(All Photos taken by Me the Lord of the Poser Holocaust)
I was lucky enough to attend the first 2 of the 4 Metallica shows at the legendary Fillmore in San Francisco. This was an absolutely overwhelming experience that would be very difficult to sum up and do justice to. In many ways it was like coming full circle with my past, present and future. It was a trip where I got a chance to catch up with a few old friends, make some new friends, and meet a lot of the online Metallica and metal trading community that I deal with frequently. One of my personal highlights was the Metallica museum they had set up.
For the Record: This is the second time I have been in the same building as the Doris head, the first time was 22 years ago on May 31st 1989 in Vancouver!
I will simply allow the photographs to do most of the talking, as the old adage "a picture is worth a thousand words" probably does best apply here. However, on that note I wish people would put their fucking cameras away and enjoy the show. Yes, I took a few photos, but I tried to get one per event or every 5 songs or so and not let it distract me from enjoying the show. Anyway, with that little rant out of the way I want to say it was absolutely amazing to see Metallica in their hometown and at the Fillmore and part of me can understand why people went so crazy with their camera's. In fact, the vibe the entire week was amazing and Metallica deserve much praise for their treatment of their fans. It has become fashionable in metal circles these days to talk shit about Metallica, but they are still my favourite band and the fact is, they were part of the metal scene when 98% of the internet trash talking "true metal" idiots were still in diapers.
As if it was not enough to see Metallica in such a small and legendary venue, the highlight for me personally was seeing Mercyful Fate on stage after such a long absence. It was simply magical and no further words can do justice to the feeling I am sure it brought to any fan of the group in the building. You could literally feel the excitement in the building when they made their entrance. Should also mention Ray Haller from Sweet Savage, he sounded great and Killing Time is one of my all time favourite metal tracks. I am thankful that out of the 4 nights I was lucky enough to be there for night 2. Fucking Evil!
Satan!
No time for cowardice, kill and survive!
However, night one also provided an amazing treat for any NWOBHM fan first with an appearance from Saxon front man, with a stunning rendition of Motorcycle Man and furthermore later in the night with 4 Diamond Head songs featuring Brian Tatler and Sean Harris. An absolute perfect addition for me personally since I have never seen Diamond Head live. Electric indeed!
Admittedly, as a long time Priest, Megadeth, Death Angel, Anti Nowhere Leauge and Danzig fan it was very disappointing to not be able to attend all 4 shows, a situation made worse by the fact that many people who did go did not much care about seeing these legends. I am convinced that a large portion of the audience did not even know who some of the guests were. However, seeing Fate reunited really made up for any disappointment caused by the inability to go to the last two shows. Another nice part of the week was Armored Saint opening up night number 2 and as an added bonus John Bush joining Metallica, if only for one song in an awesome rendition of 'The Four Horsemen'. How Metallica was able to accommodate the number of guests they had and have everything run so smooth will forever be a mystery, but shows the professionalism of not only Metallica, but everyone involved.
Some random stuff from the shows
You would think that Lars would rather forget about this, but there it was proudly on display
God, do I ever miss Jason's great back up vocals
Motorcycle Man!
Say yes, at least say hello
