METALLICA
Rock Werchter Festival
Werchter, Belgium
July 5 , 2009

Two Metallica concerts in a row! That was an unforgettable weekend.

After the gig in Hockenheim, we drove to the Belgian city of Leuven (or Louvain), which is the closest place to Rock Werchter Festival.

Rock Werchter is one of the biggest and most popular festivals in Belgium.

It was established in 1974.

Bands who have performed at Rock Werchter through the years include Dire Straits, Elvis Costello, U2, The Ramones and Iggy Pop.

This was Metallica’s 6th time playing at Rock Werchter Festival.

To me it was the second time: 2 years earlier I was seeing Metallica headlining Werchter 2007 on this same stage.

Just like the day before, we went to the Festival only for Metallica.

We spent the day sleeping, wandering through Louvain, and got to the festival site as Nine Inch Nails were ending their set.

Just like at Sonisphere Festival Germany , there were also three fan pits at Werchter Festival: one that covered most of the festival ground, and two smaller at the front.

Fans could get to the first and second pits on a first come first served basis, but that’s also where journalists and friends of the band were.

Before the show started, we were wondering with which song Metallica would begin.

I betted for This Was Your Life, Gael and Riton betted for Blackened and Philippe for Creeping Death.

As The Ecstasy Of Gold began on the speakers we approached the moment of truth, and the winner was… Blackened! One of the best tunes to start a concert.

It was followed by For Whom the Bell Tolls and Creeping Death.

That’s when I realized that in two days I’ve heard almost the whole Ride The Lightning album played live.

Only Escape and The Call Of Ktulu weren’t performed, and anyway they never play those tunes live... Until the Sonisphere 2011...

Metallica is a band that changes its setlist every single night.

It’s not like AC/DC or Iron Maiden.

Take a look to AC/DC’s Black Ice Tour: They played the same songs every single night in every place in the world.

The only thing that changed between the Arena tour and the Stadiums tour was that the song Dog Eat Dog was added.

Iron Maiden is almost the same.
If you’re (very) lucky, they’ll change one song from one city to the next.

Iron Maiden is still my favourite band, their shows are incredible and I always try to follow a few dates. But if you don't know this and decide to follow them, it can be annoying to hear the same songs night after night. For me it isn't.

Anyway, if you like to hear different songs each night, then Metallica is the band to follow on tour.

The show in Hockenheim was great, but this one was way better!

Metallica had an incredible and clear sound.

James was singing great tonight, and talked a lot to the audience during the show.

It was Metallica's sixth show at Werchter so they were playing on a conquered land, and it looked that they were feeling at ease.

After Enter Sandman, came the time for the encores.

This time they didn’t play the riff of Michael Jackson’s Beat It, but they teased us with The Frayed Ends Of Sanity.

After a fast version of Last Caress, die-hard fans became mad again with the opener from Kill'em All: Hit The Lights.

Next stop for my friends Gael and Philippe: Metallica playing at Les Arènes de Nîmes, a ancient Roman Theatre in the city of Nîmes in Southern France.

Metallica filmed a live DVD there, I would have loved to get there but I couldn't take two days off from my job.

Nevermind, I spent a wonderful weekend attending those two concerts, and be sure that a few shows from the next Metallica Tour will be reviewed on MetalTraveller.com!

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Setlist Metallica – Rock Werchter Festival, Werchter, Belgium – July 5, 2009

01. Intro: The Ecstasy Of Gold (from The Good The Bad And The Ulgly)
02. Blackened
03. For Whom The Bell Tolls
04. Creeping Death
05. Of Wolf And Man
06. One
07. Broken, Beat And Scarred
08. Cyanide
09. Sad But True + Bass solo
10. Welcome Home (Sanitarium)
11. All Nightmare Long + Guitar Solo
12. The Day That Never Comes
13. Master Of Puppets
14. Dyers Eve
15. Guitar Solo + Nothing Else Matters
16. Enter Sandman
————————————
17. The Frayed Ends Of Sanity (Intro riff)
18. Last Caress (The Misfits)
19. Hit The Lights
20. Seek And Destroy

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