S&M
Venue: Berkley Community Theatre, California.
Date: April 21-22, 1999
2 Nights. 100 Maestros. 21 Songs. A band of four.
Close to 2000 audiences. A glorious blend of Symphony and Rock.
Short and sweet, that's MetallicA S&M for you.
Being a fervent, hardcore MetallicA fan, I've never really done anything about it except for playing them 24/7 in my ears. Performing together with that band with my sorry guitar was the best imaginable act I could ever think of. So what’s the big deal about it?? Oh yeah... exactly... no big deal about it!!
As part of my write-well-blog-well-boast-well agenda, its just my sole effort to write well conjoined with the obsession with this band that made me write what I'm writing now. Now lets get to this MetallicA boy's review of S&M.
P.S (Prerequisite Script): If you are not a heavy metal/music fan, take the pain of finding a cross on the upper right corner of your screen, go click it.
S&M is Symphony & MetallicA. (Not sadomasochism) This is that thought of the conductor of the San Francisco Symphony, Michael Kamen, which took life after 8 long years. The show kicks off with The Ecstasy of Gold, the usual headliner for any MetallicA concert. Dumping the routine record play, this was a decent rendition by the orchestra. Though not an extraordinary performance, a 'tallica buddy would definitely wonder how it can all start off so melodiously. It is at the end of this song, that James enters with the Explorer hung on his shoulder. The devil underwater wakes with The Call of Ktulu. A point of appreciation is the way the band members step on the stage playing their part of the song, you know, the MetallicA style Baby!!!!!!. Master of Puppets continues with James lifting the audience with his panache "Yeahhhhhhh...!!!". Not broken halfway, S&M is probably the place where the song was completely played after a good number of live shows. Of Wolf (gang) and Man follows MoP. Pretty good one, I'd say, not as great as the others that follow, but, this song can be seen for learning some stylish guitar playing for those budding guitarists. The next song, The Thing That Should Not Be, one of those devilish sounding tracks, is observantly the first well-set song for the symphony in this concert. The intro of the song itself kicks off with a magnificent sync between the two sides. The dramatic back play and the in-sync rhythm play are amazingly hooked. What follows next is for the fast and furious guys... yeah... you got it right. Fuel. Another Of Wolf and Man of the show. The next track, The Memory Remains, which rocked in the studio version, did equally well in S&M too. Two exciting things about this song are the way the audience let loose themselves and the way Jason makes his presence felt on the stage through his motivating gestures. No Leaf Clover, the following track, in a way is special for me. NLC is the reason for my obsession with the band. I just have one word for it. E X P L O S I V E. That is all that comes out when I think of it. In a way, its a dish for MetallicA too. This is the first unreleased song played in any concert of MetallicA. NLC is dominatingly a symphony track. The vocals and the lead gel in so well with the song, that, in a way just blows us away. The song appears to fall in a genre of Heavy Music, rather than Heavy Metal Music. NLC is followed with Hero of the Day, a modified version of the studio track. This one is a pretty decent performance too. I felt that the original track should have had symphony, as in Nothing Else Matters. Though a modified version, it has its own stance. Next in row is Devil's Dance. An extremely impressive song, I would say. Though the symphony dominates this song, it is definitely a matured performance compared to any other song on the first day. Personally I would give it a 9/10. Bleeding Me... another fantastic performance. Apparently, I and another friend of mine started liking the song, first listening to it in this concert. It was late when I realized that the song actually sounded even better in its studio version. Trust me guys, you would trade off your favourite singer for James with this one. Hats off to him!! You'd even wonder if a guy could ever roar (and sing) this way. After this luscious treat from these guys, the day ends with James Hetfield saying... We shall return.....
The second night starts with the classic - Nothing Else Matters. Aha!! Treat for your soul.... It is precisely this song that almost became synonymous with the bands name. MoP was another. This song shares a special history with the band, as it is supposedly the one and only song of MetallicA with Kamen's orchestra at the backdrop. Until it Sleeps is probably that only song which I felt was unnecessary. Instead they could have gone for Fade to Black, Creeping Death, Unforgiven or any other classic like Sanitarium. This is definitely one song that is in the wrong place. The crowd gets on to their toes with one..two..three..four.. For Whom The Bell Tolls.., I don’t know how it tolled for the guys in the song, but it did so, hard and tough, for the crowd. With a superb back play by the symphony, this gets a ton for it. One of the ways, S&M was different from any other concert of MetallicA is the absence of Bass and Guitar doodles and solos. Instead, they came up with a couple of new songs. One was NLC that I reviewed before. Another is (Minus) Human. Though not really heavy, this song gets the guys in pace. Slightly heavy. Wherever I May Roam follows Human. This is also one of those well-set songs. The Outlaw Torn is the next in line to rock. After hearing this song for quite some time, I felt that they should have had the symphony in the studio version too. They accede the band so beautifully, that one literally feels like one's drawn to heaven. The song is silent for quite some time and suddenly gets heavy from nowhere. The bass is also clearly heard with the symphony. Well, if music is heaven, these guys get us another step beyond it. Another much anticipated song, Sad But True, supposedly publicized "heavy" by the band is the next song. Nothing special about this one, more than what it is. One is out from the queue, after SBT. This is one of those songs that went ideally well with the symphony. Though the power chords at the later part of the song are not clearly heard (in the video that I have seen), it won’t stop you from banging your head. "One" show that makes a heavy metal orchestra. We're Off to never-never land... Sandman is the next one. This track is one of my favourites. ...Exit light, Enter night, Take my hand... Unfortunately, this was the most screwed-up part of the show. We hardly get to listen to MetallicA, except for the vocals of James. When I first heard this song, I wondered if this was another new song in the concert. After a routine get back of "good byes" and "same time, next year” ’s and wasting and waiting for a couple of minutes, our heroes set the stage on fire with a kickass rendition of Battery, bringing an end to this historic concert.
One black ball throughout the show was the sound management. All through the show, we hear the Symphony dominating the guitars of MetallicA. Unfortunately, this is a pitiful gift for any 'tallica buff. They appear to be one between the symphony rather than providing a lead for it. But for a devotee like me, it’s a new show everyday!!!! So rock on and get your show now babyyyyyyyy!!!!
Date: April 21-22, 1999
2 Nights. 100 Maestros. 21 Songs. A band of four.
Close to 2000 audiences. A glorious blend of Symphony and Rock.
Short and sweet, that's MetallicA S&M for you.
Being a fervent, hardcore MetallicA fan, I've never really done anything about it except for playing them 24/7 in my ears. Performing together with that band with my sorry guitar was the best imaginable act I could ever think of. So what’s the big deal about it?? Oh yeah... exactly... no big deal about it!!
As part of my write-well-blog-well-boast-well agenda, its just my sole effort to write well conjoined with the obsession with this band that made me write what I'm writing now. Now lets get to this MetallicA boy's review of S&M.
P.S (Prerequisite Script): If you are not a heavy metal/music fan, take the pain of finding a cross on the upper right corner of your screen, go click it.
S&M is Symphony & MetallicA. (Not sadomasochism) This is that thought of the conductor of the San Francisco Symphony, Michael Kamen, which took life after 8 long years. The show kicks off with The Ecstasy of Gold, the usual headliner for any MetallicA concert. Dumping the routine record play, this was a decent rendition by the orchestra. Though not an extraordinary performance, a 'tallica buddy would definitely wonder how it can all start off so melodiously. It is at the end of this song, that James enters with the Explorer hung on his shoulder. The devil underwater wakes with The Call of Ktulu. A point of appreciation is the way the band members step on the stage playing their part of the song, you know, the MetallicA style Baby!!!!!!. Master of Puppets continues with James lifting the audience with his panache "Yeahhhhhhh...!!!". Not broken halfway, S&M is probably the place where the song was completely played after a good number of live shows. Of Wolf (gang) and Man follows MoP. Pretty good one, I'd say, not as great as the others that follow, but, this song can be seen for learning some stylish guitar playing for those budding guitarists. The next song, The Thing That Should Not Be, one of those devilish sounding tracks, is observantly the first well-set song for the symphony in this concert. The intro of the song itself kicks off with a magnificent sync between the two sides. The dramatic back play and the in-sync rhythm play are amazingly hooked. What follows next is for the fast and furious guys... yeah... you got it right. Fuel. Another Of Wolf and Man of the show. The next track, The Memory Remains, which rocked in the studio version, did equally well in S&M too. Two exciting things about this song are the way the audience let loose themselves and the way Jason makes his presence felt on the stage through his motivating gestures. No Leaf Clover, the following track, in a way is special for me. NLC is the reason for my obsession with the band. I just have one word for it. E X P L O S I V E. That is all that comes out when I think of it. In a way, its a dish for MetallicA too. This is the first unreleased song played in any concert of MetallicA. NLC is dominatingly a symphony track. The vocals and the lead gel in so well with the song, that, in a way just blows us away. The song appears to fall in a genre of Heavy Music, rather than Heavy Metal Music. NLC is followed with Hero of the Day, a modified version of the studio track. This one is a pretty decent performance too. I felt that the original track should have had symphony, as in Nothing Else Matters. Though a modified version, it has its own stance. Next in row is Devil's Dance. An extremely impressive song, I would say. Though the symphony dominates this song, it is definitely a matured performance compared to any other song on the first day. Personally I would give it a 9/10. Bleeding Me... another fantastic performance. Apparently, I and another friend of mine started liking the song, first listening to it in this concert. It was late when I realized that the song actually sounded even better in its studio version. Trust me guys, you would trade off your favourite singer for James with this one. Hats off to him!! You'd even wonder if a guy could ever roar (and sing) this way. After this luscious treat from these guys, the day ends with James Hetfield saying... We shall return.....
The second night starts with the classic - Nothing Else Matters. Aha!! Treat for your soul.... It is precisely this song that almost became synonymous with the bands name. MoP was another. This song shares a special history with the band, as it is supposedly the one and only song of MetallicA with Kamen's orchestra at the backdrop. Until it Sleeps is probably that only song which I felt was unnecessary. Instead they could have gone for Fade to Black, Creeping Death, Unforgiven or any other classic like Sanitarium. This is definitely one song that is in the wrong place. The crowd gets on to their toes with one..two..three..four.. For Whom The Bell Tolls.., I don’t know how it tolled for the guys in the song, but it did so, hard and tough, for the crowd. With a superb back play by the symphony, this gets a ton for it. One of the ways, S&M was different from any other concert of MetallicA is the absence of Bass and Guitar doodles and solos. Instead, they came up with a couple of new songs. One was NLC that I reviewed before. Another is (Minus) Human. Though not really heavy, this song gets the guys in pace. Slightly heavy. Wherever I May Roam follows Human. This is also one of those well-set songs. The Outlaw Torn is the next in line to rock. After hearing this song for quite some time, I felt that they should have had the symphony in the studio version too. They accede the band so beautifully, that one literally feels like one's drawn to heaven. The song is silent for quite some time and suddenly gets heavy from nowhere. The bass is also clearly heard with the symphony. Well, if music is heaven, these guys get us another step beyond it. Another much anticipated song, Sad But True, supposedly publicized "heavy" by the band is the next song. Nothing special about this one, more than what it is. One is out from the queue, after SBT. This is one of those songs that went ideally well with the symphony. Though the power chords at the later part of the song are not clearly heard (in the video that I have seen), it won’t stop you from banging your head. "One" show that makes a heavy metal orchestra. We're Off to never-never land... Sandman is the next one. This track is one of my favourites. ...Exit light, Enter night, Take my hand... Unfortunately, this was the most screwed-up part of the show. We hardly get to listen to MetallicA, except for the vocals of James. When I first heard this song, I wondered if this was another new song in the concert. After a routine get back of "good byes" and "same time, next year” ’s and wasting and waiting for a couple of minutes, our heroes set the stage on fire with a kickass rendition of Battery, bringing an end to this historic concert.
One black ball throughout the show was the sound management. All through the show, we hear the Symphony dominating the guitars of MetallicA. Unfortunately, this is a pitiful gift for any 'tallica buff. They appear to be one between the symphony rather than providing a lead for it. But for a devotee like me, it’s a new show everyday!!!! So rock on and get your show now babyyyyyyyy!!!!
posted by Ravi at 1:58 AM
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