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11/10/2009 Metallica, Lamb Of God, Volbeat (Buffalo, NY @ HSBC Arena)

By Eric | November 12, 2009 6:06 pm

The Day That Never Comes finally came. The tickets for this show went on sale in March, we all managed to get the day off of work, and we were more than ready. Pete, Jerry, and Jerry’s brother Joe met at my place, we loaded the cooler, and took off westward. We stopped in NT to pick up Sara, and headed to our lunch destination, Duff’s! Food and wings later, we milled around the Galleria for awhile, and then rolled down to the arena to tailgate around 3:15. Gradually the lot filled with people for the show, and after a bit of street meat, and a lot of beer, we saw the doors open, so we got in a rather fast-moving line and got inside right around 6pm.

We got out to the floor, and I was amazed at how many people WEREN’T on the floor. We got a barrier spot right on one of the corners, and never moved all night. Since the stage was set up right in the middle of the floor, you could see from any spot. We had a great view, easy access to the concourse for drinks, and cool people around us (save for one cropduster. Bastard.) The first band on was Volbeat, from Denmark. They must be friends with Lars, because there’s no other reason they should have been on the bill, at all. Sounded like a bar band. Definitely not impressed. Next up was Lamb Of God, who I was obviously excited for. They sounded good, however, I much prefer to see them in a club. It’s not the same seeing them in a huge place with a ton of people who could probably care less. Having said that, they rocked it hard, there were more than a handful of people who did want to see them and were singing along, and all of the guys utilized the room on stage to run around a bit. This was the first time I’d seen them since Wrath came out, so it was cool to hear some of those tunes, plus the old favorites. They actually had a good portion of the crowd yelling with …Something To Die For. Setlist: The Passing, In Your Words, Set to Fail, Walk With Me In Hell, Now You’ve Got Something To Die For, Ruin, Dead Seeds, Laid to Rest, Redneck, Black Label.

Walk With Me In Hell

After all this, there was still practically no one behind us on the floor. Maybe they just didn’t like our corner, because the rest of the floor looked packed. Easily the most room I’ve ever had at a concert of this magnitude. I’ve been packed in tighter on the lawn at Darien Lake! Anyway, after a bit of a wait, the lights dimmed, the pre-recorded music came on, and Metallica emerged to a thunderous roar from the crowd. They started with two off of the new Death Magnetic album (Just Your Life and End Of The Line) and a cool laser light show, then the first real big crowd pop was for song 3: Creeping Death. (Made the guys in the upper-deck happy, as they had a banner asking for the song!) After this and No Remorse, the first really spectacular song of the night was One. Between the pyro, the fans singing along, Kirk coming to play the solo right in front of us, and the band itself playing a great version of the song, it was easily a highlight of the set.

One

A couple more new ones, then a rousing take on Sad But True, and a pleasant surprise for me, Turn The Page. Later on, a couple of massive crowd-pleasers in Master of Puppets, Nothing Else Matters, and the main set ended with Enter Sandman. Coming back for the encore, they teased us with a bit of The Outlaw Torn before going old-old-school with Blitzkrieg and Phantom Lord. For the closer, they turned on the house lights and played in full view, and Seek & Destroy was certainly deserving of it. During the song, they released a ton of black beach balls with Metallica logos on them, which turned the show into even more of a spectacle at the end.

Seek and Destroy

Overall, I was beyond impressed with the show, from the light show, pyro, song selection, and most importantly, the band itself. They sounded tight, loud, they ROCKED, they interacted with the crowd all around the stage all night, it was simply everything an arena rock/metal show should be, and then some. Well worth the money.

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[As an epilogue, I gave the guys the real Buffalo food treatment after the show, as we picked up some Mighty Taco. Perfect way to cap off the night!]

Setlist:
That Was Just Your Life
The End Of The Line
Creeping Death
No Remorse
One
Broken, Beat And Scarred
Cyanide
Sad But True
Turn The Page
All Nightmare Long
The Day That Never Comes
Master Of Puppets
Damage, Inc.
Nothing Else Matters
Enter Sandman
– – – – – – – –
Blitzkrieg
Phantom Lord
Seek and Destroy

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