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Did anyone catch the Metallica reading gig on bbc4 last night ?


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Must say , they were on fire . Apart from the technical hitch, and lots of people sticking their tongues out , it was brilliant .
Better than Glastonbury ( I know - different crowd).
I recorded it on my bt box . Just as well, as I had the following programme recorded also, and due to the technical hitch I could've lost the last couple of songs .

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Must say , they were on fire . Apart from the technical hitch, and lots of people sticking their tongues out , it was brilliant .
Better than Glastonbury ( I know - different crowd).
I recorded it on my bt box . Just as well, as I had the following programme recorded also, and due to the technical hitch I could've lost the last couple of songs .

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Saw some of it and didn't like it, but then I don't think I'm in Metallica's key demographic!

Some pretty cool video effects going on though and some of the posturing was quite good. Thought James Hetfield's banter was kind of weird... 'Are you ALIVE??' I think he probably already knew the answer to that one. 'ARE YOU WITH US??' Again, I'd say as the audience was extensive and had obviously come along specifically to see the band I'd say the answer would probably have been 'yes'. :D

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Hate to be that guy...

I thought it was as bad as their Glastonbury set last year.

I'm sure a lot of it has to do with being there - which excuses the sound being muddled or not great.

The bass solo was a bit of a nothingness really - we all know RT is a monstrous player, so why the dithery mess?

And Kirk Hammett's guitar tuning was off throughout, he was scrappy (for him - he was Mr clean when I used to watch them) - fluffed notes and even cocked up a pickscrape in his first 'solo' bit.

At points he looked lost, sounded even more lost and then raised his hands up and gave the cocky nod like he'd rewritten the rule book.

The first half sounded rushed, sloppy, and then the biggest cheer came for their cover of Whiskey in the Jar...

I don't know, Twitter was full of 'Metallica are gods' 'Kirk Hammett is a guitar hero' - I thought they had a shocker.

But, whatever, I'm not rich, I'm not them and I'm not headliner of any festival anywhere...

Just a disgruntled fan of their older stuff (and Newsted)...

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[quote name='AndyTravis' timestamp='1440954857' post='2854952']
Hate to be that guy...

I thought it was as bad as their Glastonbury set last year.

I'm sure a lot of it has to do with being there - which excuses the sound being muddled or not great.

The bass solo was a bit of a nothingness really - we all know RT is a monstrous player, so why the dithery mess?

And Kirk Hammett's guitar tuning was off throughout, he was scrappy (for him - he was Mr clean when I used to watch them) - fluffed notes and even cocked up a pickscrape in his first 'solo' bit.

At points he looked lost, sounded even more lost and then raised his hands up and gave the cocky nod like he'd rewritten the rule book.

The first half sounded rushed, sloppy, and then the biggest cheer came for their cover of Whiskey in the Jar...

I don't know, Twitter was full of 'Metallica are gods' 'Kirk Hammett is a guitar hero' - I thought they had a shocker.

But, whatever, I'm not rich, I'm not them and I'm not headliner of any festival anywhere...

Just a disgruntled fan of their older stuff (and Newsted)...
[/quote]

Glad you said it, so I didn't have to say it first ;-)

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Obviously , j h is a lot tamer , since pre St anger..
I never really rate kirks solo stuff tbh. I thought it was a bit of a laugh when he was playing leppard and maiden riffs .
I'm not a fan of whisky in the jar either . Unfortunately , that looks like it's there for the rest of their days .
Sandman has been lame for years IMHO .
Nothing else matters is horrible IMHO .
They should've played last caress / green hell .
At least they never played stone cold crazy again .
Still , i expected it to be a lot worse

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I was there - thought they were pretty good, as far as bands playing Metallica songs go. They put on the best performance out of the three main-stage headliners. I'd say if you were a fan of that kind of music/the band in general you'd have been happy with them as a punter.

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[quote name='Graham' timestamp='1440951513' post='2854929']


The recent performances of theirs I've seen, it seems like they've just been going through the motions
[/quote]

I thought this about their Reading performance! Used to be a big fan, up until Load. They remained a fabulous live band, though, but last couple of times I've seen them I thought they seemed a bit jaded.

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I was at Leeds. Not exactly an unbiased viewpoint, but I thought it was great. Setlist could have been a lot better (No Battery? Creeping Death? Whiplash?), the load of people hanging around behind the drums was awkward and unnecessary and of course Kirk and Rob's solo both sucked. It's always been about the songs though, right? After the 4/5 song fallow period after Blackened, they were pretty much on point apart from Whiskey in the Jar. The atmosphere near the front was incredible. No regrets.

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I finally finished watching the Reading footage last night, I'd agree that's it's definitely the best performance I've seen them give for a couple of years now and bet it would have been fantastic to be there.

On the downside, the set-list was a little heavy on the 90s material for my taste and as has been remarked above, Kirk and Rob's solos were just god-awful.

Hammet's playing really lacked something to be desired in several places - he was out of tune in For Whom The Bell Tolls, One and Fade To Black, a bit sad really, but maybe his hearing's really shot.

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I'm a fan, and I've yet to see this, but I've found the last couple of times I've seen them on TV its been a let down : they seem to be drifting into that 'heritage' act world, where the set list is in danger of staying the same for years, and you turn over after 3 songs. That said, you are damned if you do, and damned if you dont : no-one wants to hear the new stuff that much, and people have paid to hear the hits. But how many times can you hear Sandman and still be thrilled?

I saw them a few years ago on a stadium tour - promoting Death Magnetic, and they were well up for it, and full of energy. All the recent gimmicky stuff like fans on stage I find off putting and its all beginning to look a bit too obviously rehearsed and choreographed (and a chore).

I'd love to see them make an album with someone like Kevin Shirley, who has done great stuff for Iron Maiden : making them record backing tracks live, playing as a band, for example, as opposed to pro toolsing the arse out of every last snare hit. I get the impression he doesn't give a sh*t about reputations, and a bit less fawning in front of Hetfield and Ulrich might generate some friction, which in turn could lead to something great. Telling them straight that they are passed it, and inviting them to prove otherwise would be very interesting!

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[quote name='The Admiral' timestamp='1441650919' post='2860604']
I'd love to see them make an album with someone like Kevin Shirley, who has done great stuff for Iron Maiden : making them record backing tracks live, playing as a band, for example, as opposed to pro toolsing the arse out of every last snare hit. I get the impression he doesn't give a sh*t about reputations, and a bit less fawning in front of Hetfield and Ulrich might generate some friction, which in turn could lead to something great. Telling them straight that they are passed it, and inviting them to prove otherwise would be very interesting!
[/quote]
Absolutely this

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Well said admiral. They are lazy , when it comes to writing stuff. They are a lot tamer nowadays. The Metallica family makes me cringe a bit .
Then again, I didn't like het field spitting back in his drunken days either. We're stuck with whiskey in the jar unfortunately .
This is the best I've seen Metallica on BBC for a long time . Playing in front of the right crowd helped , but they just seemed up for it .

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