Friday, September 16, 2011

Enough Metal to Build a Skyscraper

It was with mixed feelings of joy, fear, trepidation, nostalgia, ambivalence, hope and all-around not knowing what to expect that I approached this past Wednesday's Big 4 of Heavy Metal concert at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx.

I mean, here I was, about to witness for the first time - along with my primary NYC-area concert-going friend as it applies to witnessing musical acts of the guitar-bass-vocals-and-drums variety - two of the all-time hallowed metal music kingpins, lynchpins of the industry that I spent countless hours listening to, watching and admiring during an often un-stimulating late 80s/early 90s adolescence in central Pennsylvania.

Music was the one thing that I could always count on to get me jazzed up (but generally not jazz music). Metallica's 'Master of Puppets' or Slayer's 'Seasons in the Abyss' was never not going to sound awesome, no matter how many times I listened to the cassettes from front to back, or stayed up late on a Saturday night to watch Headbanger's Ball until 2 in the morning knowing that an early-morning Sunday wake-up call and a trip to Church were in short order.

As an aside, am I destined for hellfire because I was playing classic metal in my head while in church to get through the experience whenever the off-key singing of religious recitations wasn't chorusing through the cavernous building and disturbing the in-my-head live shows that always took place from approximately 9:30 to 11 a.m. every Sunday morning? If so, I guess I'll go down rocking out, rather than going up as a square.

Either way, a whole lot was on the line for this concert. Stakes were high - for the fans, for the performers, for pretty much everyone involved. For the first time in the NYC metro area, the primary four 80s thrash-metal heavyweights were occupying the same stage in one night of what would either turn out to be a bloated, past-its-prime display of retrospectively ridiculous musical excess, or a mega-ton bomb of supremely fulfilling, ear-splitting, precise metal madness that would sound good in 1981, 2011 or 2052.

Thankfully, we got the latter, not the former.



Admittedly, I'm predisposed to that opinion because of my loyalties and proclivities for these particular bands and their classic music. But I've never been one to follow trends or do something just because everyone else is on the bandwagon. And I would have no problem elucidating an opinion of disappointment or a sense of "why did I ever like this shit?" had I really felt that way before, during and after the concert.

I'm happy to report this shit sounded just as good at age 34 as it did at age 13.

I can cross Metallica and Slayer off my live-show bucket list. I'm very happy about that. I didn't get there in time for Anthrax and Megadeth since this ode to buzzsaw solos, complex riffing and harshly soaring vocals kicked off at 4 p.m. and I've got this unfortunate responsibility known as a "day-job" (I'm working on that, really I promise).

But my friend who purchased the tickets and arrived shortly before I did assured me that Megadeth was indeed impressive, as he caught the later part of their set. I have to say, I would probably have given up a quart or two of blood to see songs like "Hangar 18" or "Holy Wars (The Punishment Due)" performed live at break-neck speed. But such is life.

As it stands, I knew I was in for a hell of a performance. Well, two of them, actually.

At about 7 p.m. sharp, Slayer took the stage, and did just what the fuck Slayer does (or so it's been said by others who have experienced a live Slayer show). I would use the word 'intense' to describe a Slayer concert, but then the word 'intense' would most surely have some cross words for me for not doing the description proper justice.



Let's put it this way - I've often found that bands who are great in a live setting are usually a more exaggerated manifestation of the persona that comes across on record. Slayer fits that mold, tenfold.

My friend and I were in the Grandstand seats, probably about 8 or so rows from the very last row in the house. It sounds like we got bum seats, but honestly, I loved being that far up. We could still hear everything clear as a bell, we could see the big screens projecting the on-stage action quite clearly, and the field of vision from that high up allows you to really survey the whole scene and see what's going on - namely, the small circle-shaped mosh pits that kept sporadically forming while Slayer was murdering the shit out of the audience. Only the strong survive a Slayer mosh-pit. A different concert-going friend and I barely made it through two and a half songs at a Rage Against the Machine mosh pit on Governor's Island four years ago, but I digress.

In a nutshell, Slayer's set was comparable to a heat-seeking missile. It gets there fast, it's not pretty, it causes mayhem and destruction the whole time, and when it's over, you kind of just sit there in awe for a few minutes at what you just witnessed. Such was the case as three of the original four members - Tom Araya, Kerry King and Dave Lombardo, playing along with a fill-in for Jeff Hanneman - sonically assaulted Yankee Stadium with a harrowing blast of old classics and new material. After 60 minutes, with a few silent pauses between songs and minimal crowd banter from Araya, it was all over. If you wanted more after that was done, you're one sick puppy, because too much more of that would have been too much to handle. And I mean that in the most complimentary way possible.

Slayer is so bombastic, so mind-bending and so unlike any other band in the history of time that to over-indulge in them is to do yourself an injustice. They are most effective in small doses, like ultra-rich cheesecake, or an annoying-but-super-nice co-worker.



End result, I couldn't have been happier with Slayer. And after doing some quick post-concert internet research to learn that this band is all basically pushing 50 years of age and still putting on that kind of a show, I felt immediately like a failure for being about 14 years younger and complaining about getting out of bed tired the next day. Slayer doesn't get tired. They slap 'tired' across the face with their fretboards and drum sticks.

The highlights for me were "War Ensemble," "Dead Skin Mask," "Angel of Death," "Chemical Warfare" and of course the piece de resistance "Raining Blood" and "Postmortem" - the two closing tracks from the classic album 'Reign in Blood.' These two work best when played together since one transitions seamlessly into the other as recorded on the album. They broke them up for this set, but I'm not complaining.

Slayer exited the stage just before 8 p.m., leaving everyone in the place amazed, amused, aghast and other adjectives that begin with the letter 'a.' I took this opportunity to get the closest I possibly could to a real dinner, which consisted of exactly two overpriced hot dogs and a half-flat Pepsi. Sixteen dollars and a few hundred nitrate-soaked calories later, I hit the bathroom and returned to our seats to await the mother-effing mother-lode of metal madness - Metallica. In all their glory. As with Slayer, three of the four original lineup members would be in effect. For 30 years, it's been James Hetfield (guitar/vocals), Kirk Hammett (lead and rhythm guitar) and Lars Ulrich (drums). Many fans, both casual and hardcore, know the bass-player history. Original bassist Cliff Burton, one of the truly innovative pioneers of 80s metal bass playing and a huge creative force in Metallica's early sound, was tragically killed in a bus accident in Europe as the band was touring to promote the 1986 release "Master of Puppets" - generally hailed as the band's best 80s album (many would say their best record to date, including me).



Jason Newsted was a longtime replacement, and a few other guys have come and gone, but now they've got Robert Trujillo, former longtime bassist for Suicidal Tendencies. He's proven to be an ample substitution.

At about 5 minutes to 9, the lights went down and the operatic intro music began playing, set against a backdrop of war movies/TV show explosions playing on the big screens mounted on either side of the stage.

And before you knew it, there were the kings of this heavy metal music shit, launching into a blistering rendition of "Creeping Death," a classic cut from their sophomore LP "Ride the Lightning."

It was interesting to note the difference in fan reaction between Slayer and Metallica. People respect Slayer. They sit in awe of them, and every now and then a random fan throws out a "Fucking SLAAAYYERR!!" yell.

But people absolutely whole-hog LOVE Metallica. I've never seen such a devoted, frenzied reaction to a band before, and I've been to a LOT of concerts. It was a whole other level on both sides of the fence, both from the band and the fans. That's when a show is at its best - when all parties involved are giving it 189 percent and filling the need that each has from the other. It was truly magnetic.



Any doubts anyone may have been having about the ability of bands like Metallica and Slayer to perform at a high level at this stage of their careers was firmly put to rest Wednesday night. Sure it helps that they're only doing a handful of these shows a year rather than 4-5 nights every week. But nevertheless, it's something to behold.

Also, Metallica's overall presentation was like nothing I've ever seen. They made the most of the Yankee Stadium setting by using a dizzying blend of pyrotechnics, lasers, fire - and, I shit you not - fireWORKS to help illuminate what was already a memorable performance.

Preceding the gripping war tale "One" was a barrage of thunderous gun shots and mini-explosions on stage to mimic the sounds and sights of a firefight in some Godforsaken Middle Eastern shit-hole.

Towers of flame exploded into the night sky during "Fuel" - especially in the seconds after Hetfield would shriek into the mic "Gimme Fuel, Gimme Fire, Gimme that which I desire!" Thankfully, no such stage accidents would befall any of the band members such as when Hetfield got burned on stage during an early 90s Vancouver show on a tour with Guns'n'Roses, leading to a cancellation and subsequent fan rioting after Axl Rose - only a couple songs into G'n'R's set - threw a hissy-fit and stormed off stage to leave the frustrated fans devoid of not just one but BOTH performances.

No sir, there would be no disappointments on this great night of music. Metallica slammed through songs old and new, giving the people what they wanted. They played half of the classic albums 'Ride the Lightning' and 'Master of Puppets.' And they didn't seem to hit one off note all night.

Probably my favorite moment during the set came in the form of the instrumental 'Orion' - a song that's probably been played live only a handful of times over the past 20 years. It's an almost 9-minute masterwork of guitar-and-drum wizardry, and it's essentially the band's tribute to the late, great Burton, who was hugely influential in the stylistic and melodic progressions the band made from their first two albums (Kill 'Em All, Ride the Lightning) to their third one (Master of Puppets).

And when has the title track to 'Puppets' ever not kicked ass? Same for "Battery" and "Sanitarium." "Blackened," the harrowing opening track from '...And Justice for All" was a great surprise, while other classic gems like "Sad But True," "For Whom the Bell Tolls" and "Ride the Lightning" further cemented what a mind-blowing show this really was.

When it was all said and done, Metallica had played for 2 hours and 15 minutes. Nobody could complain they didn't get their money's worth.

And nothing was as bad-ass as members of all 'Big 4' bands coming on stage toward the end of Metallica's set to engage in a spirited rendition of the Motorhead classic "Overkill" - taking turns on guitar, vocals and drums between verses and choruses.

If your appetite for good metal wasn't sated after this blitzkrieg of insanity, then I don't know what else to say, other than "you have no off-switch."

It was completely amazing to re-live some youthful nostalgia by being lucky enough to actually see these bands at this juncture of their careers performing at such a high level. This is what's great about being a musician. You never get too old. You never lose the will to keep doing it.

There will always be a Slayer or Metallica show playing somewhere in the recesses of my aural passages.

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