Metallica arrived in Ottawa on October 7th for a show that, quite honestly, surprised me. Despite all the noise about rehab and never ending infighting, the performance was a memorable one. $110 worth of private suite beer certainly helped my mood which was beginning to sour thanks to flaky Corel Centre sound (again).

For opening band Godsmack, it was ‘mission accomplished’ in terms of getting the crowd riled up. They were extremely loud, extremely tight, and definitely a good choice to lead the show. So impressive were they, I began to wonder if they were going upstage the main act.

Those concerns were quickly diminished once Metallica took the stage, opening back-to-back with Blackened (And Justice For All) and Fuel (Re-Load). From that point on, the band rocked hard and fast through nearly two and a half hours including two full encores. The remarkably young crowd (were you alive when Kill ‘Em All was released?) remained utterly frenzied throughout the entire show, no doubt mostly due to a mixture of sheer volume and seriously intimidating pyrotechnics.

Lars Ulrich was his usual self, beating his kit violently and stopping only to tease the crowd during an extended, chord-filled Rob Trujillo bass solo. Kirk Hammett was flawless during the entire night and through an inspired solo of his own.

For his part, James Hetfield was downright chatty, dropping an obligatory “Ottawa, you kick ass!” and, “I’m not the only one who thinks Metallica should come around here more than every fucking seven years!” making reference to the group’s last Ottawa appearance in 1997 during the Poor Touring Me tour.

There was a bizarre moment mid-show that generated some sideways glances — Hetfield seemed to rant slightly without rhyme or reason (paraphrased from memory):

“Ottawa, did you bring your anger tonight? Dump your anger on me. I can take it. Are you angry, Ottawa? It doesn’t matter, because you brought what you needed to bring, and this is the best and safest place to bring it out tonight, here with me.”

Highlights included (courtesy of Live Metallica):

  • The first time Harvester Of Sorrow (And Justice For All) was been played on this leg of the Madly In Anger With the World tour 2004.
  • The third time The Unforgiven (Metallica; The Black Album) has been performed in North America since Tallahassee, FL on February 21, 1993.
  • The second time The Memory Remains (Re-Load) was played on this leg of the Madly In Anger With the World tour 2004.
  • The first time The Prince (Garage Inc.) has been performed in North America since New York City on November 24, 1998. That show was during the Garage Inc. promo tour at the Roseland Club.

I wasn’t able to get a set list, unfortunately, but you can get an idea of the album coverage from Live Metallica.