![\"Image\"](\"http:\/\/www.houstonmusicreview.com\/mambo\/images\/stories\/2008concert\/112008-metallica1.jpg\" "\\"Image\\"")
<\/p>\nThe evening started out with a spirited performance by The Sword.\u00a0 With J.D. Cronise up front on vocals, Trivett Wingo on drums, Bryan Richie on bass, and Kyle Shutt on guitar, these guys put on a good opening act.\u00a0 Many of the Metallica fans missed these guys, but for those that did show up, they were treated to a fun performance by a fresh group.\u00a0 The only detraction from their performance was the sound mix.\u00a0 The guitars and drums came across well, but the sound mixers allowed the vocals to be lost in the heavy rhythms cranked out by The Sword.\u00a0 The Sword is definitely worth checking out online at www.myspace.com\/thesword<\/span><\/u><\/a> and at www.swordofdoom.com<\/span><\/u><\/a> .<\/p>\n As more fans arrived to witness a performance by the metal gods from Metallica, they were treated to the sounds of some rock\/metal demigods that make up Down.\u00a0 Phil Anselmo, lead vocalist for Down, worked to get the crowd amped up for Metallica.\u00a0 He has plenty of experience along these lines stemming from his time in Pantera.\u00a0 Along with Rex Brown, also of Pantera fame, Anselmo worked the audience between songs with forceful prompts laced with language that would have landed him in the La Marque jail, or at the very least, escorted out of the La Marque Walmart.<\/p>\n Luckily, this was a heavy metal crowd and they responded well to his approach.\u00a0 As for Down\u2019s music, they promote themselves as a southern rock\/heavy metal band, and they delivered.\u00a0 The music definitely encouraged serious fist pumping and head banging.\u00a0 Anselmo and Brown were joined by Pepper Keenan on guitar, Kirk Windstein on guitar, and drummer Jimmy Bower.\u00a0 Learn more about Down at www.down-nola.com<\/span><\/u><\/a> .<\/p>\n As entertaining as The Sword and Down were, everyone was there for Metallica.\u00a0 The stage was set up in the middle of the Toyota Center, so the bands were surrounded by the standing room only crowd.\u00a0 As such, the stage was fairly plain in its look and function.\u00a0 Stage hands did not have much to do in order to prepare the stage for Metallica once Down completed their set.\u00a0 Many wondered what the show would look like, especially when large hazers, one on each end of the arena, began to blow haze into the arena approximately 20 minutes prior to Metallica going on stage.\u00a0 Also visible with the house lights on were 8 large coffins, similar to the coffin shown on the cover of Metallica\u2019s latest album \u201cDeath Magnetic\u201d.\u00a0 These large coffins were light fixtures, four fixed, and four floating, adjustable lighting fixtures cabled over the stage.<\/p>\n The questions about the hazers were answered as soon as the house lights went out and Metallica took the stage.\u00a0 Lasers and spot lights took over, and what the stage lacked under house lights was quickly converted into form and movement provided by the optical effects.\u00a0 This method was genius in that it allowed the band to play to all sides of the stage yet still have \u201cform\u201d to the stage that would not be in the way of any of the rabid fans.\u00a0 Once the house lights went off, the fans went ballistic.\u00a0 James Hetfield\u2019s masterful interaction with the crowd just kept the whole audience at a fever pitch during their two hour set.\u00a0 Adding to Hetfield\u2019s mastery on vocals and guitar were an animalistic performance by Robert Trujillo on bass, a splendid guitar by Kirk Hammett, and a killer show on percussion by Lars Ulrich.<\/p>\n Metallica\u2019s music set was a near perfect mix of new and old.\u00a0 Their musical resume could easily fill a concert six hours long, so the odds of catching everyone\u2019s favorites are slim.\u00a0 But the crowd\u2019s reaction showed that the choices were great.\u00a0 Highlights included a heart pounding rendition of \u201cMaster of Puppets\u201d that had the crowd screaming along and \u201cOne\u201d that showed some pyrotechnic surprises built into the stage.\u00a0 They finished off the night with another audience participation song, \u201cSeek and Destroy\u201d that included large Metallica beach balls raining down upon the standing room only crowd on the arena floor.<\/p>\n As a long time fan of the group, I have wanted to see them live since 1988.\u00a0 20 years later, and the wait was very much worth it.\u00a0 For those that could not catch the show, Metallica offers MP3 recordings of every concert now.\u00a0 Just point your computer to www.livemetallica.com<\/span><\/u><\/a> and purchase the download from Thursday\u2019s concert.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Written by David Herriott Nov 20, 2008 at 07:00 PM For one night, the home of the Houston Rockets and Houston Aeros was transformed into the epicenter of Heavy Metal fanaticism.\u00a0 Fans, both new and old, came to pay homage to one of the greatest rock bands in history: Metallica.\u00a0 Opening up for Metallica were… <\/p>\n