METALLICA
Corel Centre, Ottawa
Thursday, October 7, 2004
OTTAWA -- "Give me fuel/give me fire/give me that which I desire."
With pyrotechnics so hot you could feel it on your cheeks, and a performance which seemed to rip through the Corel Centre last night, that's just what Metallica did.
"Give me an M, gimme an E, gimme a T," teased lead singer James Hetfield before launching into Fuel off 1997's Reload.
It was the second tune in a high-octane show that lasted two hours -- more than half in encores -- in front of 13,200 people who give new meaning to the word "fanatic."
Metallica never let up after opening fast and furious with Blackened and in return, neither did their fans, whether it was shouting "die, die, die" during Creeping Death, shaking their fists in the air up to the cheap seats, moshing wildly or all but drowning out the booming Hetfield on crowd-pleaser Nothing Else Matters.
Highlights of the night came when the band pulled out tour rarities like Harvester of Sorrow, from 1988's And Justice For All and went deep in the vault for The Prince from 1998's Garage Inc. They were at their best during classic, pounding tunes like Welcome Home (Sanitarium) off 1986's Master of Puppets and then, during the encore, on a wicked rendition of the album's title track.
Ace on the bass
Guitarist Kirk Hammett was crazy loud on his obligatory solo -- also known as a Kirk doodle -- and bassist Rob Trujillo impressed all with a five-minute solo dubbed Junglessence. During that five minutes he managed to tease And Justice For All before moving into a nice bit from Orion in a tribute to original member and bassist Cliff Burton, who died in a mid-80s tour bus accident.
During the show the screens featured unusual angles of action, like sneaker-wearing Lars Ulrich's foot jamming relentlessly to fill in his heavy beats, or Hetfield all but swallowing his microphone.
Hetfield was at his wildman best, dressed in black, standing imposingly with slicked-back hair, screaming and adding that classic throaty "ye-ah" onto every word he could.
The band doesn't seem to have mellowed despite the rehab and therapy shown in last summer's critically praised rock-doc Some Kind of Monster, which followed the troubled making of 2003's St. Anger. Hetfield did briefly dip into therapy-speak to introduce Frantic off that release, asking the crowd if they brought their anger.
"It doesn't matter, because you brought what you needed to bring," he said. "And this is the best and safest place to bring it out tonight, here with me."
Flash and thrash
The encore featured a series of loud explosions and fireworks so extensive I can't believe they were allowed inside. But it was a fitting prelude to memorable and head-banging encore Enter Sandman from 1999's S&M and closer Seek and Destroy, during which a crazed Trujillo spun around in a crazy mix of arms, bass and long hair.
Hetfield stopped to toss an "Ottawa, you kick a--" before the group indulged in a rarely seen move -- for metal bands or otherwise -- that had them tossing guitar picks into the crowd for several minutes.
Fans were starved for the attention and lapped it up, not having seen their idols play here since 1997. It was something Ulrich seemed bent on rectifying when he hollered "I'm not the only one who thinks Metallica should come around here more than every f---ing seven years," before all four wrapped their arms around each other, bowed all around and left the stage.
JAM Rating 4/5
