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Events and Reports - Metallica - Live At Parken, Copenhagen - May 26th, 2004
As a huge Metal fan I, like the most, also have my special and most favourite bands. I have seen Virgin Steele, Dream Theater, Iron Maiden and Savatage twice, but I still felt that one of the really big ones was missing, just until the last minutes of May 26th was ticking in that is.
The stage was set for a most brilliant day, starting out with some Metal breakfeast with a couple of friends, travelling across the country, listening to the radio warming up with classic Metallica stuff, discussing the best possible setlist and so on.
In Copenhagen it, at least for a day, seemed that listening to Metal music was the most natural thing in the world, and the area around Parken, Denmark's national arena, was burning hot with lots of Metal maniacs having a good time with some refreshing beers, a nice sight I must say :)
Inside things was looking huge, a sold out 40.000 (roughly) capacity gigantic football stadium filled with high expectations and a huge scene. The lights went out at around 21:30 and for the next two and a half hours we all got a captivating show by one of the best and most important Metal bands.
With the furious opener Blackend, featuring impressive pyrotechnics, we were on our way into a set that was really well selected, at least for my taste :)
Fuel did extremely well in keeping the powerful momentum; Lars was on home ground and his playing was glowing with tightness.
I had my fingers crossed for The Four Horsemen, and I was more than happy to hear it in a monster version. A mega drive was found in the raw dual guitar riffing and Kirk also put in a brilliant solo, just great classic Metallica.
One of the biggest highlights of the concert was the positive vibe coming from the stage, James was back in top form, the last couple of years had made him a more balanced and happier person and that clearly showed. With simple means Lars got the crowd giving a lot back to the stage, Rob kept in the background laying a solid fundament with his athletic bass moves and Kirk was all over the place throwing onto the crowd one amazing solo after the other. They truly supplemented each other very well on every level.
Fade To Black was not only delivered with an astonishing accuracy, it was handled with lots of emotional flair and James vocals were just so intense and heartfelt. This is clearly one of the saddest songs ever and with the passage things not what they used to be, missing one inside of me, deathly lost, this can't be real, cannot stand this hell I feel, I myself was very moved, that's one of the greatest things about Metallica, the relatable lyrics that goes right in and touches deep.
After this therapeutic session the table was turned a bit, with Frantic it was time to get some energy out and as James screamed: Are you ready to leave your anger here?
This high energetic song was delivered with some cool raw bass lines but the tightness level did fall an inch here and there.
Holier Than Thou was another of my favourite songs that I hoped they would play; anyway it was a great surprise when they did. A fast and compact build smasher added a genius shredding guitar solo.
Metallica had no problems in keeping the audience focused and making them a part of the show. The big screens helped a lot even though it would have been cool if they had built a stage leading into the crowd, but especially James' charisma and great sense of humour was glowing so bright that even the ticket holder farthest away from the stage couldn't miss it. The Mission Impossible 2 soundtrack I Disappear was another surprise, it rocked well but they just have so many better songs that would have been cool to hear.
In St. Anger Lars' drums got the hell beaten out of them and the crowd helped loudly with the chorus in this extremely forceful cut.
Sad But True and Creeping Death were the next two songs and the term classic is no understatement here. Great nerve and energy found in both, the rhythm section of the last mentioned one being totally accelerating and mean, and just to make things even better we also got the masterpiece Battery in an astonishing vigorous performance.
In the beginning of Wherever I May Roam a rather odd episode occurred when the sound level went to zero in about zero seconds. The crowd didn't seem to mind too much, singing the Danish national anthem and being entertained by Lars playing soccer with a beer. Planned or unplanned we got the song from scratch and yes it was just as tight and grooving as could be hoped for.
For the next few minutes Kirk stepped up and jammed a bit, nice but not exactly thrilling, creating some relaxing tunes before the intro of Nothing Else Matters sat in. This one worked even better live than I had hoped for, the amazing lyric was delivered with great sincerity and nerve, a sure crowd pleaser.
We were treated with a flawless execution of one of the best songs ever when Master Of Puppets in a full-scaled version blasted through the speakers, truly magical and powerful as hell. Talking about speakers the sound quality this night must also have a mention. I have read a lot of negative comments of it but to be honest I didn't think it was bad, surely not super either. I guess it depends on where you were standing or sitting. My main complaint was the low bass and the rather muddy sound, anyway I could hear what was going on quite well and power was in no shortage.
A few minutes after the band had left the stage, a dramatic intro for One featuring grad firework had started. This song was clearly one of the best moments of the evening, an amazing and captivating handling of a huge composition. Enter Sandman kicked in afterwards and rocked the placed completely; the audience had by far surrendered to this overload of genius music.
The first of two last encores was a tight but also rather stationary cover version of The Wait, a rather odd choice in my opinion. Anyway with Seek And Destroy my last remaining energy was used to bang and sing along loudly to this raw and driving Metal opus, ending a concert that I will surely never forget.
Metallica not only began their European tour in Copenhagen, they totally smashed the stadium into the bloody ground.
This evening was life confirming and totally spellbinding, and when James towards the end asked the hall Do you feel alive? The reply was not a polite yes.. it was a soaring fucking YEAH!
Setlist
Blackend
Fuel
The Four Horsemen
Fade To Black
Frantic
Holier Than Thou
I Disappear
St. Anger
Sad But True
Creeping Death
Battery
Wherever I May Roam
Nothing Else Matters
Master Of Puppets
One
Enter Sandman
The Wait
Seek And Destroy
| | Written by Tommy
Monday, June 7, 2004 |
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RevelationZ Comments
| Comment by Rune M (Anonymous) - Tuesday, June 8, 2004 | Surely one of the greatest concerts I have ever been to! I was right in front of the stage and from there you cold truly feel James' energy - I have never seen him this happy and powerful before! I will remember this concert forever! Great event report by the way :o)
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| Comment by Martin (Anonymous) - Saturday, June 26, 2004 | One word. "Fantastic concert" and a nice article.
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| Comment by T.Lopez (Anonymous) - Wednesday, March 16, 2005 | Couldn't agree more with you.... I was there and it sure was one of the best nights of my life....! JESUS, I LOVE METALLICA! Travelled from Norway to see 'em, and it was sooo worth it... Only a 7 hour ride anyway, hehe :D Can't wait to have 'em back in Scandinavia again...
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| Comment by Isak Berthelsen (Greenland) (Anonymous) - Wednesday, April 6, 2005 | I was there, don't think i will experience something like that anymore in my life probably because it was my very first Metallica concert, and the first ones are the one and only's, will never forget either
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