Hey Amino, its’a me again with another gig review. June has been so busy for me musically and I’ve already been to 4 gigs and a festival this month (not taking it for granted tho). I have one more gig to go this month, so the fun isn’t over yet. I’ll be focusing on the 3rd gig I attended which was Metallica with Ghost and Bokassa at London’s Twickenham Stadium. Ya girl went all out for this gig and got one of the (less) expensive VIP tickets-the All Nightmare Long experience-which got me some merch, a poster, food and drink and entrance to the ‘Memory Remains’ exhibition plus early entry on the floor too (golden circle life boiyos).

14:30 VIP TIME

Still buzzing and crying from Slipknot, I made my way to the stadium in time to properly look at the exhibition and get merch. My mate and I got our wristbands and entered The Sanitarium Rubber Room where the buffet and exhibition were. Right away, it felt bougie af as this is the hospitality room in the stadium (I mean for the price of these tickets; I would expect it to be haha). We slowly made our way round the room. Each section had something different, from props to old flyers to lyric sheets to instruments. Any Metallica/metal fan would revel in the history that was on display. As I wandered around, different pieces of knowledge came into my mind from documentaries I’d seen and books I had read, which pleased the metal nerd in me. We also met a guy who said he had seen them 19 times which was mind-blowing to me (goals af for all my faves).

Being the 80s-aholic I am, I loved looking at all the posters and seeing all the amazing lineups that Metallica were on. It made me want a time machine even more so I could see all these legends in their prime and for cheap af (Metallica and Anthrax for £7.50 at the Hammersmith Odeon; that’ll do nicely, tyvm).

There were also props from the Through the Never film which I used to watch fairly often as a new Metallica fan.

As we walked along, we saw the awards they had received and handwritten lyric sheets which were cool.

There were old tour paraphernalia, old stage clothes and the plaque they received after playing Antarctica (even found something with Dave Mustaine’s name on it-get well soon bub!)

Probably the coolest part was where they had some of their instruments set up so you could pose and take pics with (I took some artsy ones instead of the guitars tho). I was afraid to touch the guitars at first as it felt surreal that I was that close to them but to see the damage on Lars’s drums made it seem more real.

Before we made our way to the floor, I picked up some merch with my voucher. The programme is awesome as it features band biographies and pics of them at different countries and shows. Check out my mini haul below.

5.15: Bokassa

After waiting for about an hour and also meeting the Amino Wizard, the first band were on. The Norwegian band Bokassa were interesting. Being a new band, I felt they were lost in a stadium environment as they hadn’t quite honed their craft and couldn’t win the audience over. I preferred listening to them on Spotify when I checked out their music after seeing they were on the bill. The most memorable part was when they said they were playing around with a Ouija board the night before and awoke the spirit of a 17th century chimney sweeper which the lead singer funnily put on a fake accent to pretend he had been possessed by the spirit, following with a plug for their next release. While this was odd and mildly humorous, I would rather have seen Shinedown at Maiden :wink: .

6:15: Ghost

The spooky ambience of Ashes began, and Ghost arrived on stage in their outfits ready to spook the stadium. Cardinal Copia started to sing Rats and awoke the fangirl in me. As I’d seen both Papa 3 and Cardi C do his thing before, I was used the to the sexual mannerisms and his on-stage banter. They continued by playing their fan favourites Absolution, Ritual and From the Pinnacle to The Pit. The bombastic riff of Faith began, and it reminded me what a great song this is live. An epic trilogy of Cirice, Miasma and Year Zero then followed. I always look forward to Miasma when Papa Nihil embraces the stage with his sax. My friend, who I went with, was confused but loved this part of the gig too and he asked me who he was during the set which was cool. Year Zero, being one of 2 songs that made me fall in love with Ghost was defo a highlight of the set for me. I always find myself singing the Christmas parody of this in my head as I listen to this song. The ‘heaviest song on the set’, Mummy Dust, came on, making our ‘asses wobble’. The stadium was turned into a frenzy with Dance Macabre and Square Hammer: taints tickled and all.

I enjoyed hearing their songs again live for the 3rd time but as the audience was predominately Metallica fans, I felt like I couldn’t quite get into their set how I wanted too. People seemed mixed and it made me draw comparisons to the other times I’d seen them. It made me recall my comments about the crowd at the RAH ritual (I said that I felt the crowd was a bit flat for a headlining show at a grand venue like that) and I think the crowd on that night were livelier compared to the Met fans at this gig. While I still stand by my comments about the RAH crowd, seeing the crowd at this gig made me feel better about the RAH crowd than I perceived them at the time.

Ghost - Miasma - Live at Twickenham Stadium, London, June 2019

They were also lost in a stadium, unfortunately. Ghost are one of many poster boys in modern metal, but they haven’t reached the stratospheric heights that bands did before. Maybe if it was their show in the stadium, it would have felt different, but I feel they would still need to grow into the venue. Being the avid Ghuleh I am, it saddens me that I haven’t experienced a life-changing Ghost ritual yet. Maybe I’m still in a Slipknot/Download haze and everything that I experience now won’t compare to the weekend just gone. Negative thoughts aside, Cardi C is a great persona and Tobias is a class frontman. Dance Macabre and Square Hammer bang live and I can see them growing into modern metal anthems in the future.

Ghost - Square Hammer [Live] - 6.20.2019 - Twickenham Stadium - London, England

8.00: METTTTAAALLICCCCAAAA

With all Metallica shows on the WorldWired tour, you get a free download of the soundboard recording of the night itself. My free download got sent to me as I was writing the review so I’m able to give you a detailed review on the events that happened. I’ve also pre-ordered the show on CD as a nice little keepsake for my collection.

The wait had finally ended and the ominous score of Morricone’s Ecstasy of Gold blared through the speakers, signalling 80000 Met fans to sing along with it. The Four Horseman then graced the stage to open the show with the title track from the latest release, (can it even be called that anymore?), Hardwired. James then followed this with ‘ARE YOU READY TO LET LOOSE TONIGHT, LONDON?’ and the band seeped into The Memory Remains. I always like the sing-along at the end of this song (I like sing-alongs and crowd participation anyways) as it helps me connect to the wider Metallica Famileh. It reminded me of the part in Through the Never where the band stop playing, and the crowd were singing the ‘whoa’ part. It’s an incredible sound to hear this early in the set and they only kept on giving as one of my fave Met songs, ‘Ride the Lightning’, came next and made ya girl happy beyond compare. I was missing the Tesla coils used in Through the Never, however, but seeing Kirk up close wahhing away on that solo was something. I was hypnotised by his glittery guitars all night long.

Metallica - Ride The Lightning [Live] - 6.20.2019 - Twickenham Stadium - London, England

Harvester of Sorrow followed, and this was a surprise to my friend, and he recalled how he used to play this song on guitar. I think this was my first exposure to the song and I quite enjoyed it. The pace slowed down as the opening notes of The Unforgiven began. This was a nice sentimental part of the gig and allowed us to catch our breath. Two tracks from Hardwired (Here Comes Revenge and Moth Into Flame) were then played. The pyro during Moth Into Flame was face-melting and awoke my inner pyromaniac (swear after this gig and Download, I actually think I’m a closeted one.) James then said, ‘Do you want your music heavy?’ and started Sad But True. This made me laugh a bit as it’s hardly as intense as Fight Fire With Fire or Whiplash, but you do you ‘Talllica. No Leaf Clover was quite interesting to hear and added a change in pace after the pyro-heavy Moth.

The Rob and Kirk doodle followed, and they gave us a taste of London’s finest band Iron Maiden with a version of Killers, but this was a tad ambitious as I think most of us didn’t recognise it until the album cover came up on the LED screens. Rob playing part of Orion was beautiful and seeing them pay tribute to Cliff warmed my heart. I still remember when Harry turned around and looked at me during this part, as I told him that this was one part I was looking forward too. The visual of Cliff smiling evoked sorrow in me while we were celebrating his contribution to Metallica’s hallmark sound. After the solos, the band then went into maybe the most divisive track of the night, playing Frantic from the infamous album St. Anger. It was cool hearing Frantic and was shocked when I saw it was on the setlist for the other EU shows. I still laugh at the song as I thought it was a bit bland there wasn’t much to it when I first heard it on the Some Kind of Monster documentary. The hook is what gets me with this song and to hear the fans going ‘TICK TICK TOCK’ confuffled me in the wrong way.

Where the show truly began for me was with the intro sequence to One. This being the first Met song I’d heard many moons ago on Guitar Hero 3, it was soul-tickling to finally experience live. I just love everything about this song. The sombre beginning, the gentle incline during the chorus, the marching drums before the bridge and the climax of that blistering solo. It’s a song that takes you on a journey and to hear it live spoke to me on many levels. I recognised the visuals from Through the Never which made it more emotional for me. The band transitioned into Master of Puppets, which kept the momentum going for the rest of the night. This was also a great song to sing along too. For Whom the Bell Tolls and Creeping Death were monsters live and it’s amazing how many anthems this band has in their arsenal. Probably the strongest cluster of songs for the night. I’m all for bands playing deep cuts but with a crowd this size, most people respond better to their hits. The main set closed with Seek and Destroy, awakening the Famileh to recite their call to arms.

Metallica One & Master of Puppets London 2019 live Twickenham

The Horseman returned on stage for Lords of Summer for the encore and it sounded better live than I had heard previously on the studio version. The obligatory 2 song closer of Nothing Else Matters and Enter Sandman concluded the night. The lights during NEM were beautiful and moving and this is my mum’s fave (and only) Metallica song so I was reminded of her when they played it. The lasers intersecting above me helped protect my heart from breaking. Sandman was dope live too and I loved singing along with the other fans during that chorus. It remined me of the EDM cover that Karpizzle done in his JHoffFilms video which was cool. The night ended with what seemed to be a never-ending firework display and the guys handing out pix n’ stix (Harry be a lucky boi getting 2, ya girl not be so lucky mateys). Lars finally got a chance at the microphone and out of everyone’s voice, his was the most surreal to hear in real life as I made the connection to hearing his distinct accent in documentaries I watched when I was younger. We said farewell and bid the arduous task of getting out of the stadium.

Metallica Nothing Else Matters & Enter Sandman London live 2019 Twickenham

This show was moderately paced, with songs ranging from their inception to modern ones. Ride The Lightning was the best song from the first half of the set in my opinion, with The Unforgiven a close second. As you saw, I felt it only got epic after One as this was where the crowd seemed to have the most energy. The problem with outdoor gigs in the summer is that the sun doesn’t set quickly to get the full effect of the headlining show which the majority of Metallica’s set suffered from as it only got dark after Seek and Destroy so the cool, foreboding atmosphere that came before it in songs like One and Moth into Flame was lost in the light. It made me wonder how this show would have gone on in The O2 2 years ago. Having the bois at the front huddled together past the Snakepit was another highlight. I was that close that I could hear Lars’s kit unmicced and I had to refrain from making any snare sound jokes. I liked this as it helped me recalled the reference in Through the Never being in their garage rehearsing with each other, showing a sign of youth in the metal dinosaurs. I thought the crowd would have been more intense to be around (still having ‘Nam flashbacks of Slipknot) but aside from the fights that broke out, it was pretty chill. Twickenham was a bit of a weird stadium too and didn’t give me the proper stadium feeling that I have felt before. The sound was a bit flat (or I was just too bunged up to hear properly) and the show sounds much better on the recording. Overall, it was a great gig, maybe I didn’t enjoy it as much as I would have done if I didn’t attend Download the week before. Download has put me in a trance I haven’t gotten out of yet, but I feel privileged to finally have seen the legends that are Metallica.

Metallica and Ghost playlist

Thanks for reading my blog :blush: I hope you enjoyed it. The other brit and Amino Wizard should be doing a blog on this gig too, so keep an eye out. I’ll try to have some rest before I see Pink on Sunday and Babymetal on Tuesday too (yes, scorn me to death).