Been awhile since my last post, but with Metallica in town filming their 3D movie, it is time to celebrate a little of Metallica's history in Vancouver. Everyone knows that Metallica recorded parts of the black album in Vancouver with Vancouver's own Bob Rock, but does anyone know it was Wednesday, May 31st 1989 where Bob Rock first saw Metallica play? Also a certain guy by the name of Kurt Cobain was also at that show (but according to the Spin generation... Kurt Cobain never listened to metal)
1985:
Above is the poster for Metallica's first show in Vancouver. It took me years to track down this poster. The New York Theatre in Vancouver was sort of like our version of CBGB's. It was sort of a dump, but hosted a lot of awesome bands. It was an awesome venue. I started going to shows a few years after this show and when I first stepped into the place in 1988 I could not believe that Cliff Burton and Metallica once played there. The craziest show I have seen to this day is still when DRI and Cryptic Slaughter came to town in about 1988-89 and along with a few hundred crazy fans almost destroyed the building. It was pure insanity, kids today would not last 5 minutes!
The stories that locals told and still tell about that Metallica show are legendary. Some dude stage diving with a motorcycle helmet on, bottles flying through the air and an intense performance from the band. Everyone who was there seem to agree that Metallica destroyed the place. There is a recording of the show that lays proof to this fact, it is an intense performance that does not let up. My favourite part of the recording is after the intro where you literally feel the intensity and you can hear a couple people in the crowd remarking, "holy shit!" and "look at those bellbottoms!" Priceless!
Unfortunately for me I got into Metallica a few months before this show, but there was no way in hell that I would have been allowed to go to this show as I was only in grade 5, so I will have to settle for this great piece of Vancouver and Metallica's history on my wall. Too bad Raven were not exactly in their peak during this period, Armored Saint sure would have been cool to see in that era though. I did not get to see them until the shows at the Fillmore for Metallica's 30th anniversary.
After it's closure, The New York Theatre became the Raja Theatre. In this photo it is abandoned and awaiting restoration. Currently, the restoration is in the early stages and it will eventually be a music venue again. Though it is doubtful it will feature many metal or punk shows.
Some dude came up to me years ago (either 1986 or 1987) and gave me this photo because I was wearing a Metallica shirt and he told me it was taken at the New York Theatre Show. I am not sure if this is true or not, but the shot is more than likely from 1985 so this could be true
1986:
Next up and not long after playing the small theatre on Commercial Drive, Metallica made the move to the Pacific Coliseum (see poster above). At the time, to any of us who were fans before
Master of Puppets came out, it was strange how fast the bands fortune was changing (albeit not playing to a full stadium yet). A friend and I had actually bought tickets to this show and being in grade 7, I was not allowed to go when my parents found out I had tickets! I don't think I talked to my parents for awhile after that! This show was supposed to take place earlier, but was postponed due to the accident that took Cliff's life. Information and photos of the band were lacking at that time so being that close to seeing them, only to have our hopes crushed killed us at the time.
Anyway, by all accounts it was another great show and another very rare poster. I have also been searching for this poster for a very long time and I finally found it a few months ago. I was not even sure it existed as none of the major players from the local scene remembered seeing it and no one seemed to have it. Finally, it appeared on ebay from an American seller and after contacting the seller, I acquired it. I want to thank my friend Matt from the Netherlands for pointing it out to me when it ended up for sale. Oh and according to a friend who attended the show, James Hetfield was hit in the head by a flying bottle during "Master of Puppets". It should be noted before moving on that the first Metal Church album pretty much slays anything in its path and also worth noting, when I met Lars, I asked him what he remembered about the first two shows in Vancouver, his one word response was simply "cold".
1989:
Okay, finally my chance to see the band, but I had to wait about 4 years. When Metallica announced the
Damaged Justice tour was coming to Vancouver, I was not missing this one! By this time I had been able to go to a few concerts, so my parents were no longer a hurdle. The only thing I needed to secure were floor tickets. Thus, when tickets went on sale, I was at ticketmaster bright and early and ready to buy General Admission tickets. Once the tickets were secured we waited patiently for the date to arrive. In the meantime, I spotted the flyer fairly high up on a telephone poll in front of another gig my friends and I were at a few weeks prior, I somehow scaled the pole to get the flyer and wound up with a few scrapes and cuts. The things we do for metal.
When the day arrived, and Metallica hit the stage, the floor was complete chaos. There were 4-6 circle pits happening, at least 4 fights, hair flying everywhere and a lot of slamming bodies. It was even crazier than the Slayer show I attended about a year prior. I was not too interested in watching the Cult as I had waited so long to finally see Metallica I had little patience for anyone standing in the way, so my memory of them is vague. I seem to remember Ian Astbury talking about himself like he was some sort of rock God. Too bad though, because the Cult had some great material and it is a shame I did not pay more attention to them on that night.
1991-2007:
I apologize for having little to say about the black album tour to
St Anger period in Vancouver, but I don't have the posters and I didn't attend the shows with the exception of one. On the black album tour it was clear that Metallica's fan base had went through a major overhaul and to be honest I was not ready for the album or the change at the time. The people that had made fun of metal from school were all of a sudden "big fans" and it was all sort of hard to stomach, combined with being slightly disillusioned by all the changes in metal around me I turned further towards other interests (skateboarding/punk rock/and bands from the black and death scene and I guess what would now be labeled as "extreme" metal). By the time
Load and
Reload came out, I was immersed in working, school and paying bills and those albums did very little for me, even to this day I am yet to really find much on those albums that speaks to me.
Despite that, the classic first four releases remained my favourite albums during those years and Metallica has always remained my favourite band. I should add it was
St. Anger that sparked my interest in what Metallica was doing not in the past, but in the present again.
St Anger is a heavy, brutal and misunderstood album with an admittedly horrible snare sound and sadly no guitar solos, however, despite its faults, it is a good, mostly honest and a very personal album that provides lyrically (if you can work your way through some of the bad team effort lyrics) what is perhaps the only opportunity to get inside Hetfield's mind. I still have trouble with a lot of
Load and
Reload and find most of the material on those two albums unmemorable and boring, but there are some great songs on those records as well. Anyway, I am always on the hunt for the Vancouver posters from that era... so if you have them get in touch.
2008:
Fast forward to
World Magnetic Tour 2008. This was a great tour and Metallica were excellent at both the Vancouver and the Seattle shows I managed to attend. These were also fun shows for me personally as I finally got to meet a few of the people I trade with online. For me
Death Magnetic is the best Metallica album since the black album and the band was in top form live and ripped through new and old material. The songs off
Death Magnetic were great in the live environment as well. Sword were good, but looked a tad out of place on Metallica's stage. Lamb of God almost bored me to death both nights, but looked comfortable on the in the round stage. Modern metal core is not my cup of tea, I like my metal core with a dash of DRI, COC and Suicidal.
2012:
...and finally the latest shows....
Night 1:
The day started by knocking off a few beers before the show with a few good friends and long time fans, you could feel the excitement downtown that Metallica were in town. After making our way to the venue, I was reminded of how much things have changed since the old days and how stadium shows tend to attract the lowest common denominator. A small portion of the fans at GM Place/Rogers Arena (whatever it is called this week) were basically the same type of meatheads that Slayer began attracting in the 90's, except now they watch UFC instead of wrestling. Outside before being allowed into the building many people seemed totally confused about how and where to lineup to gain entrance into the building. Some were throwing mini temper tantrums and attempting to throw their weight around. It was obvious these "weekend warriors" don't get to the big city much. Later in the night I saw huge neanderthals choking people for picks, pushing and hitting women out of their path, people passed out with their heads buried in toilets (well I guess that last part is not so different from the old days!) and weekend warrior hipsters dressed up as "rockers" for the night like it was halloween.
Anyway, despite my gripes with the crowd, Metallica were great and played an "everybody's favourites" type setlist that had everyone in the crowd smiling at some point in the night I am sure. For me the highlights were 'Ride the Lightning', 'Fade to Black' and the always crushing 'Battery', with the only low point being 'Cyanide', which is the weakest song off
Death Magnetic in my opinion, but it is a fairly easy song to play and provides a much needed rest for the band i am sure. It also comes across live quite well, but 'All Nightmare Long' would have been the better choice. It was also too bad they skipped
St Anger entirely as it would have been nice to see every album truly represented.
Doris made her return to Vancouver, but she no longer shows her breasts at concerts!
Night 2:
Night 2 was a better crowd that was more into the band, at least it seemed to be more diehards present. I had to go to a wedding, so I arrived alone 5 minutes before the 'Ecstasy of Gold' started. Perfect timing! Setlist was the same, but this time I watched it from the floor position which while great in its own way, it was not the best way to experience this current stage and show. This stage setup must truly be seen to be appreciated, it is massive and best seen over multiple nights. It is sort of like seeing
The Wall, but without the politics. Metallica were in top form as usual and it was another great night. Even though I enjoyed the assault on the senses and the two shows were amazing chapters in Metallica's long history, I sort of prefer to see the band without all the pyro and gimmickry myself, but what the hell... it was a lot of fun. Did I mention they had tesla coils producing REAL lightning during 'Ride the Lightning'?
Tickets and a few pic I from the Vancouver Full Arsenal shows. Some guy named Lars scribbled on one of tickets.
Night 3:
Night 3 was advertised as a filming night with long breaks in between songs and tickets were 5 dollars with all proceeds going to the Vancouver food bank, pretty hard to complain about much at that price! After a couple pre-show beers, my friend Brian and I headed to the venue to meet my bud Gerald. Once we arrived we were surprised by the long lines to get into the venue. I am not sure why there were so few entrances open for these shows, it seemed to create a lot of hassles and long waits.
After finally making our way inside the building, I must admit it was a slightly unusual night, but it was a very unique experience. Metallica did not seem to be in the greatest of spirits on stage, but they still managed to squeak out some excellent performances, 'Creeping Death', 'Ride the Lightning', 'Sanitarium' and 'One' were great in particular. No 'Battery' was a bit of a disappointment, but hey we got to see 'One' twice in one night. How many fans can say that?! I am sure all the pauses and breaks were unusual for the band as well. Perhaps, the strangest thing about this show was all the extras that were hired to mainly fill the floor and some of the lower bowl. I guess they were supposed to get the band and filmmakers certain shots they wanted, but it was just sort of lame and I cannot see how this is in any way better than the real crowd from Friday and Saturday night. However, that's show biz I guess and maybe some of the extras have something to do with the movie? Despite my complaints, be clear, it was still great to be part of this special night and to watch them go through most of the set again.
In conclusion, once the smoke cleared after all the drinking, the hugeness of these shows combined with a small portion of the fans, made me miss the old days slightly. It blows my mind that I experienced a time about twenty five years ago when Metallica's following was at a cult level, just a bunch of dumb like minded kids with denim jackets with patches and Venom shirts.... (and some with skateboards) crazy. However, the ride still continues, albeit in a different way, as the vibe in the pubs and throughout the city that many of the current fans (some new, some old) created was amazing and a lot of fun. I met a lot of great people who flew here from all over the world and met many cool locals that I had never met too. I also caught up with a few of my trading brothers again and shared a few adult pops and fun nights with them. I think it is safe to say that Metallica came and totally destroyed Vancouver again and left everybody waiting for their return.
A photo of Rob I took during Master of Puppets on Night 1
