The Four Horsemen

Metallica! months and months of anticipation came down to this.. and now, some 12 hours after the show.. throats still hoarse, ears still ringing, necks still stiff and every muscle in the body sore.. the thought still registers bright - we watched Metallica live!! for one second during the show, my eyes welled up, when it suddenly hit me that really is Metallica, and this is me here.. one of the targets in my life achieved, another item in the "To Do In Life" list checked off. sank, arul, vip and i went together.. and we had great seats too, some 30-40 yards from stage, with ample elevation. they had set an amazing stage, with the whole thing rotating, and two main platforms, a bridge between both and equipment booths under that! tons and tons of lights, girders hanging off the icehockey rink's jumbotron, wild pyrotechnics and flamethrowers that spewed flames 20 feet into the air!

at exactly 9 pm, the lights went out! amid strains of ennio morricone's score for the movie "The Good, The Bad & The Ugly" - 'Ecstasy Of Gold', and security torches flashing like a SWAT team.. four shadows clad in black made their way through the throngs and got on stage.. and exploded into 'Blackened', then 'Fuel'!! they looked good, sounded good and got everyone totally delirious! "Hello Buffallloooo.. are you alive? Are you feeling alive?" The crowd, as one, pumped their fists in the air to the thunderous cheer of "hey, hey, hey..."

they then went into 'The Four Horsemen', which was very poignant for many reasons - four members of Metallica, four members of Godsmack, four of us.. perfect! they stuck to their strengths, the older albums.. and they came, they rocked, and they f**kin' conquered!! james growling in his gravelly voice, lars beating the shit out of the drums, angelic-smiling kirk and his guitar - lost in his own personal heaven, and the australopithecine rob, bouncing around on bended knees, alternatingly wielding his bass like an axe and a machine gun!!

all the older albums got good coverage.. the 'Black' album was amply played.. some of the singles were 'No Remorse', 'Disposable Heroes', 'Fight Fire With Fire', 'Fade To Black', 'Enter Sandman'.. then 'No Leaf Clover' got a huge response.. but not as big as 'Sad But True', but even that was topped by 'Master Of Puppets'!! Then came a lull.. and silence.. punctuated by gunfire and a haunting voice, disembodied, calling out to his father.. (does anyone know the song yet?) before the whole stage erupted in lights, flames and explosions.. the scene was a battlefield.. and the song was.. (anyone? everyone?!).. yes, the song was 'One'.. and the explosions were so loud, that for a second you would have thought you were in the battlefield!!

after a short break, they started their encore with 'The Thing That Should Not Be', and they ended it all with the impressive, gut-wrenching, bloodcurdling screams of 'Seek N' Destroy'!! after an extended session of applause and adulation.. they finally left the building. Words fail me even now as to how i felt last night, so i shall leave it at that.