Reviewed: Metallicaat Marlay Park, Dublin
TWO HOURS through a traffic-clogged city and our initial reward is Kyle Gass from Tenacious D dressed as a lizard. Jack Black and Gass are funny in parts and their famous hit Tribute makes the speakers rattle and hum, before finishing off their rock/comedy turn with Mexico. All done well, with a few kung fu guitar riffs thrown in for good measure.
Rockers of all ages continued to drift in and the weather held as AC/DC (obviously not in person), pounded the PA and warmed up the crowd with A Long Way to the Top. It's cut short by Metallica's intro, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly soundtrack, with which the crowd joins in. A mighty roar goes up and fists are flung aloft as the band rips straight into Creeping Death. The sound is like thunder and makes your body shake.
Next comes a fierce version of Ride the Lightning. "Dublin gets loud tonight," roars frontman James Hetfield as searing balls of fire leap up on both sides of the stage.
The rest of the show is a good mix, drawing on the heaviness of old classics such as Master of Puppets, which has kept its power since 1985.
Resilient favourite Fade to Black and the more recent The Memory Remains, though, are a little lacking.
We are treated to Cyanide, from the new album, Death Magnetic.
Cyanide has a touch of their old hit Blackened and is strong, old-school Metallica - about as far as you can get from the terrible St Anger album of 2003. This new music will delight old and loyal fans and no doubt win them a few new ones.
A birthday tribute was paid to Phil Lynott when the band stormed through their cracking version of Whiskey in the Jar while guitarist Kirk Hammett declared to the crowd that his dad is from Ireland.
A lengthy encore set featured Last Caress and So What, the shocker that MTV would not let them perform, and perhaps Metallica's most successful hit, Enter Sandman. They closed the night with a monolithic version of Seek and Destroy.
It was a breath-taking, heart-pounding show and the new material seems to be a return to their heavier, more exciting form. This vintage outfit shows every sign of being around and rocking for a long time yet.
