Metallica - Wembley Stadium - July 2007

First up, some thoughts about Wembley Stadium – I'm not sure quite what I thought of it! When I first walked up that ramp to get in, and then walked into the standing pit, I thought it was utterly awesome, although I did note it would probably be awful to be sitting right at the back. I dunno though, it takes a lot of getting used to: an open air stadium where all the walls and floors are white, subsequently there's no grass, and it's only sort of open air by the fact that there's a big rectangular square in the roof … all seems a bit artificial really, when other open air shows I've seen have been festivals, Hyde Park, and Milton Keynes Bowl. And it also annoyed me greatly that there was a Gold Circle that was only about ¾ full and could have fit at least another 200 people in. Ah well, I'll reserve proper judgement until I see Bon Jovi there

Bands:

Machine Head – Not as good as when I saw them at Download really. I'm not sure what it was, perhaps the venue, perhaps the atmosphere, perhaps the performance, perhaps the setlist (only two songs I knew this time, Imperium and Davidian), perhaps just me being tired and not completely paying attention … I dunno. But it seemed to drag a bit, even though it was only a short support slot. Rob Flynn's 'slight' overuse of the word "Cheers" was pretty amusing though. And they were still sounding pretty immense and crushingly heavy, just that this time that wasn't quite enough. 3/5

HIM – Now I do kinda like HIM … but live they really weren't that great. Ville Valo's voice was pretty weak, the crowd were being twats (no matter how bad a support band are, heckling them isn't really fair), the music was so out of place between Machine Head and Metallica, they didn't seem able to reach such a big crowd, they didn't have much in the way of showmanship … and to cap it all, from what I could see Valo seems to have shaved off the facial hair he grew recently. Lame. At least I know that it's possibly not worth going to see them headline a show. They can have a 2+/5.

Metallica – Put simply, it was rather awesome. Now I'll admit, although I do really like Metallica they're not one of my absolute favourite bands, and I'll also admit that I was only familiar with two thirds of their setlist. But I decided to go see them cos I thought that seeing them at Wembley would be a fitting spectacle, an event to remember, and I definitely was not mistaken.

They're a really good live band: their sound was able to not only fill the stadium but practically assault everyone in it; each of them has their own completely individual but equally mesmerising stage presence (Hetfield's mighty roar and command of the audience; Hammet's pure coolness that only a lead guitarist in an arena/stadium rock/metal band seems capable of; Ulrich's relentless drumming and hyperactive inability to stay in his seat; and Trujillo's funky-as-**** bass and stage moves [and yes, the fact he looks rather like a monkey]); the way that despite the complexity and speed of their music they are a fantastically tight band; the pyro used during One which really added to the atmosphere, and so on and so forth. Gotta love as well how their scheduled setlist clearly finished at Enter Sandman, but they had 10 minutes left so came back out to do Whiplash and Seek And Destroy.

Couple of negative points … first, as I've said, there was about 6 or so songs that I wasn't familiar with, and as they tended to mostly be the long ones, and as I was quite tired my attention wandered somewhat at times. Secondly, it might have just been the angle I was at, but it really did look like they were set up to the right of centre stage, meaning they were further away from us over on the left, making it kinda tough to see them a lot of the time.

Right, enough negative! Highlights for me were:

For Whom The Bell Tolls – First song I knew, so hearing that riff was extra cool!

Disposable Heroes – As relevant today as ever, and fittingly played as angrily as ever.

The Unforgiven – For some reason didn't expect them to play this, but they did and it was awesome.

The Memory Remains – One of my favourite 'Tallica songs, and the crowd singalong at the end is a complete and total goosebump moment.

Master Of Puppets – 'Nuff said

Battery – As above!

No Leaf Clover – It was completely unexpected, and if you'd asked me before the show I would definitely not have said I was hoping for it, but it really worked opening the first encore.

Nothing Else Matters – I think Abi (my friend that I went with) put it best here: "the atmosphere as everyone sang along to Nothing Else Matters was the kind that certainly gives you that eerie sense of connection with an obscene amount of people".

One – The explosive pyrotechnics, the buildup, the atmosphere, the emotion, the bitter anger … the absolute majesty.

Enter Sandman – As with Nothing Else Matters, but in a much more rocking-out-headbanging-fist-in-the-air style!

Whiplash – Was wondering what they'd play after they said they still had 10 minutes, and this didn't disappoint.

So overall, a great show from a band that possessed the power to totally slay Wembley while still owning it. From a personal point of view, I have to say I still prefer Iron Maiden live, but think that Metallica crush the likes of Slayer into the ground. I think very few bands could have pulled Wembley off as well as Metallica did that night.

I'll give them a final rating of 4+/5

Setlist:

01. Creeping Death
02. For Whom The Bell Tolls
03. Sad But True
04. Disposable Heroes
05. The Unforgiven
06. ...And Justice For All
07. The Memory Remains
08. The Four Horsemen
09. Orion
10. Fade To Black
11. Master of Puppets
12. Battery
- - - -
13. No Leaf Clover
14. Nothing Else Matters
15. One
16. Enter Sandman
- - - -
17. Whiplash
18. Seek and Destroy