While Some said they've been busy waiting since 30 years others were busy venting their minds and mouths out amidst the air of "now what,Bangalore!?!?!". Little did they know about the infamous antics of the legendary rhythmic frontman ever,james alan hetfield !!!!But the fanbase here in blore were not disappointed.
Boy,the news of Alcoholica hittin the lights in they'r second leg of Indian tour in blore Fuel'd up all those souls who were waiting to Jump in the fire. All hell's broke loose on Sun the 30th of october 2011 ,the day which would certainly go down in the books for the band as well as the Indian music scene. A massive 50,000 odd fans waiting for the band to kill 'em all was reminiscent of the Moscow 91 gig which had a whooping 1.5 million estimated fans.Again,it wasnt about the numbers for us...it was all about witnessing creeping death,fade to black,for whom the bell tolls,one,blackened,whiplash,master of puppets,ride the lightening,etc fucking LIVE ! Well,"biffy clyro" were eventually successful for the evening at "we are the best fillers" act beltin out all of der songs that dey wuld ve come up with in their lifetime,which was annoying and made everyone loose their cool and hurl some of the slangs much to the band's surprise.Now we had to bare them for two hours along with a raw drizzin rain ! The last thing u really wanted is a delhi fiasco at this point of time.
If Blore was such a fool,bands like sepultura,megadeth,maiden,lamb of god would surely not 've marked there territories here.So did the greatest thrash band after 30 years of being together as a band did on this very day.How often do you get to see the band which u've grown up listening,which u've grown up worshipin? was a question of the past !!!!Now,How Heavy and how bloody awesome can a concert get when u pay 2750 rs for it ! ? ! The answer was "ecstasy of gold".oh boy,the crowd erupts to the welcome song much to the likes of the band waiting to unleash themselves. This is when the crowd goes nuts when they see james hetfield and even more when kirk makes his presence felt followed by trujillo with the first song for the night being "creeping death".First few seconds into this song,intoxicated was the crowd goin berserk listening to the bell chimes which was reminiscent of Cliff burtons distortion and wah-wah. Watta legendary bass player he was, R.I.P Cliff . I wished there was somethin like a "cliff 'em all" concerts in memory of Late Clifford Lee Burton.....umm movin on,now it was not only james but it was 50,000 odd shouting "take a look to the sky just before u die,its the last time u will" "for whom the bell tolls,time marches on,for whom the bell tolls...." der lungs out ! By now v did make an annoying attempt of gettin more closer to the first barricade but suddenly james goes "gimme fuel gimme fire gimme that which i desire" which certainly stoked the flame up in all souls out der so much so that u could witness the passion,the respect,the enthusiasm soaring high ! Next up was some real heavy unadultrated treat from their second album "ride the lightning",the tittle song was followed by fade to black -> this is one song which talks bout "obsession with death" and this one is my personal fav as well as to most o 'tallica fans, be it for lars offbeat,be it for some insane riff's and must say trujillo did an exceptional job with this song but cliff literally killed it in his version.Next up was cyanide from their latest and one of the worst albums ever except for a song or two followed by "The Memory Remains", again the crowd were too fking good to sing somethin wrong .u turn left,right,front,back u culd find james almost everywhere.Like i said earlier the tushino airstrip in Moscow had their large headcount to boast off,likewise Montreal was known for causing third degree burns to james, now bangalore would be specially remembered for the crowd going ra ra ra ra ra ra ra in one iteration or another where the band stops for a moment just to listen to 50,000 fans chanting ! And boy...we could certainly tell james and lars were flabbergast'd.Finally they did put an end to the unstopping chorus with "welcome home" which was cliff's last song with the band before his sad demise and the guitar solo's at the end really gets onto you and some insane heavy drum solo aswell. Midway through and James precariously speaks about his love for this country and takes on how life changes when u visit India."sad but true" delhi was a shame but not bangalore anymore baby !
Eponymous it surely was....And having got a perfect setlist v were hopin that they play some old school which they did right away,it was the "ONE" u've been awaiting the most ! it was one venom of a song with the machine gun accompanied with some helicopter take off sound backdrop giving way to james rhythm intro and kirk's distortion gets heavy and heavier makin it a perfect setting for Mr.Lars to kick in with some double bass. This was the song i was waiting for.That was like metallica's response to all Trooper fans out der strangely ! Much heavier and more tight ! Things around now got heavier and gasping for more just then v saw the master's comin.Dats rite,this was undoubtedly the heaviest track of the night with 3 odd minutes into the track people were not just singin but also in sync air guitaring to the longest instru flawslessly belted by kirk.Next,some treat for newsted fans with "blackened" which is known for the reverse dual guitar solo intro but james unintentionally fumble's on this one playin the wrong tune but gets back with ease ! These guys are really gifted when it comes to covering up the flaws,amazing i say....all i did for this song was hurl "Blackened is the end,Winter it will send" damn i knew one line atleast :P. Now hetfield had somethin to dedicate to his love and so did all who had turned up with the so called "metal chicks" with "nothing else matters"..it was like the crowd was next to flawless doing the vocals on this one.Now enter'd Sandman with an intent of saying goodbye to the crowd but how the hell can they leave without a Seek & Destroy. Forced were they, to play two more which included their tribute to the band diamond head with "Am i evil" and wat do u expect a band to close out on when they've started HEAVY , it def. has to end insanely heavier and they did hit the sweet spot with "Battery" followed by "Seek and Destroy". What a fucking end to the most awaited gig ever in the Indian music scene.Thou,they did miss out on quite a few good one's say whiplash and jump in the fire etc to name a few but they started out with the album kill 'em all and ended with the same ! \m/ wat more do u want ! It was one heck of a night which will certainly be remembered for the rain,for the beer,for the passionate crowd,for the pyro,for the broken back and a limp,for james' Oh Yeah !!! ,for trujillo's prolifically wild stage presence,for kirk's insanely gifted riff's and certainly lars comfirming they'd love to comeback(def. a hoax) and most importantly the band itself.
They have been there,done that and have run the gauntlet of what a band goes through.Be it the frontman gettin over his crippled alcoholism,be it the band throwing out a man who's ended up a mindfucking 16 times in ICU and then giving birth to Megadeth,or be it the band witnessing their bassist crushed by a tour bus.They ve come a long way thrashin' all with their music & inspiring people worldwide with their greatest strength to conquer people but somewhere down the line looking at this band or anyother band perform u'd ask yourself how the hell they do it !?!..................
Well, in the words of Mr.Angus Young "If you think it's easy doin' one night stands , Try playin' in a rock roll band".
PS : *one shot write-up ....kindly ignore all sorts of error's that u jump into.Cheers.\m/
