rating is more of a comment on the atmosphere than the band itself.machine head – probably the other best act of the day and should have been higher up the bill, machine fucking head as they seemed to be called by most of the audience filled wembley with a good dose of quality rhythms which still made an impact at the back of the pitch area where i had moved to after realising i wouldn’t be able to see anything no matter where i ended up. finally managed to stir up some kind of a good mood across a crowd that had so far been unsure of itself trying to fill the big space
.him – oh dear, just as things were starting to look up this novelty joke band for fourteen year old girls who think suicide and pseudo-satanism are fashionable brought the tone down again. just who’s idea it was to book this embarrassing farce of an act i don’t know, but surely they shouldn’t have been on before the main evening event, if at all. roundly hated by near enough everyone, the end of each song was greeted by heckles and a waving sea of middle fingers. awful
metallica - the atmosphere exploded when the band finally hit the stage and made the whole day worth the effort. inevitably some favourite songs [particularly from the load / reload era and st anger] didn’t make it but lasting well over two hours what we did get was exceptional; including blinding renditions of ‘justice for all’, ‘disposable heroes’ and a fantasically received ‘memory remains’, the latter returning to the set list after being awol for a number of years. the pyrotechnics for ‘one’ and ‘enter sandman’ pushed the levels of excitement still higher, and closing with ‘whiplash’ and ‘seek and destroy’ left the audience breathless but exhilarated.
the music was awesome and definitely worth going to see again, the new album is supposed to be out in february, but with all the ball-aching involved getting there [see below] i hope they come to manchester next time.
