Metallica -- Edmonton, Alberta -- August 18th, 2012

Christen · #1 08-19-2012, 03:00 PM

Metallica
Tour: The Full Arsenal
Support: Striker (Local Edmonton band)
Venue: Rexall Place

Creeping Death
For Whom the Bell Tolls
Fuel
Ride the Lightning
One
Cyanide
The Memory Remains
Wherever I May Roam
Sad but True
Welcome Home (Sanitarium)
...And Justice for All
Fade to Black
Master of Puppets
Battery
Nothing Else Matters
Enter Sandman

Encore:
Hit the Lights
Seek & Destroy

Just arrived back home from Edmonton after a 6 hour drive. What an amazing show. I'm still trying to process everything I saw last night through my brain. Total sensory overload. I've been a Metallica fan all my life but have never had the chance to see them live. Something would always come up that would prevent me from going to the show the odd time they come around here. I don't think I could have asked for a better experience for my first 'Tallica show.

My friend and I arrived at Rexall around 5:30 at which point they were all ready letting people in. The first surprise of the evening was seeing the sign on the way in saying the show was being filmed for the 3D Blu Ray. We quickly went through the merch booth (Rexall is very organized at the booths compared to some other venues I've been to) and quickly made it to the floor scoring a great spot on the rail. We chatted with a very friendly younger female security guard until Striker started. They were good but pretty forgettable.

Then around 8:30 came the big moment. The lights went out and The Ecstasy of Gold came on. I could feel my eyes begin to tear up at this point. It hit me that I was about to finally see the band that made me a metal head from the front row. The next two hours were absolute bliss with a ton of headbanging and singing. The special effects and pyro were amazing. People around me were even convinced that the stage "accident" at the end of Enter Sandman was real. At the end of the night I walked away with two picks James Hetfield threw directly for me (one I gave to my friend) and one I managed to snag off the ground that Kirk threw.

All in all I don't think I could have asked for a better experience for my first Metallica show. I fully intend to buy the Blu Ray so I can relive that amazing night whenever I want. I have a ton of pictures and a few videos (Of Bell, Battery and Roam) I can post if anyone wants to see.

ChrisLovesMetal · #2 08-19-2012, 03:57 PM

Hell yes, post the pictures; I'd love to see them. That's awesome, dude. I'm glad you had a good time. I never got the chance to see Metallica either, but I could only imagine how incredibly awesome they must be live.

Christen · #3 08-19-2012, 04:23 PM

Here you go: http://img193.imageshack.us/slidesho...=img0077cd.jpg

Sorry if the quality isn't great, it's from my iPhone.

ChrisLovesMetal · #4 08-19-2012, 10:31 PM

Dude, no way! Any closer and you would've been on the stage with them. That's fucking wicked. How long did you have to wait on line to make sure you were the first one there to get that spot?

Sanitarium78 · #5 08-20-2012, 05:55 AM

Nice pictures. That's a hell of a set for your first Metallica show. The first time I saw them was on July 25th 1992 at rich stadium in Buffalo. It was a co-headlining tour with Guns N Roses. I still have good memories of that show.

The set for that show was:

Creeping Death
The Shortest Straw
Harvester Of Sorrow
Fade To Black
Sad But True
Wherever I May Roam
Of Wolf And Man
For Whom The Bell Tolls
The Unforgiven
Bass/Guitar Solo
Welcome Home(Sanitarium)
Master Of Puppets
Seek & Destroy
Whiplash
Nothing Else Matters
Am I Evil?
Last Carees
One
Enter Sandman

I've seen them five other times since then and while they always put on a great show they've never done anything like the special effects they're doing right now. It surprises me that it took them this long to do the electric chair and lightining bolts for RTL. It's something they should've already been doing for years with that song.

VelvetHarry · #6 08-20-2012, 06:01 AM

Solid setlist. And awesome pictures! Wow how did you score those seats? They must have cost a pretty penny

HackedUpForBBQ · #7 08-20-2012, 07:27 AM

Any set with And Justice and RTL is a good one in my book..... glad you finally got to see them

Natrlhi · #8 08-20-2012, 09:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HackedUpForBBQ

Any set with And Justice and RTL is a good one in my book..... glad you finally got to see them

Hell yes, and opening with Creeping Death to boot.

Congrats to OP on bustin' that cherry.

...and hell yes, post links to the vids as well.

Christen · #9 08-20-2012, 12:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ChrisLovesMetal

Dude, no way! Any closer and you would've been on the stage with them. That's fucking wicked. How long did you have to wait on line to make sure you were the first one there to get that spot?

We showed up at 5:30 right when the doors opened. Most people showed up after Striker so getting a spot right up front was fairly easy. We payed regular price for General Admission tickets through TM, which was about 120 bucks IIRC.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8NDOm5PTLJ4 - Bell
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KWqVM1Oqkss - Battery
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iS8Hm4OS_O0 - Roam