Metal's Main Event
Veterans Metallica and Godsmack Deliver the Knockout

>> Metallica's James Hetfield leads the charge... >>

It was raw, it was gritty and it was nasty.  Over two hours of sinful rock and the Great Western Forum was just a perfect venue; an aged arena with miles of dead concrete hallways and layers upon layers of pale orange colored seats.  Its usefulness has long been gone as it was formerly home of the World Champion Lakers but now it serves as more of a weekend worship hall for evangelical events.

How appropriate.  Metallica was here in Los Angeles for two sold-out shows in early March as they preached their own form of evangelism to a worshiping choir in this dead arena, and the black angels were sick with fervor.

From the very beginning, a fanaticism was evident where fans were entering the venue parking lot several hours before show time and many even stayed outside through the early evening and mistakenly opted out of Godsmack’s powerful opening set.  Godsmack and $8 dollar tap beer didn’t seem appealing to these early birds and the whole point of the evening was Metallica any way. Their entire catalogue strained through every vehicle stereo forming some odd collusion of sounds, leaving Godsmack to compete with the main act in more ways than one.

So as the party raged outside, Godsmack opened with their usual high energy standard.  Main man Sully Erna and the rest of this Boston quartet seemed to embrace the fact that they were fluffers of sorts but nevertheless banged out their battery of hits coming by way of several multi-platinum albums including their latest acoustic release, The Other Side.

>> Fans who arrived early were treated to a great performance from Godsmack. (Sully Erna pictured above) >>

Sully embraced the few thousand fans by energetically utilizing every possible angle of the expansive floor stage. Spending not more than a verse at each of the four sides of the stage, he opted for a marathon run during the entire set. The sheer force of his voice eclipsed the Forum, his bulging neck veins a testament to this. When Sully screams, people listen.

Still outside the party continued, but chaos showed its ugly head. Illegal t-shirt vendors were hunted down like Iraqi insurgents without the benefit of the Geneva Convention or CNN cameras. A security force patrolled the lot in non-marked Chevrolet sedans like lurking rottweilers. Open containers were obviously the equivalent to a j-walking infraction, so most fans escaped unscathed, but an mp3 smuggled up your ass was sure to get the attention of these flabby-ass security forces and an instant death row commitment. No indictment, no jury trial, nada.

Godsmack’s finale managed to bring the crowds inside and it soon strained the already long beer lines.  Inevitably the restroom facilities were much of the same. By 9 p.m., the johns were wall-to-wall piss and remained so the entire evening. Even the biblical Moses could not part this rising yellow sea.

>> Lars Ulrich enters to the thunderous roar of the crowd. >>

Later that evening, a young man proudly wearing a ...And Justice For All t-shirt with the scales of justice fading into the white cotton, didn’t seem to give a fuck about the expanding yellow sea.  His unevenly shaved head bobbed to the muted sounds of “Enter Sandman,” as he yelled abruptly at the endless file of men, “Stop looking at his wiener – just piss! It was a hilarious sight, as Metallica roared on stage so did this group, heads bobbing, pissing and laughing.

Times were good.

When Metallica initially walked on stage, they entered the arena solo, one by one under cloak of darkness, their silhouettes enhanced by the countless number of hand-held lighters burning with the energy emitted from the 17,000 plus fans. Everyone was here.  The sound was deafening and the guitars had not yet strummed.

Drummer and often spokesman of the group, Lars Ulrich, walked in last and settled his trademark black sticks on his Remo skins and opened with 1988’s …And Justice For All, cynical track, “Blackened.” It was an explosive beginning and pyrotechnic explosions emitting extreme levels of heat could not compete with the crowd’s passion. Fists pumped in the air, and the band played on.

>> Hetfield ignites the crowd... >>

The only other track from this seminal album closed the show. According to Metallica.com, “Dyers Eve” was played in its entirety for the first time ever during the first night.

Fans were also treated to the new experience of ex-Suicidal Tendencies member, Robert Trujillo, who hails locally from Venice Beach. Trujillo is a youthful contribution to this aging group. Looking more like an Orc from Lord of the Rings, he sported knee-high tube socks, a basketball jersey, raging long hair and an intensity more in line with nu-metal than rock.  Trujillo is a great addition to Metallica and they worked fluidly together.

The band performed on a revolving figure-eight stage spanning the entire arena floor and was built of steel with hovering lights.  Pyrotechnic explosions highlighted several songs including a mock war battle for the song “One” and “Seek and Destroy.”

The stage turned at about one revolution per half hour. As the only truly stationary performer, Lars appeared with his Tama setup like a setting and rising sun to the extreme sides of the arena. From a distance, his white tip black sticks looked like fireflies on crack during bullet fast songs like the second song of the evening, “Fuel.”

>> You can count on Sully to leave it all on the stage. >>

Metallica cannot be faulted for wanting every seat in the house to have a perfect view. Much like Godsmack’s Sully had bounced around the entire stage, so singer James Hetfield did much of the same. With the stage moving and the performers bouncing around, it was quite a display. Fans often appeared to be looking at a tennis match, constantly moved back and forth to track the action.

In contrast to their solitary entrance, Metallica ended the show with a slow walk, embracing each other along the way as if it was their final show. The screams were louder than at any point in the performance and the band waved and said good-bye. It was difficult to embrace the fact that the evening was now over but it was.

But back in the parking lot, Metallica continued to live on.

Note: Metallica is still on tour with Godsmack, check metallica.com and godsmack.com for more details. Check out liveMetallica.com as they are selling MP3 files of each of their live shows for this tour including the two night Los Angeles performances.