bleeding

Ice Nine Kills Set List

Rainy Day
Hip to Be Scared
Meat and Greet
Ex-Mørtis
Welcome to Horrorwood
Wurst Vacation
The Shower Scene
Stabbing in the dark

The Metal Gods; Metallica (Night 1) 11/3 Dome at America's Center Concert Review

I'm not nor have I ever been a metal head. Generally the louder and the angrier, the less likely I am to listen to it. But my other half is and she wanted tickets when Metallica announced their M72 tour almost a a year ago, with a weekend in St. Louis at the Dome. And I opted to get the tickets that covered both the Friday and the Sunday show. It is a pretty different concept, only playing on the weekends and spending that weekend in the same city/venue, with different set lists and different opening acts.
When leaving Friday, I wasn't feeling the best, sinsues and weather changes and even on the way there I was doubting whether I could tolerate a show. But through the day after eating some tasty Lion's Choice and whatever clearing up, I definitely felt a lot better.
Of course it was 5 PM rush hour traffic and 50,000 people converging which made navigating downtown and parking a chore and gave us good distance to walk. (On the plus side, our parking place wound up being great in getting us out better).
We wound up plenty of time to spare before the 6 PM start. This was another first for me, as the Dome at America's Center was a concert venue I had never been to. Our seats were okay. 4 row in one of the lower sections. For whatever reason, the Dome didn't seem that big. Maybe it was sitting so low, but the perspective just didn't seem huge. Maybe the huge towers for Metallica's obstructed some of the grandeur. But the few other stadium's I've been in, seem bigger. And the narrow seats and metal bleacher floors weren't the most ideal for 5 hours.
Mammoth WVH took the stage around 6 PM and played for 30 minutes. The progeny of Eddie Van Halen sounded okay, but I haven't really listened to much of his band and he spent most of his set stationary, not taking advantage of the round walkway and playing on the stage area obstructed by one of the towers opposite towards my end of the stadium.
After a 30 minute set change Pantera, or a Pantera tribute band played for an hour. Without Dimebag Darrell, as far as I'm concerned it's not Pantera. Though it was awesome to see another master guitarist Zakk Wylde, even if from afar. But Pantera is the screamo metal that I really don't care for. Phil Anselmo played the crowd as much as he could, encouraging hands up, singing along, and liberally using the f-word as much as possible. But again while I was majorly unfamiliar with their music, it wasn't horrible. Nikki loved it though, except for getting used to the bass reverberating across your body.
An hour later the headliners took the stage after a double dose intro music of It's A Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock and Roll) and The Ecstasy of Gold. The drums rose up from underneath a platform I'm guessing and they either move around under the stage/circular walkway, or they have multiple drum sets. It was neat because it let Lars Ulrich finish up in the stage area nearest to our seats. Likewise, the other principle members moved around to different positions through the concert. At one point Hetfield laughed, "There's too many microphones up here."
With a concert of this magnitude so much of it is scripted to keep the details right and the trains on time. There was pyro unleashed during Fuel, huge yellow and white M72 inflatable bouncy balls unleashed out of the towers during Master of Puppets and plenty of light shows and animated art sequences on the huge screens atop the towers. One guys job was to protect Lars at the drum set from the bouncy balls. Without being a major fan or honestly knowing their music like I should, it was hard to know what was added jam wise and what was spontaneous(speech and music wise)...
But I very much enjoyed the concert and the music. If it tells you anything, I have had their music and melodies going on in my head all day. I knew there was strong craftsmanship to their music, but seeing it live gave it more appreciation for me. Kirk Hammett is another guitar legend that deserves his praises. As for highlights, on the new song Lux Æterna, they seemed to have more of a fire and passion behind it, as well as seeing Master of Puppets, which Nikki was looking forward to.
And props for the band not to use the fake encore, though it looks like they play pretty close to the same set list for each 1st show at least. Hetfield's stage prescence wasn't overblown like Anselmo's was, in trying to pander to the audience. Of course that comes with experience and knowing the crowd was in their corner anyway. The band was throwing out pics and giving thanks to the audience as we were leaving, mentioning some of the previous excursions in St. Louis.
On to Night #2...


Review St. Louis Concert Review
Quincy Hearld-Whig Review

Metallica Set List

Creeping Death
Harvester of Sorrow
Holier Than Thou
The Memory Remains
Lux Æterna
Too Far Gone
Ktulu Burrito (Kirk and Rob jam)
Fade to Black
Shadows Follow
Orion
Nothing Else Matters
Sad But True
The Day That Never Comes
Hardwired
Fuel
Seek & Destroy
Master of Puppets

Pantera Set List

A New Level
Mouth for War
Strentgh Beyond Strength
Becoming
I'm Broken
Five Minutes Alone
This Love
Fucking Hostile
Walk
Domination/Hollow
Cowboys From Hell

Mammoth WVH Set List

Another Celebration at the End of the World
You're to Blame
I'm Alright
Like a Pastime
Take A Bow
Don't Back Down