Metallica Rocks Boise, ID 11/28/18

Metallica

The name says it all. Growing up in the 1990’s, my mother was your typical “rocker chick,” who was raising a young boy, with her big hair, bright colored pants and a band tee, cassette player on the hip, and always listened to great tunes. I was brought up on the hair and thrash metal of the 80’s and 90’s. When people say that style of music is gone, they’re mistaken!

You can mention the name Metallica to anyone in the world, they will more than likely know the opening licks to “Enter Sandman,” or the unmistakable intro to “One.” This band has had a career that has crossed generations.

With Metallica’s history, comes the intense concerts, and on a Wednesday in November, Boise, Idaho was in for a treat. Still on tour supporting their 2016 release, Hardwired... to Self-Destruct, Metallica is known for selling out arenas, stadiums, and headlining festivals all over the world. The 2018 leg of WorldWired Tour (which is Two Years long and 159 dates we may add) made its stop at the Taco Bell Arena in Boise. Metallica was greeted with over 12,000 fans in the SOLD OUT venue. Given the incredible audience, Metallica’s stage was set in a very cool fashion, a square shape in the center of the arena. There was no stage at the end of the arena like you’d typically see. This was great because there were absolutely no blind spots. Anyone could see the action from all sides.

Warming up the sell out crowd was none other than Comedian Jim Breuer, who had the whole place rockin’ before a full evening of Metallica. When it was time for one the Big 4 to take the stage, the lights dimmed, and all you hear is faint sounds of “The Ecstacy of Gold” playing in the background to heighten the intensity. Then all of a sudden you have “Hardwired” blaring in your face and the four Masters rise from below the stage to rip heads off for the next two plus hours.

Spanning a 40+ year career, and selling over 110 Million Records, this is the band that any up and coming artist should be looking to strive to become. Not only do their Ten Studio Albums absolutely blow away the competition, those are the types of masterpieces that take time creating. Some bands are around nearly half this time and have twice as many records. Point is, perfection takes time.

Early Days. Each of these men started their careers at a young age, and for James and Lars, these men started in a garage in California and played for each other and their friends. They played for the passion. The garage days are since long gone, however a piece of that same garage is with them on this tour. James Hetfield had gotten a piece of the wood from the garage and had a custom guitar made from it so that it would literally play pieces written from Garage Days Inc.

Tour life. It wasn’t all luxury, stadium shows, and private jets. Building the Metallica brand took years, trials and tribulation, band member changes, death, differences of opinion, and so on. Metallica has seen it all, especially dealing with the tragic death of original bassist Cliff Burton. In the accident which left Metallica without a bassist to fill the massive shoes of Burton, they would eventually call on Robert Trujillo which we will say did an incredible job during the signature Burton solo on "(Anesthesia) - Pulling Teeth.”

Their Shows. The powerful set in Boise included 18 insane hits, pyro, Co2 charges, amazing light shows, and most of all, masterful music. From the moment that Metallica takes the stage, to the very end when the house lights come up, the energy is raw, the show is intense, and there are no breaks.

Metallica continues its US Tour through March of 2019, then heads to Europe through August of 2019. Check their site for tour dates and enhanced experiences! Check out the Slideshow below from Boise!