By Chris Riemenschneider
"Three simple words: 'Seek ... and ... destroy.' "
With that intro from James Hetfield, Tuesday's two-hour (and 10-minute) Target Center concert by Metallica ended on an approriately insane note. The house lights went up, giant black balloons came down from the ceiling, and pure pandemonium broke out and lasted till the end. OK, so the momentum briefly dipped a little when mousey-voiced Kirk Hammett got on the microphone to thank the crowd and Lars Ulrich spent 5 minutes walking around the stage asking for more cheers, but otherwise it was a mighty finish.
"Holier Than Thou" and "Fight Fire With Fire" (which they haven't been playing at most shows) were somewhat unfulfilling as set-list surprises go, but "Ride the Lightning" and "Motorbreath" more than sufficed. Maybe the biggest surprise was how well all the new stuff came off, especially "All Nightmare Long." He may not have Hetfield's rock-starry growl, but Hammett proved once again he's a bona-fide guitar god.
By the way, Tuesday's near-20,000 attendance almost set an all-time record at the Minneapolis arena. If they had cut the stage in half they probably would have broken it. But then Rob Trujillo wouldn't have had so much room to drag and swing his his bass around.
Click here for the full show review and more photos. Here's the set list:
That Was Just Your Life / The End of the Line / Ride the Lightning / Holier Than Thou / One / Broken, Beat and Scarred / Cyanide / Sad But True / Welcome Home (Sanitarium) / All Nightmare Long / The Day That Never Comes / Master of Puppets / Fight Fire With Fire / Nothing Else Matters / Enter Sandman
ENCORE: Die Die My Darling (Misfits cover) / Motorbreath / Seek & Destroy
