Talk about a swinging pendulum. A mere four days removed from being fully immersed in the cowboy culture of a Corb Lund show, I had a completely different experience last night. I had the pleasure of experiencing metal culture as Metallica rocked a jam-packed Air Canada Centre in Toronto.
The groups sounded powerful for the most part. Lars and Rob had a tight, thumping rhythm going. Kirk Hammett is simply in a league of his own on guitar. James Hetfield did a fantastic job in engaging the crowd. The one criticism would be that Hetfield's vocals were often buried too far back in the mix.
The clever placement of the stage right in the middle of the arena floor lent itself to a dynamic show. The laser lights (often looking like they should be in a Poison video) and pyro seemed almost unnecessary as the band did a great job of utilizing every inch of the stage, ensuring people in all parts of the arena got some quality time.
During their nearly 2-hour set, the band gave the crowd most of the favorites they came to hear. "Fade To Black", "Sad But True", "Nothing Else Matters", "One", "Master of Puppets", and the ubiquitous "Enter Sandman" were all homeruns. What may be more surprising was how well
Death Magnetic's "Cyanide" fit into that set. That should be a keeper.
Metallica also demonstrated a tremendous self-awareness. You can tell that they know which of their albums are good and which are not from the dearth of songs from less-than-fondly-remembered albums like
Load and
St. Anger.
Obviously, the band came back for an encore. With the house lights up they tore into their cover of Queen's "Stone Cold Crazy" before giving an inspired "Seek and Destroy" as a parting gift.
I missed the first opening act, who must have gone on very close to the 7:00pm doors opening. Unfortunately I did manage to catch Lamb Of God, the second opener. I know these guys are pretty big in the metal world, but someone needs to teach them that in the live setting a wall of unvarying guitars, non-rhythmic rhythm section, and throat-screamed vocals make all their songs sound alike. They were second only to the albino wearing golf pants and strumming a toy-sized guitar who opened for the Magic Numbers in terms of atrocious opening acts that I've had the misfortune of hearing over the years.
Metallica play the ACC in Toronto again tonight.
7.5/10
Metallica's website
Metallica's Myspace
California indie rockers Cold War Kids have announced the release of a new EP in the new year. The 4-song Behave Yourself will be available on January 19th.
Carolyn Mark, Let's Just Stay Here
Well January 26th is shaping up to be quite an important day for new releases. The latest hoping into the mix is arguably the biggest. Critical darlings Spoon will deliver their seventh album Transference that day.
If you asked me what two words I would never conceive writing in a blog post together the answer you would have received may very well have been "Sepultura" and "electronic". Well that has to change now.
Have you ever had a eureka moment? I get those from time to time in the music world. Let me explain. I love cover songs. Every once in a while I'll get excited about an artist/combo that I think has potential, only to be thoroughly disappointed when I finally hear it. Later I will hear another artist and think to myself, 'wow, that's what cover song x should have sounded like'.
There's lots of news coming out of The Wailin' Jennys camp these days. The Winnipeg folk rock trio with an awesomely clever name released a live album, Live At the Mauch Chunk Opera House earlier this year and are heading into the studio to record a new record. They'll follow that up with a tour in the spring.
Lil Daggers
As previously mentioned, UK band Athlete are set to release a new EP, The Getaway, on November 3rd. The band will also be releasing a full length, Black Swan, on February 2nd.
I'm probably as big a fan of generation whatever it is now writer Chuck Klosterman as there is. Yet I too must admit that his first foray into fiction, last year's Downtown Owl, was how should I put it...not good.
Toronto's Gentleman Reg has announced the release of a new EP titled Heavy Head. The EP will be released in stage with two tracks coming out on November 10, two on the 17th, and the final two on the 24th. The complete set will be available as a package on December 1st.
NME.com is reporting that Peter Gabriel, that's right, Peter Gabriel of all people, is set to release a covers album. The album, Scratch My Back, is looking at a spring 2010 release.
Denton, TX indie rockers Midlake have announced the release of their third full length studio album. The band, probably best known for the college semi-hit "Roscoe", will be releasing The Courage of Others on February 2nd.
Sitting Softly In the Sea is the new 4-song EP from Philadelphia one-man-band Golden Ages. 
Now most will agree that Matador Records is about as big as a label can get while still retaining the label "Indie". Come on, these folks were the home to Pavement, Liz Phair, and now Sonic Youth. Sonic Youth for god-sakes!
File this one under Halloween treats: from now until midnight on October 31st, Toronto indie artist Timber Timbre is giving away his Polaris-shortlisted self-titled album for absolutely nothing (except maybe your undying devotion).
The first word that comes to mind when you listen to Echo and the Bunnymen's new album The Fountain is familiar. After 30 years of music making, the Liverpudlians have certainly mastered their sound.
While they may be best known for, what in retrospect seems like dragging, Jenny Lewis to her best work, The Watson Twins are solid artists in their own right. Not letting Sara and Tegan Quin hog the twin-rock spotlight Chandra and Leigh have just announced the release of their new Russell Pollard-produced album, Talking To You, Talking To Me for February 9th.
Talk about a swinging pendulum. A mere four days removed from being fully immersed in the cowboy culture of a Corb Lund show, I had a completely different experience last night. I had the pleasure of experiencing metal culture as Metallica rocked a jam-packed Air Canada Centre in Toronto.
