My questions were about to be answered as the intro music faded and the familliar opening to Battery was unleashed among the masses. The crowd didn`t need any warming up at all. This killer from Master Of Puppets was greeted with ear-bleeding screams from the ladies and growls of appreciation from the gentlemen.

Metallica have aged well. James is looking healthier than he has in years, Kirk has grown back his familiar long hair and has ditched the mascara and Lars is thumping his Tamas in his familiar fish-out-of-water style. Which leaves us to Mr. Trujillo.

Drafted into the Metallica clan during the completion of the St. Anger album I thought it would be a mammoth task for him to fit into the Metallica mould, not having any input musically. Seemingly mammoth tasks are nothing for the ex- Suicidal Tendencies bassist, as he slayed his bass while providing a much chunkier bass sound to boot!

The songs from the post black album era, were met with a mere polite applause rather than the normal apocalyptic roar given to the classics. Not that they`re bad songs, I just don`t think the at least forty-thousand strong present were there to hear these songs. The trio of Seek `n Destroy, Fade To Black ( which , I`ll have to admit nearly brought tears to my eyes, the gentle intro and the lighters lit in the air...sniff sniff ) and The Thing That Should Not Be, gave us a firm reminder as to why these guys are hailed as the metal Gods of our time.

Things were really heating up now, with sporadic moshpits forming here and there which made boyfriends heroically shielding their girlfriends from any unruly behaviour. After Frantic came one of my personal favourites, Creeping Death. Forty thousand or so people all shouting "DIE !" pointing the m/ sign in time to the drumbeat is something that no self-respecting Metallica fan should miss.

After that unnamed feeling, the audience were treated to servings from the `Justice` album. The eardrum-unfriendly pyro intro to One had everyone "ooh-ing" and "aah-ing" while Blackend and Harvester Of Sorrow were blasted out with the sound of Lars` doublebass pounding my chest like a boxer on speed.

Que a well earned break for the lads; Lars and Kirk decide to change instuments after Kirk plays the intro to Nothing Else Matters using the tip of Lars` drumstick. All I can say is: don`t hold your breath waiting for a side project! After the fun and games were over lighters were lit once again for Nothing Else Matters (take two). Then came the moment I was waiting for...Master of Puppets.

In my three times of witnessing Metallica live they had always cut the stirring guitar "duet" from the end of the song , which in my opinion is the best part. So after the elongated "maaaasssteeeeeeerrrr" I waited with bated breath. Then the next few notes that followed made the hair stand on my neck (and there`s a lot, I need a haircut..), it sounded better than I could have imagined. If I was hit by a bus after that I`d still have a smile on my face.

The title song off the latest album was followed by Enter Sandman and just when you thought it was over they returned to play the politically uncorrect So What? and round things off with the Kill `em All classic Whiplash.

And that was it, an evening of truly excellent music. The band played well; the crowd were enthusiastic and loud and it`s a great venue. My only complaints were the over excesive use of the audience lighting which stayed on for minutes on end and sometimes the sound would be a bit muffled. And according to some of my friends the sound wasn`t great in the back seats either. But that`s what you get for not being sharp at ticket sale time! Lars gave everyone a nice send off by announcing another gig on June 21st in Amsterdam... you`ve been warned! I`m off to camp outside the ticket office. Mark G.

(Review: Mark Gilchrist
Pics: Nico Vink)