\u201cYou wanna see Metallica at the Fillmore? I got an extra ticket,\u201d said my good buddy from 98 Rock.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cUhhh \u2026 let me think [pause for one millisecond<\/em>]. Yes!\u201d I exclaimed, realizing this was an invitation no self-respecting metalhead could refuse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n After a lengthy hiatus from music, Metallica made a triumphant return with a sold-out, four-night stand at San Francisco\u2019s hallowed Fillmore Auditorium. The only way to get tickets was through the band\u2019s fan club, by winning tickets on the air or by having a friend who worked in the music business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Although rumors had run amok that Metallica traded its earlier sound (along with its onetime long manes) during the ReLoad<\/em> era, the band proved otherwise, returning with a renewed vigor along with a slew of old-school classics and some blazin\u2019 new material.<\/p>\n\n\n\n St. Anger<\/em>, the band\u2019s first recorded output of all-new material in several years, will be released on June 10. Though Metallica\u2019s longtime label, Elektra, is keeping the album securely under wraps so it won\u2019t be booted all over the Internet, the band managed to slip a couple of new tunes\u2014\u201cFrantic\u201d and \u201cSt. Anger\u201d\u2014into its mostly vintage set list.<\/p>\n\n\n\n From the opening song, \u201cBattery,\u201d to \u201cMaster of Puppets,\u201d the title track of the band\u2019s third album from 1986, Metallica showed no signs of slowing down the pace. Singer-guitarist James Hetfield and guitarist Kirk Hammett worked the crowd into a frenzy during \u201cRide the Lightning\u201d with their rhythm-guitar onslaught, while new bassist Rob Trujillo (the ex-member of Ozzy Osbourne\u2019s band and Infectious Grooves who replaces Jason Newsted) pushed drummer Lars Ulrich to new extremes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This night\u2019s set list, unlike the previous three nights, showcased the band\u2019s speed-metal agility and musical dexterity. On such slower, more subdued moments as \u201cOne\u201d and the intro to \u201cWelcome Home (Sanitarium),\u201d both fans and band could catch a quick breather before being cast headlong into the thrash-metal fray of the first encore, \u201cNo Remorse,\u201d and the fan-favorite second encore, \u201cBreadfan,\u201d the latter an obscure Budgie cover.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Because these shows were dubbed \u201crehearsals,\u201d errors and mistakes were commonplace, and fans were encouraged by Hetfield to tell each individual band member when he messed up. Even the encore, \u201cBreadfan,\u201d was forced to a false start three times because of \u201ctuning\u201d problems while Ulrich jokingly berated the band.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Unlike the upcoming \u201cSummer Sanitarium 2003\u201d stadium-tour package\u2014which features Linkin Park, Deftones, Mudvayne and Limp Bizkit\u2014planned for July and August, these shows gave some hard-core fans a chance to experience the band up close and personal. \u201cYou wanna see Metallica at the Fillmore? I got an extra ticket,\u201d said my good buddy from 98 Rock. \u201cUhhh \u2026 let me think [pause for one millisecond]. Yes!\u201d I exclaimed, realizing this was an invitation no self-respecting metalhead could refuse. After a lengthy hiatus from music, Metallica made a triumphant return with a sold-out, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-767","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-media"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/acloserlookmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/767","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/acloserlookmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/acloserlookmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/acloserlookmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/acloserlookmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=767"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/acloserlookmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/767\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":768,"href":"https:\/\/acloserlookmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/767\/revisions\/768"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/acloserlookmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=767"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/acloserlookmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=767"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/acloserlookmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=767"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
(SN&R)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"