110309 Metallica/Lamb of God, Ottawa, ON

On November 3rd, 2009 I saw Metallica for what I suspect will be the last time.

Though the fact that the show took place at Ottawa’s justifiably-maligned nearly-local cavernous hockey rink didn’t help matters much, I’m sure it had little to do with me swearing off the pioneering metal gods after this concert.  Nor did the disappointment I felt after seeing the opening act Lamb of God (especially the drummer), a band I had been exposed to through a couple of my guitar students and one I had been really looking forward to seeing live (especially the drummer).  Though I suppose in retrospect that might have been part of it.

The few times I had heard Lamb of God I was really, really impressed with their drummer.  The guy had serious chops and an assaulting double-kick drum attack that was as steady as a machine-gun and nearly as deadly.  But man, the dude did that for the whole set!  I mean, every moment of every song the drummer was laying out a steady duh-duh-duh-duh-duh-duh-duh-duh on his kick drums and he never, ever let up.  It started to sound like a drone, just a low-level rumble that did more to detract from the sound than enhance it.  

I mean, the guy was definitely skilled, but he sure wasn’t very musical.  What a disappointment.

Which brings us to Metallica.  I had been a fan since they surprised the heck out of me on their And Justice For All tour a million years before, although I was a pedestrian fan at best.  That said, I went on to see them several more times; once with Guns ’n Roses and another time at Woodstock ’94 are two that I recall off the top of my head, and I remember really enjoying them both those times as well.  But not this show.

What I saw at this concert seemed like a tired facsimile of those past shows.  After all, the band was now a million years older, with just as many shows under their belt, all concerts where all anyone wants to hear is what the band had written a million years before.  Of course they can still do it – every note was perfect – but it was all presented as an afterthought, without any of the fire or fury that made those songs possible in the first place.

To be honest (to paraphrase what a music reviewer once wrote about Liberace), they played all the right notes wrong.

Walking out of the show I told m’lady (who has long been a much bigger fan of the band than I.  She owns a bunch of their CD’s and everything) that I figured I was done with the band.  “I saw them back when they were much more into it and all they’re going to do is keep playing the same sets as back then anyway.

“I think they just got their last dollar from me,” I concluded.

She agreed wholeheartedly, which made me know I was right.

Thanks Metallica, it’s been a slice.

PS About three songs into Metallica’s set m’lady and I stood up and were rockin’ out when the girl behind us said we should sit down.  “Nobody can see,” is what she said, adding (of course), “I paid for these seats.”

I leaned in to her and very politely told her, “We’ll be up and down for the whole show, I suggest you talk to security,” even being so helpful as to point to nearby personnel.  “If they ask us to remain seated,” I continued,  “we’ll be happy to do so.”

We never heard from her again and she left before the encore.

PPS A couple of months before the show Metallica rescheduled their Ottawa date (and only their Ottawa date) from October 29th to November 3rd, hence the discrepancy between the date on the ticket and the actual date of the concert.  Maybe they needed a few extra days to bone up on their apathy.