Metallica is arguably the biggest metal band on the planet, maybe of all time. When rumors began swirling that the band could be considered for the coveted Super Bowl Halftime show, it made a hell of a lot of sense to most music fans. But the NFL continues to play it safe after the Janet Jackson incident, so they opted for the light sounds of Coldplay—and we all saw how truly awful that performance ended up being.
But that wasn’t the end of the story for the legendary Bay Area natives. This gave birth to a new mantra for the band, “Too Heavy for Halftime” and it caught on. Frontman James Hetfield fired back a bit when asked about the snub by the Associated Press, “We’re not a variety show. We’re not pop. We’re not sparkly and all that kind of stuff that I think seems to be what is needed for that.”
Metallica would represent San Francisco during SuperBowl weekend, but they would do it their way. Say hello to a headlining gig for CBS Radio’s “The Night Before” concert at the glorious AT&T Park, home to the three-time World Series champions San Francisco Giants and a fitting stage for a full on metal performance.
Ride the Lighting was the first CD I ever owned. I got a copy from my mother for my 14th birthday and it never left my side. All those memories of my rebellious teenage years came rushing back the instant the band launched into “Creeping Death” as the opener. It was a statement and one that was absolutely brutal.
Not one person in the capacity crowd that evening could question whether or not these metal gods could still deliver the goods after that one. The evening would go on to include three more tracks from that 1984 masterpiece including “For Whom the Bell Tolls,” “Ride the Lightning,” and the classic “Fade to Black.”
The rest of the setlist celebrated the band’s entire 30 plus year career with only one album not represented, 2008’s return to form, Death Magnetic. I’m not the biggest fan of Load or ReLoad, but the several songs they did play from that era sounded great live.
Another highlight of the night came in the form of a truly blistering version of “Battery” and a stellar performance of the magnum opus, “Master of Puppets.” From the looks on James’ and Lars’ faces during these songs, it came across that this is what they truly love to play the most.
The night ended with an incredible encore performance of “Nothing Else Matters” and of course the fan favorite “Enter Sandman.” I was also a bit surprised to not hear one new song in the two-and-a-half-hour set, especially since Heltfield brought up the fact that a new record is in the works and “near the end” of completion. All in all it was an epic show and Metallica proved that they can take a snub from the NFL and turn it into something so much effin’ cooler.
Metallica 1, NFL 0.
CAGE THE ELEPHANT
Check out hi res photos from the show in the gallery here.
