Metallica/Pantera/Mammoth WVH | August 2, 2024 | Gillette Stadium, Foxborough, MA
This year’s Metallica out of town pilgrimage actually began 564 days (1 year, 6 months & 17 days) ago from the day I purchased tickets to the day of the event. Since Metallica has not played my local area in over 5400 days (and counting), traveling is the only way to see these titans of metal and one of my all-time favorite bands. Since that last Tampa show in 2009, I have been fortunate to be able to have travel to see Metallica play in seven different cities for eight concerts, including the two-day M72 stop in East Rutherford, NJ in August 2023. I figured there was no way any decent seats would be available at face value when the M72 World Tour single show Metallica tickets went on sale. The two-day ticket sales had started months prior.
On November 28th, 2022 Metallica announced their M72 No Repeat Weekend world tour with each city on the tour having two nights, two different sets, and two different opening acts. “Starting in April of 2023, we’ll be visiting 22 different cities around the world and playing two nights in each city, with each “No Repeat Weekend” show a completely unique experience: Two totally different set lists with two different bands opening the show each night! Purchase a two-day ticket, and you won’t see the same song twice for a total of over 30 songs…”[1] Their fan club presale started two days later and I secured the NJ tickets with eyes set on trying to hit at least one more stop on the tour, but planned to wait on the single day ticket sales in the hopes that the two-day purchasers had not sold the shows out already.
It was Monday, January 16, 2023. In multiple time zones across the globe at 9 AM local time (for each show) when the single show ticket sales began. This was nearly two months after both fan club pre-sales and public sale of the 2-Day tickets. I zeroed in on Foxborough, MA Friday date for multiple reasons. I could not fit any more concert trips into 2023 and still be employed at my current job. I had already seen Metallica play in both Chicago and Minneapolis prior (the other viable 2024 options for me) and being the Friday show, Pantera was one of the opening bands.
Out of curiosity I will just look…no way there are any decent face value seats I said to myself as I entered the (dreaded) Ticketmaster room queue…holy shit, there are near center stage at midfield, sixteenth row, first level tickets at face value!!! My selection of those seats and order I think that may have been the quickest I have ever completed the arduous Ticketmaster checkout process.
Finally, it was time to board the flight the day before the show, as I try to not travel on the day of an event. The plan was to fly to La Guardia Airport in NY, pick up a rental car, meet my friend Christina when she got off work, then we had a three hour road trip to just outside of Providence, RI and lodging that was just thirty minutes away from our destination the next evening, Gillette Stadium.
At breakfast the morning of the show, Christina overheard another hotel guest mentioning they were headed to visit the Lizzy Borden house and after a quick google search, we discovered it was a mere fifteen minutes away so that was a no-brainer to fill some time before the show. Thankfully it was not an ordeal to get to the stadium versus what I was expecting and we parked quite easily with plenty of time to visit the merchandise booth to acquire souvenir shirts before finding our way to our seats.
Mammoth WVH played a six song set that engaged the on hand crowd. I find Wolfgang Van Halen to be an incredibly talented musician and Christina was enamored mentioning that this is the closest she would ever get to (his father) Eddie Van Halen. Once their set concluded, the band exited the field right in front of us to a rousing cheer from the crowd. After Mammoth WVH, we made our way halfway around the stadium concourse to meet up with two of Christina’s friends and two of my friends were at the show. It was great to meet new friends and see old friends.
Pantera hit the stage for a ten song set of raw power and aggression. Vocalist Phil Anselmo stomped around the stage barefoot (just like last year in NJ), alongside bassist Rex Brown, joining touring musicians Zakk Wylde on guitar and Charlie Benante on drums. While I am not here to take sides on the debate whether or not this is Pantera, I was here for some kick ass rock and metal and that is exactly what we fans were treated to this evening. I will say that it is very tasteful the way this iteration of the band portrays its history in their set. The focus is about the music, the fans, and the legacy both created together over the years. This rebirth and tour is for the fans and Charlie and axe man extraordinaire Zakk do not try and put the focus on either of themselves during the set. To say it was glorious hour is an understatement, again I selected this date just for the Pantera set and I tried my best to soak in every note and moment.
Then it was time for the main event. When the sounds of ‘It’s a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock ‘n’ Roll)’ by AC/DC start playing over the venue’s sound system, the electricity in the crowd goes up several notches as we know we are mere minutes away from Metallica hitting the stage. Seconds after AC/DC completes the video screens begin to play Ennio Morricone’s ‘The Ecstasy of Gold’, “…a three-minute swirl of crescendoing orchestral might that sets a tone of invincibility and triumph”[2] (see this footnote reference to see why Metallica has used this walk out song for every one of their concerts since 1983, minus the ‘Load’ / ‘Reload’ years). Finally at our far left corner of the ringed center stage a drum kit pops up, lights go out then the crashing sounds of my second all-time favorite Metallica song, ‘Creeping Death’ erupts and even though I was anticipating that as the opening song, both Christina and I knew it in an instant! It takes a second for the collective crowd to recognize those opening notes and erupt in cheer. Segueing right into another favorite of mine ‘Harvester of Sorrow’, then right into ‘Lepper Messiah’ it was about as kick ass of an opening portion any Metallica fan could ask for.
‘King Nothing’ concluded drummer Lars Ulrich in the far corner to our left and when his drum kit arose on the near left portion of the stage, vocalist and rhythm guitarist, James Hetfield inquired if we in the crowd knew that the band had a new release out and the band proceeded to play the title track ‘72 Seasons’ and judging by the roar of the crowd, I was not alone in my enjoyment of the new tunes. I am quite a fan of the new release, the more I listen to it, the more I like it. Another kick ass new song ‘If Darkness Had a Son’ was followed by the segment where bassist Robert Trujillo and lead guitarist Kirk Hammett collaborate on their musical “doodle” that has a touch of local flare for whatever city the band is performing in that night. For this night they titled their song ‘Foxborough on the Run’.
In my opinion, the underrated Death Magnetic got represented with ‘The Day That Never Comes’ that led into ‘Shadows Follow’, another standout song for me on the new release. It was already quite apparent just how much Christina was enjoying the show as Lars’ kit now moved to the near right side of the stage for us when the band started the second half of the show with ‘Orion’. I tell you that instrumental song took her exuberance to the next level! ‘Nothing Else Matters’ was next and while I was far from a fan of this ballad crap from a thrash band through the years, I can say this song has grown on me musically over the years. Then James asked if we “…wanted heavy?” To which of course the answer is yes and the powerfully heavy anthemic ‘Sad But True’ rocked us into Lars’ drum kit now at the far right side of the stage from us.
The frantic ‘Hardwired’ led into another of my Metallica favorites ‘Fuel’ and yes the circular stage became a ring of fire. In a brutal dig at the New England Patriots, just prior to ‘Seek and Destroy’ James said “…for those who have come to Metallica shows in the past, you probably remember seeing beach balls, but we’re going to deflate them a little this time…this coming from a Raiders fan of course.” With Christina being a New York Giants fan she let our quite the loud laugh at this one as she had mentioned about her “…being a Giants fan going into enemy territory…” as we made arrangements for this adventure.
‘Seek and Destroy’ is another of a long list of my favorite Metallica tunes. I have not seen any attendance figures but easily there had to be at least sixty thousand in attendance all singing together as one, SEARCHING…SEEK AND DESTROY!!!!! Sadly this lead to the last song of the evening, the genre defining ‘Master of Puppets’ from the release that instantly upon hearing it back in 1986, I became a metalhead for life. Once the instruments were put down and the lights were turned up each band member shared their appreciation for us with us and slowly we made our way to the exit.
I really like the whole ‘in the round’ set up – it is a massive stage and allows the band members to engage with more of the audience than just a stage set up on one side of the stadium. There are eight massive round screens situated at equal intervals around the stage, which not only add to the light show, but also provides video screens for a great view of the action no matter where you are in the stadium. Inside the circle of the stage is the Snake Pit, which offers those inside the best views for the lucky few that either had the finances to purchase those tickets or were lucky enough to win their way in.
It was my thirteenth time seeing Metallica and it was a glorious fifteen song set that touched upon ten of their studio releases. While the second night of the two night weekend in Foxborough got my all-time favorite Metallica song played, I would not trade this experience for anything.
Our travel adventures on the road trip back included meeting up with Christina’s friends Matt & Lisa for breakfast the day after the show and driving through a Northeastern monsoon that rivals any crazy afternoon thunderstorm that I have seen in Florida. It was an incredibly memorable and fantastic trip and a freaking awesome concert.
\m/
For more photos from the show and our adventures along the way see here
Setlist for Metallica, August 2, 2024:
Creeping Death
Harvester of Sorrow
Leper Messiah
King Nothing
72 Seasons
If Darkness Had a Son (followed by ‘Foxborough on the Run’ Kirk & Rob doodle)
The Day That Never Comes
Shadows Follow
Orion
Nothing Else Matters
Sad but True
Hardwired
Fuel
Seek & Destroy
Master of Puppets
Metallica/Five Finger Death Punch/Ice Nine Kills | August 11, 2024 | Soldier Field, Chicago, IL
While still in the final planning and preparation phase for my trip to NY/MA with Christina, my friend Dean reached out and said, “I have a Metallica ticket with your name on it for the Sunday show in Chicago if you can make it.” Within an hour, Dean and I had spoken on the phone and I had flights booked. I cared not that I still needed to get the day after the show off work for travel home thinking, shit man, I will call in sick that day if the boss does not approve my day off request. It was the perfect way to bookend the Friday show in Foxborough with a Sunday show in Chicago. Thankfully, the boss did approve my day off request, but I was going regardless.
It had been several months since I had last seen Dean and after he collected me from the airport we caught up over some Zaca Tacos, his favorite, and I can say they are freaking damn good tacos! After dropping off my stuff at his place we headed to see a local Mötley Crüe cover band (who were really good!) play at The Thirsty Beaver. While the name alone made me laugh, my guess was that the establishment for sure was frequented by those who had just been released from the local jail, as it was a rough crowd. I started chatting with this one guy who commented on my Metallica shirt, no I did not go last night, I just flew in from Florida a little while ago for the show tomorrow. After a little more conversation about Metallica he begins to open up to me about an abusive relationship he is in. How he met a girl and they procreated twice and then she developed an unmentioned mental illness and began to verbally and physically abuse him. Now this came out of nowhere. It was a really crazy story and I sure hope for the children’s’ sake there is a happy outcome to the family’s story. Alas I will never know, as soon after Dean returned to where I was sitting after he made a few rounds of the place and asked if I was ready to head back to his place. My new ‘friend’, standing a couple of feet away, saw me yawn as Dean and I were plotting our escape, and offered ‘a couple of bumps’ to help me keep the night going. No thanks man, I have had a long day of traveling, I am ready to call it a night.
After a good night of needed rest, it was a lounge day until mid afternoon when Dean’s son Alex, and Alex’s girlfriend Bri, came over to begin the adventure of Alex and Bri’s first Metallica concert. We made our way to the venue via free shuttle busses provided by an iconic rock and roll venue that, after a quick tour through the various floors, Reggie’s definitely requires a return CMO (Chief Metal Officer) visit. It was a total party atmosphere on bus as we rode to Soldier Field. Metalheads drinking, smoking and singing along to R.E.M. on the radio. Yea, we asked to change it to Metallica but alas, it was the terrestrial radio and the heaviest tunes the bus could manage at the time, even though any one of us could have just Youtubed a Metallica video, like I said, it was a rolling party. It was interesting to meet an out of towner who sat in front of us and Dean struck up a conversation with. Dean was fascinated how this Canadian guy who has never been to Chicago knew about this ‘locals’ info with the busses from Reggie’s when one of Dean’s friends who lives locally had no idea and missed half of Pantera on Friday from sitting in traffic. Simple. We metalheads roll deep! That Canadian guy had been in Foxborough the weekend before so I am sure one of the Chicago locals shared the info.
We arrived at the venue, snapped a group photo and then headed into the stadium. While Ice Nine Kills was on stage, I opted to hit the merchandise stand and acquired a treasured souvenir from the show. We then made our way to check out where our seats were just as Five Finger Death Punch was taking the stage. It was my sixth time seeing Five Finger Death Punch and towards the end of their set I ventured off to try and meet up with some friends who I knew were also in attendance. I was able to meet up with my friend Deb that I had met earlier this year on the Monsters of Rock Cruise and one of her friends. I tried my hardest to meet up with my friend Rob (also a fellow cruiser), but my cell signal in that venue was non-existent and every attempt at connecting to the Wi-Fi network the stadium provides proved futile. Due to no signal I missed seeing Rob, but no biggie as I will see him at a local show this upcoming weekend in Clearwater, FL.
Nine days later, it was time for the main event once again. When those first few notes of AC/DC came over the speakers, our whole party were already on our feet in anticipation. Dean was singing along and just the electricity level in the stadium went up several notches. ‘The Ecstasy of Gold’ (finally) concludes and Metallica open with an expected ‘Whiplash’ for the Chicago faithful. After some warm up neck headbanging exercises for that thrash intro to the evening, ‘For Whom the Bell Tolls’ starts and the whole stadium seemed to recognize it at once and it being in my top three Metallica songs I was in pure CMO heaven. For that song to end into the beginning of ‘Ride the Lightning’ my thought was what a freaking opening sequence. Even anticipating those three as the opening songs was nowhere as intense as actually experiencing it, for a second time no less as it was the same sequence opening at the 2023 East Rutherford, NJ show I mentioned prior. I wish they would have kept the energy going right out of the gate, but alas ‘Until It Sleeps’ was next and while not anywhere near my favorite, somewhere out there in the crowd that was the song that person came to hear so I appreciated the moment for exactly that.
Lars’ drum kit rotated from the far right to the far left of our seats as the band launched into ‘the new stuff’ as I heard someone in the crowd say at one point during the three songs played from the new album. ‘Lux Æterna’ started off this ‘quarter’ of the show as the mathematician in me called it. ‘Screaming Suicide’ was next and I really like that one off the new 72 Seasons release. Now we were jamming again. Followed by this evening’s “doodle’ with Kirk and Rob paying homage to Ministry and their rendition of ‘Just One Fix’ I thought was awesome. I was surprised how unfamiliar it seemed to those around us. Closing out the second quarter was ‘The Day That Never Comes’, again the lone Death Magnetic selection of the evening. Tonight’s fifteen song setlist touched upon eight of their studio releases and honestly Metallica has such a deep discography they could have played all night. That led into the anthemic and heavy ‘Wherever I May Roam’ which had the neck exercises in the crowd going again.
The second half of the show started off with the fantastic instrumental ‘The Call of Ktulu’ and once completed James dedicated their performance to Cliff Burton. Now Lars’ drum kit was to our near left and when ‘The Unforgiven’ started, I knew we had to be in for a hell of a finish if we are getting this level of ballads for the evening. Still, Metallica presents and delivers their material at an unmatched level but I am here for the crunch, the thrash and the heavy. One last song from the new release, the one song off the new release I had not heard in its entirety, yet, ‘Inamorata’ was dedicated to eight year old fan in Make-A-Wish program who were at the show as guests of the band this evening.
The final quarter erupted back to their thrash days with ‘Fight Fire with Fire’. Which led into ‘Moth Into Flame’, their selection this night from their last release, ‘Hardwired… to Self-Destruct’, which I have previously written that ‘Moth’ could easily be a bonus track on Metallica’s 1983 debut release ‘Kill ‘Em All’ as it had hat raw edgy crunchy sound that I love so much. Which led into what some might consider another ballad, ‘One’, was presented in such spectacular fashion with the sounds of the music video’s depiction of a war-torn battle field with simulated battle sounds from opposing sides of the stadium then nearing the ringed center where James was illuminated for his guitar intro. Sadly once ‘Enter Sandman’ started I knew the evening was coming to a conclusion. I held onto every note I could until the stadium lights came on to signify the show was actually over as the crowd was hungry for just one more song. You guys have enough music, you can play all night remember…?
This was my fourteenth time seeing Metallica and twice in the past nine days. Ask my friends, in the days after the Chicago show I was ready to try and get to at least one of the Minneapolis shows the next weekend, but darn adult life and work responsibilities got in the way. I had left my bags packed (minus the dirty clothes) from this trip as a just in case, this Chicago concert was that kick ass and I immediately wanted more and to go again. Our ride back to Reggie’s was not nearly as entertaining, as there was no drinking this time around because no one is allowed to leave the stadium with open containers of alcohol. But that does not mean it was whisper quiet on the drive back. Quite the opposite! We had all just seen a kick ass Metallica show! Our ride back to Dean’s house was quite entertaining hearing everyone’s enjoyment of the show.
We all remembered the part where James recognized a young fan holing up a sign saying it was her eighth birthday. He waved hi and said “Hey, how’s it going? It’s your birthday? You’re 8 years old? And you’re in the front row at a Metallica concert…that’s a good dad right there…” See the video here.
I did not want to return home to work and responsibility. I appreciated the life reflective conversation Dean and I frequently engaged in during my visit. We had a lot of laughs, he had a great time seeing his son, Alex, enjoying himself the way that he did at the show. Dean said he would be back down in Florida soon and that we would get in a show during his visit. He dropped me off at the airport and I noticed at least a dozen Metallica shirts proudly adorned by the faithful. There were three on my flight alone.
It was an absolutely epic eleven day adventure with two Metallica shows in two different cities. Epic enough I was ready to make it three weekends in a row before out of control me realized it just was not possible. I will say, and as evidenced by the birthday video above, the younger generation was well represented at both shows – I saw kids that had to have been under ten years old and my guess is the top of the age range would reach at least eighty. Easily three generations were on hand in some instances. It makes me imagine looking back, I would have been the coolest kid in elementary school to have said I went to a Metallica concert with my dad and my grandpa.
I have seen four shows on this tour in three different cities and I can say it is quite an awesome experience. Metallica is still at the top of their game live. Their new music for the last two releases take me back to the old days of them sounding heavy and hungry. I sure hope it is not another six and half year wait before we fans get a new album. I really look forward to seeing how the band is going to top this immense tour and patiently await my fifteenth Metallica concert. This is a fascinating article on the massive logistical production that goes into the Metallica M72 stadium tour, from concept and design to implementation.
https://plsn.com/articles/production-spotlight/metallica-m72-world-tour/
For more photos from the show and our adventures along the way see here
Setlist for Metallica, August 11, 2024:
Whiplash
For Whom the Bell Tolls
Ride the Lightning
Until It Sleeps
Lux Æterna
Screaming Suicide (Followed by Ministry’s “Just One Fix” doodle by Kirk & Rob)
The Day That Never Comes
Wherever I May Roam
The Call of Ktulu (Dedicated to Cliff Burton)
The Unforgiven
Inamorata (Dedicated to an eight year old fan in Make-A-Wish program)
Fight Fire With Fire
Moth Into Flame
One
Enter Sandman
Randy \m/
CMO
[1] https://www.metallica.com/news/2022-11-28-m72-world-tour.html
[2] https://loudwire.com/metallica-ecstasy-of-gold-concert-opener-interview/