17 years ago, in the summer of 2000, I arrived at a melting hot Giants Stadium parking lot at noon for a day-long festival to metal, Tattoo the Earth. The concert would culminate with me seeing my all-time favorite band for the very first time, Metallica. My friends and I never sat down, sang every lyric, and I even teared up during the firework show that opened “One.” Now 35 years old, I arrived with my wife to the new Giants stadium, MetLife Stadium, in East Rutherford, New Jersey to see Metallica for the 8th time. And as they’ve done every time, Metallica, the greatest metal band of all time, did not disappoint.
More below.
Despite ominous dark clouds and a pre-concert monsoon, the parking lot of MetLife Stadium was filled with loud and crazy metalheads ready to rock. Walking around the lot, you could see the impact the music of James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich, Kirk Hammett, and Rob Trujillo have had. You had every age group covered, from married couples in their 50s and 60s, down to parents with young kids decked out in metal shirts. Tailgaters blasted every album from their debut, Kill Em All, up through their latest record Hardwired… to Self Destruct. The new album is one of their best, returning to their thrash metal roots back in the Cliff Burton days. Whereas whenever you go see a classic band play a new album tour, you want only the favorites, I was actually looking forward to hearing them belt out the new stuff.
Opening with the titular song off the album and going right into track 2, “Atlas Rise,” everything sounded phenomenal. Few bands on earth can command a stadium the way Metallica can, and they had the crowd in the palms of their hands. James Hetfield always has this sick smile on his face on stage, and you can tell that even in their 50s (!!!), these guys still love being rockstars.
The fans were treated to an array of the classics from the first five albums including “For Whom the Bell Tolls,” “Whiplash,” “Fade to Black,” “One,” and “Sad But True.” They also played the new single “Moth into Flame”” and I was ecstatic to hear my two favorite songs off the new album, “Now That We’re Dead” and “Halo on Fire.” When they played fan favorite “Master of Puppets,” James stepped away to let the crowd sing whole verses as usual. They closed out their set with one of my wife’s favorites, “Seek and Destroy,” before returning for a three-song encore that began with “Fight Fire With Fire” and concluding with one of their most famous songs, “Enter Sandman,” with a fireworks display capping the night in the open-air venue.
Bassit Trujillo gave a beautiful tribute of “(Anesthesia) – Pulling Teeth” while a video of the late, great Cliff Burton played to a worshipping crowd. The band also acknowledged their Old Bridge Metal Militia roots to this New Jersey crowd by recreating their “garage band” right before going into “Seek and Destroy.”
The band was so tight, sounding better than they ever have. It’s amazing how good they were and how good they are.
Eighth time was a charm for me, I am writing this a day after, my neck and back sore and achy from headbanging. Everyone needs to see Metallica at least once in their lives, my only hope is they come back for another round in a few years when my daughter can go with us. Metallica is playing one more local show in their Hardwired Tour, Wednesday night, May 17th at Nassau Coliseum in Long Island. The Hardwired… To Self Destruct Tour continues through May, 2018 throughout the United States and the rest of the world.
MAY 17, 2017: UNIONDALE, NY, UNITED STATES – THE NEW COLISEUM PRESENTED BY NYCB
MAY 19, 2017: FOXBOROUGH, MA, UNITED STATES – GILLETTE STADIUM
MAY 21, 2017: COLUMBUS, OH, UNITED STATES – ROCK ON THE RANGE @ MAPFRE STADIUM
JUN 4, 2017: ST. LOUIS, MO, UNITED STATES – BUSCH STADIUM
JUN 7, 2017: DENVER, CO, UNITED STATES – SPORTS AUTHORITY FIELD AT MILE HIGH
JUN 9, 2017: NEWTON, IA, UNITED STATES – IOWA SPEEDWAY
JUN 11, 2017: HOUSTON, TX, UNITED STATES – NRG STADIUM
JUN 14, 2017: SAN ANTONIO, TX, UNITED STATES – ALAMODOME
JUN 16, 2017: DALLAS, TX, UNITED STATES – AT&T STADIUM
JUN 18, 2017: CHICAGO, IL, UNITED STATES – SOLDIER FIELD
JUL 5, 2017: ORLANDO, FL, UNITED STATES – CAMPING WORLD STADIUM
JUL 7, 2017: MIAMI, FL, UNITED STATES – HARD ROCK STADIUM
JUL 9, 2017: ATLANTA, GA, UNITED STATES – SUNTRUST PARK
JUL 12, 2017: DETROIT, MI, UNITED STATES – COMERICA PARK
JUL 1, 2017: QUEBEC CITY, QC, CANADA – FESTIVAL D’ÉTÉ DE QUÉBEC
JUL 16, 2017: TORONTO, ON, CANADA – ROGERS CENTRE
JUL 19, 2017: MONTREAL, QC, CANADA – PARC JEAN-DRAPEAU
JUL 29, 2017: LOS ANGELES, CA, UNITED STATES – ROSE BOWL
AUG 4, 2017: PHOENIX, AZ, UNITED STATES – UNIVERSITY OF PHOENIX STADIUM
AUG 6, 2017: SAN DIEGO, CA, UNITED STATES – PETCO PARK
AUG 7, 2017: SAN FRANCISCO, CA, UNITED STATES – METALLICA NIGHT WITH THE SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS AT AT&T PARK
AUG 9, 2017: SEATTLE, WA, UNITED STATES – CENTURYLINK FIELD
AUG 11, 12, 13, 2017: SAN FRANCISCO, CA, UNITED STATES – OUTSIDE LANDS AT GOLDEN GATE PARK
AUG 14, 2017: VANCOUVER, BC, CANADA – BC PLACE
AUG 16, 2017: EDMONTON, AB, CANADA – COMMONWEALTH STADIUM
SEP 2, 2017: COPENHAGEN, DENMARK – ROYAL ARENA
SEP 4 & 6, 2017: AMSTERDAM, NETHERLANDS – ZIGGO DOME
SEP 8 & 10, 2017: PARIS, FRANCE – ACCORHOTELS ARENA
SEP 12, 2017: LYON, FRANCE – HALLE TONY GARNIER
SEP 14 & 16, 2017: COLOGNE, GERMANY – LANXESS ARENA
OCT 22 & 24, 2017: LONDON, ENGLAND – THE O2 ARENA
OCT 26, 2017: GLASGOW, SCOTLAND – THE SSE HYDRO
OCT 28, 2017: MANCHESTER, ENGLAND – MANCHESTER ARENA
OCT 30, 2017: BIRMINGHAM, ENGLAND – GENTING ARENA
NOV 01, 2017: ANTWERP, BELGIUM – SPORTPALEIS
NOV 3 2017: ANTWERP, BELGIUM – SPORTPALEIS
FEB 1, 2018: LISBON, PORTUGAL – MEO ARENA
FEB 3 & 5, 2018: MADRID, SPAIN – WIZINK CENTER
FEB 07, 2018: BARCELONA, SPAIN – PALAU SANT JORDI
FEB 10, 2018: TURIN, ITALY – PALA ALPITOUR
FEB 12 & 14, 2018: BOLOGNA, ITALY – UNIPOL ARENA
FEB 16, 2018: MANNHEIM, GERMANY – SAP ARENA
MAR 27, 2018: HERNING, DENMARK – JYSKE BANK BOXEN
MAR 29, 2018: HAMBURG, GERMANY – BARCLAYCARD ARENA
MAR 31, 2018: VIENNA, AUSTRIAWIENER -STADTHALLE
APR 2, 2018: PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC – O2 ARENA
APR 5, 2018: BUDAPEST, HUNGARY – SPORTS ARENA
APR 7 & 9, 2018: STUTTGART, GERMANY – SCHLEYERHALLE
APR 11, 2018: GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – PALEXPO
APR 26, 2018: MUNICH, GERMANY – OLYMPIAHALLE
APR 28, 2018: KRAKÓW, POLAND – TAURON ARENA
APR 30, 2018: LEIPZIG, GERMANY – LEIPZIG ARENA
MAY 2, 2018: OSLO, NORWAY – TELENOR ARENA
MAY 5 & 7, 2018: STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN – ERICSSON GLOBE
MAY 9 & 11, 2018: HELSINKI, FINLAND – HARTWALL ARENA
Going to see Metallica tonight at the Coliseum and looking forward to it! Glad to hear that they’re as good as they ever were. I was fortunate enough to experience one of the S&M shows at Berkley as my first live Metallica concert. They have never disappointed!
Comment by PAUL — May 17, 2017 @ 8:54 am
I work at the stadium, great show, they played for over 2 hours. The opening acts were great too. I have seen a lot of acts at the stadium, and this one was first rate.
Comment by David Salt — May 17, 2017 @ 6:31 pm