First let me say, they fucking killed it. They didn't just molest our eardrums; no, they had fun. I wouldn't want to be fingered by Kirk Hammet, geezer was on fire. His solos were falling off his guitar liked he was in his 80s angst years again. Together, they sounded better welded than iron, or any... metal... and really showed that they were capable of the gig. In all fairness, for metal-heads around the globe one could say that this was an important gig. Showcasing the biggest metal band of the current era didn't matter to acid-fried hippies who wanted Glasto to remain the 'paradise' it once was. Enticingly, Metallica looked, sounded, and even felt on form. Hetfield smiling like it was his Communion and his aunt just appeared with more money again, they were tight.
In all fairness for the support of this article, I only arrived to the party after work during Fade to Black. This must have been 20 minutes or so into the set, but I hear tales from the West that they opened with For Whom the Bell Tolls. A solid intro, it's hard hitting, but not neo-crushing-speed metal style, so as to alienate the less-hardcore peoples present. A decent choice of opener. Kickin' it back old school too.
As stated, I entered during the earlier parts of Fade To Black. One of my personal favorites, the song is a smasher of a (whisper) ballad. Hetfield's voice was spectacular, and the two dueling guitars had serious force between them. They blended so well that it was hard to imagine they were separate. But yah, I have a weakness for it.
Notable to an old-school fan like me, the only relatively new song they played was Cyanide. Although not too big a fan of Death Magnetic, Cyanide would have been one of the standouts of the album. A wise choice, the crowd seemed to enjoy it. Immensely? Probably not. But still, enjoy it they did. Me included.
Kicking into The Memory Remains, this is Metallica at the top of their interaction with the crowd. Everyone loves Marianne Faithfull's part in the song, with it being sung out long after the song itself has ceased playing. Nice to see at Glasto, in all fairness. Again, Hetfield's voice doesn't wane, and the crowd is responsive. They really come alive during this one, and the band look genuinely happy. Bangin' out the tunes, havin' the crack. Sure it's all good.
What are the people and flags on stage all about? I'm not sure, but I sure as fuck would love to be one of 'em.
Of course, when the stage went black, any softcore fan understood that One was about to have its pre-song piece. With the screens showing droves of marching silhouettes, the sounds of guns and grenades pumping through the speakers, and rave-style lasers, they launched into the eerie intro. Notice the lack of fireworks? Sad face. I do have a bit of beef when the song is a bit sped up. The slamming pedaling of the sixth string in the second part of the song is like a wall of pain on the eardrums, but when played fast, I always feel it loses some of that power. Again, this happened, but it wasn't as bad as first conceived, which was reassuring. However, Hetfield's voice does sound a little off during the song, but hey, if I was that age still ramming out those songs, who'd give a fuck? Lars was incredible, with lots of double-bass for everyone in the audience, which I'm sure went down well in the pensioners pacemakers. Hammet, as always, delighted everyone. More flurries than a McDonalds with a sweet tooth, he was on fire for this one. Actually, he was on fire all night, and the infamous second solo in One just supported this.
No show would be complete without Master Of Puppets, with the crosses on the screens behind. Hammet wasn't even trying in this solo. He just stared at his guitar and watched himself smash the solo to pieces. The people standing on the stage behind look overjoyed, obviously, and kudos if you spot the blonde guy behind who knows the lyrics and every other tiny itty bitty piece of every song you thought you knew backwards. You can catch him singing along, or air-drumming.
Again, any decent fan would recognize Hammet's intro to Nothing Else Matters. No need to mention how well he plays. Hetfield's voice starts off a little out of key, but he picks up. There happens an interlude-style part which is a bit toned down, and it looks like they're just fuckin' around, which is cool to see. Instead of the 1-2-3 cardboard-box rigid set, they adventure with their songs. The song, which probably got me into them as a band, lets you really reminisce about seeing them and all those times you connected with them over and over. Then, BAM, massive wall of sound during the solo. Hetfield this time lets loose; the solo is immaculate. Always a joy to see a band you've loved for years play your favourites in perfect harmony with each other. Brings a non-existent tear to my eye.
Hetfield sort of crouches, sort of leans over, and lets the feedback ring into Enter Sandman. Yis. Call it overplayed, call it whatever, but you know when you hear it you'll proceed to casually bounce off the nearest walls with the volume at 100%. We all do, have no shame. They really let the crowd go mad during the chorus, with James bribing them on. Blonde guy behind is still going nuts. Kudos. Trujilio at this moment takes his cue to do that weird power-squatting thing, bouncing around like a concrete-legged pogo-stick. The crowd gets a lot louder here, and Hetfield's cries of 'Oh yeah!' are met with savage roars of 'Yeah!' Just like old times. One thing that I realized here was that they cut the crap. Instead of talking shit between songs, they just rampaged through their set. Right way to do it at a festival, considering that they had to prove their worth in being the first metal band. Not trying to say that they could have failed in proving themselves; I don't think they could have failed in that. But I'm not a hippy trying to boycott them who doesn't understand guitars beyond the work of the Grateful Dead. I digress. The outro solo, again... was unreal. Why is Hammet still able to do this? He's like the Ozzy Osbourne of guitar, or something like that. Haha, there was a guy in the bottom of the screen, on the left I think, smoking a doobie, not giving a fuck. Tokin' on that thing, completely oblivious to what was going on around him. I laughed.
It looked like the last song, and with the crowd screaming 'We want more', it was heart-lifting to see them on stage for another. They launched into Whiskey In The Jar, although it isn't certain what percentage of the population present knew where the Cork and Kerry mountains were. Hippies. Still, they killed it. Hetfield shredded on this one, top notch, with his voice fitting perfectly.
Of course, they couldn't end on that. According to Hetfield, the last song had three words. I leaped out of my seat, thinking it was Hit The Lights. Alas, fuck it, it wasn't. Seek and Destroy was an awesome ending though. House lights came on and bejaysus, there was a sea of people. Lots of black balloons were released, and obviously the spas at the front had to hold on to them when they got the chance. The breakdown of the song had intense drumming, who said you were ever too old? Where the fuck did those massive beach balls come out of though. It's like All Time Low, except no where near as awful, and a great deal more hardcore. That reference wasn't needed, but fuck it. You might have been able to see Hammet's wrinkles in the light, but come on bro, what do you expect. These flabs didn't heed his ability, no sir. Also, Trujilio does that spinning thing where it looks as if he's about to ascend to another galaxy and take off. He didn't but fret I did not. With Hetfield smiling away, it was a great closing of a set. After a few words (cursing included, why not) and pissing about on stage, they were truly finished. Epic does not describe it. A lot of expectations were surpassed, and I for one was pleasantly pleased. Top notch. Those reporters afterwards were fucking annoying. Keep to talking about Ri-Ri and 1D. Cheers.
Over 30 years later and still killing it, Metallica were truly on form. Although a short enough setlist for the band, it was the perfect choice of songs. More a greatest hits than fan favourites, it achieved what it was supposed to. Nothing more need have been done. They definitely had fun, which was wonderful to see, and the lighthearted smiling onstage made it even more appealing to watch. Technically speaking, Metallica could have done anything on stage that night, and still be hailed as kings. Literally, they could have got up and wanked into socks, and everyone would still have gone mental. They knew what to deliver, and how, and I'm still reeling it in. They proved a lot. For anyone that didn't see it, go watch it.
As for the fact that they didn't headline Sunday night, Kasabian proved why they were more fit for the bill. Kasabian were world class, although that's a different story. Peace, and Script.
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