Metallica live @ Arena Parco Nord, Bologna (Italy) 22 jul. 2008 [special guest The Sword, Down]

Creeping Death
For Whom The Bell Tolls
Ride The Lightning
Harvester Of Sorrow
Kirk Solo #1
Bleeding Me
The Four Horsemen
And Justice for All
No Remorse
Fade to Black
Master Of Puppets
Whiplash
Kirk Solo #2
Nothing Else Matters
Sad But True
One

Enter Sandman
So What
Motorbreath
Seek and Destroy


Metallica are one of the biggest band in metal history, if not the biggest. With millions and millions of records sold, and, let’s face it, many fans gained and lost during the years, they are surely in the Olimpo of metal, but their stay there is quite controversial, starting from the decise change of style they went through they years, passing from the anti-Napster crusade, and ending with the release of the movie-documentary Some Kind Of Monster, where the band is shown in all it’s lows.
To make a long story short, Metallica’s fan are always very careful about their idols, but of one thing we can always be sure. They might be family fathers, they might not be living the full “sex, drugs and rock n roll” thing anymore, but they still know how to throw a mind blowing gig for the most heterogeneous crowd. Surprisingly enough, metalheads were if not the less part of the public, not much more than the half of it.

After a good proof from both the opening act (even if we have to admit that Phil Anselmo is on the way to his twilight, as he could often be spotted without breath respect to what we were used to know), the four horsemen came out and blew everything away.
Even if we were not able to steal a place in the pit under the stage, we had manage to gain a nice place few rows behind the fences. But it wasn’t meant to last. As the usual intro The Ecstasy Of Gold filled the arena with its familiar notes, the crow started to push, and as soon as the band was onstage and the first notes of Creeping Death were played, a huge, and honestly, quite violent moshpit was born. Violent enough to made me decide to leave my friends and the spot where we were staying to not only enjoy the gig, but to survive all in one piece, decision that I took after the fourth hit in less then a minute on my spine and a hit on my throat that left me without breath. And decision that got me heavily insulted by some old guy who thought that if you don’t want to get hurt, you should go and see some pop gig. And one thought that age was bringing some sense in people’s minds… well, simply the usual demonstration of Italians bad manners.
But on with the show, after I managed to get air back and to fly from the moshpit (and, let’s be honest, get something to drink), and after I got the first half of the song totally ruined, I found myself a nice spot in the back of the parterre to enjoy the rest of the show. And I was lucky indeed, as from there I could both see perfectly the stage, even from a long distance, and I could see the huge screen that was as large as the stage and that gave us a perfect view of the guys.
Heading thru the show, Metallica demonstrated that they still can manage to master a few puppets… around at least 10000, if not more.

The setlist was one to be remembered… many old classic, many song that weren’t play live from a long time, and expecially, half Kill ‘Em All and half Ride The Lighting, and only few tunes from Master Of Puppets and Metallica. I personally disagree with the choice that the band has been following lately to sacrifice so much the last three album, since I personally enjoy quite a lot both Load and Reload, and even if recognise that St. Anger is not at the level of any of the prior works, I still think it contains a couple of good live tunes. But well, one can’t have all, and since the first 5 works are for sure few steps over the three mentioned album, I cannot complain.
The band was compact on stage even if the age starts to be noticed (by the fact that at the end of the show you could quite well sense how tired they were. But, honestly, who, between the youngsters, can manage to stay on stage for two hours flat with all that energy?). But who minds the age, the guys were there to give all they got, and they gave everything.
Song by song they performed all the classic with the same rage and grit of the good ol’ times, and it was evident that they were enjoying every minutes of their stay on the huge stage (even if for some reason it wasn’t the full stage they used for the rest of the tour).
Special mention for the feeling created I would give to One, over all the songs. Pyros and fireworks lit up the faces of the thousands of people gathered, making us realise (if ever needed) why the ticket was so expensive. and, also, to the always magnificent Nothing Else Matters.

Here I think is the greatness of ‘Metallica, over all the thrash metal (or ex thrash metal) bands. Aggression is always there, but, at the same times they are able to express the most inner feeling without being lame or sounding trite and uninspired.
Special mention will go to the totally unexpected …And Justice For All, Whiplash and Ride the Lightning. Expecially the last one got an impressingly loud roar from the crowd.
After the already mentioned One, the band left the stage, only to be back few minutes later with a ragy Enter Sandman that got the ground to shake, almost. But with such a riff, what would you expect?
After a short speech, an amazing Hetfield growled what everyone wanted to hear. “So fuckin’ what???”
Yes, played for the first time in Italy, the Anti-Nowhere Legue’s cover song brought that punky feeling that made the gig seem even more as a big party.
Last two bullets in Metallica gun were Motorbreath and Seek And Destroy, the latter introduced by a speech from James that demonstrates the feeling of union that the band, even after all these years, feels with its fans all over the world.
“I don’t speak Italian. You probably can speak a little English, though. But it doesn’t matter, ‘cause together we speak the language of Metallica.”
And indeed we did. And we did it well, as the band was once again impressed from the roar that rose from the crowd.
As the gig reached its end, Lars promised us to be back very soon with an indoor tour, at the end of the year… well, they’ll better come back soon, ‘cause we’ll be waiting.
A 10 flat for one of the best gig I’ve ever seen.


VOTE: 10/10