METALLICA
The Big Four at Tuborg Green Fest presented by Sonisphere Festivals
Romexpo - Bucharest, Romania
June 26, 2010

Finally it was time for the best known of the Big Four bands: Metallica.

I had the chance to see Metallica three times last year during the World Magnetic Tour: an arena show in Vienna and couple of festivals (Sonisphere Germany and Werchter). They blew my mind with an amazing show and an incredible setlist so I was expecting a lot from them.

The audience was really excited when began the intro The Good, The Bad and The Ugly with images from the movie… and they all became mad when Metallica started with Creeping Death!

The night came down during Metallica, so they used the whole lightshow and of course it was impressive.
They didn’t use a backdrop; instead there was a giant screen on the backside of the stage. The sound was clear and clean, probably one the best sounds I’ve seen for Metallica.

Metallica's setlist was very well chosen: After Creeping Death they played For Whom the Bell Tolls, then they surprised us with an ultra accelerated version of Fuel. Man, it sounded like a thrash tune!

They also gave us a couple of good surprises, like Disposable Heroes and Hit The Lights.

James dedicated Sad But True to Megadeth, Slayer, Anthrax and the audience. While playing the song, only images of the people were shown.

Except for Megadeth’s A Tout Le Monde, Metallica was the only band to play slow songs.
They played Fade To Black, Welcome Home (Sanitarium) and of course One and Nothing Else Matters.

James Hetfield played Fade To Black with an acoustic guitar, it was the first time I saw him doing this.


At one point all lights were turned off and on the giant screens appeared the Metallica Logo with the 4 M travelling in space, surrounded by comets and planets (like the Sonisphere artworks).
At the same time we heard a heartbeat, and the band started This Was Your Life. They did it with very dark lights, as they do in indoor venues, but without the laser lights.

Romania is Dracula’s land and Metallica knows it. Kirk, who was introduced as Kirk “The Ripper” Hammett, had a Dracula guitar.

Later, James Hetfield put on a couple of guitar picks in his mouth, as if those were vampire teeth.

All musicians did a great work, except as usual Lars Ulrich.

Without any doubt, he’s the least talented of all the drummers that played today!
You only need to hear One to understand that can’t play it right anymore.
Shawn Drover, Dave Lombardo and Charlie Benante do far better than Lars. But when there is such a big production and such a good sound, well, most people don’t pay attention to the drums and don’t even notice the difference between the albums and the live version.

Needless to say, Metallica’s show was great because of the sound, the production, the setlist and the performance. But what does the Big Four really means to them?

Metallica was the only band to talk about “The Big Four” on stage. This is good because they’re number one in terms of album sells. James Hetfield even showed on the screen a beautiful guitar pick where it was written “The Big Four”.

But if this means that much to them, why the only jam between the bands was held in Bulgaria? Oh, probably because that show was being broadcasted worldwide...

Was this a Metallica show with 3 high class opening acts?

Sonisphere festival would have gone sold-out by Metallica as a headliner, with or without the other bands of “The Big Four”.
But I wouldn’t have travelled as far as Bucharest just for Metallica, I went there to see the four bands.

I don’t know who invented this “Big Four” thing but it was probably the Sonisphere promoters, who have a close relationship with Metallica.

But Metallica isn't responsible for this sort of disapointment. They really played this Big Four Game.
But the Sonisphere organizers did some things wrong.
They had verything to make one of the best metal tours ever. Instead, they treated the 3 first bands as "openers", and broke all the "fraternity" of the bill.

Let’s not complain: Seeing these four bands sharing the stage was a dream come true.
Let’s just hope that it’s not the last time. Time will tell.

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Setlist Metallica – Romexpo, Bucharest, Romania – June 26, 2010

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Metallica Line-up: