Four years after their St. Anger tour, Metallica rumbled through Vancouver, BC on December 2 like a thunderous crack of lightning on the band's Death Magnetic tour for an explosive show at a sold out General Motors Place. Although James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich, Kirk Hammett, and Rob Trujillo were in town to promote the latest album Death Magnetic, the world's undefeatable heavy metal champs borrowed from their 1983 debut album and killed 'em all in Vancouver. After the release of St. Anger, the frenetic 2003 album that almost marked the demise of Metallica, the band's feverishly loyal fan base cried out for a return to the darker, heavier roots of Metallica's early days. Although Death Magnetic might not have sold diehard Metallica loyalists in search of a Kill 'Em All redux or a direct sequel to Ride the Lightning, neither of which will ever be replicated, Death Magnetic tracks such as "That Was Just Your Life", "The End Of The Line", and "Broken, Beat And Scarred" fit seamlessly into the 18 song set list. And while Metallica covered almost every base in their 25 year discography during their return to Vancouver, noticeably absent from the show were any sounds or signs of Load, Reload, and St. Anger. For Metallica fans looking for the old songs, and the heavier new ones, they got their money's worth and more. But when haven't you gotten your money's worth at a Metallica show?

Old Masters and New Puppets:

At 8:50pm, the sold out GM Place crowd was working itself into a frenzy as they waited for the lights to go down. The best way to describe a typical Metallica crowd is as if you went to a heavy metal themed state fair where a band of WWE wrestlers were the opening act for Metallica who were playing the parking lot. But the funny thing now is that Metallica fans are getting younger and more suburban. I mean, the great thing about a Metallica show is that you'll find blue collar guys and hardcore middle-aged Milfs sitting next to unemployed burn-outs, college grads, high schoolers, and everyone in between. For the record, anyone thinking that Metallica isn't luring young metalheads into the family with Death Magnetic is dead wrong. Just like Kill 'Em All and Ride the Lightning spawned the first generation of Metallica fans, every album since - even Load, Reload, and St. Anger - has added new legions of disciples to its worldwide fan base. And given the huge number of under-20s and under-18s in the crowd, it's clear Death Magnetic is spawning a brand new generation.

Unlike previous Metallica shows in Vancouver where the band used larger, more elaborate stages to accommodate their huge presence, this one was a scaled back and simple rectangular set-up with barely any bells and whistles. To most Canuck metalheads in the crowd, it probably looked like an iceless backyard hockey rink with a circular drum kit in the middle. High atop the stage, four Death Magnetic themed coffins adorned with roaming lights loomed over the crowd as the clocked ticked away. Surrounding the stage was the general admission area and accompanying trenches with a huge mosh landscape at the back end. You know its going to be a killer concert when the pit's going nuts on all sides and people are flying over the top before the show starts.

Fade to Black:

And at 9pm, GM Place went black to the sound of the band's trademark "Ecstasy of Gold" intro while a sea of lighters flickered to welcome Metallica onto the stage where four mics sat perched at each corner. In an overly politically correct day and age when concert-goers now light cells phones at concerts, the fact that so many people actually had lighters to spark was another sign that what was about to go down was exactly how a Metallica concert should be, especially for anyone who wanted the "old" Metallica. The last time I saw that many cell phones lit to a slow song at a concert instead of lighters was when I covered the Duran Duran show a few months ago. You know what I mean?

So this was my sixth Metallica show - two outdoor, a headliner at Lollapalooza in Washington, and three indoor - dating back to the early '90s. Needless to say, I've seen enough of the band live to spot the noticeable differences in a Metallica show. Although I can honestly say I've never seen a bad Metallica concert, when I saw them on the St. Anger tour things were far too rushed and less personal than normal. It was still a kick ass show, but it was like a streaking blur of adrenaline. It was an unusual get-in and get-out of town as quickly as possible, which wasn't like Metallica at all. So after picking up Death Magnetic and digging the heavier, lightning fast pace of the new tracks produced by Rick Rubin, I was hoping things would be different a sixth time around. And when the stage erupted in a unexpected, mind-blowing laser-fest, this was an altogether different live Metallica than what I saw in the past.

Riding the Lightning... Fast:

Although the lasers were short-lived through the Death Magnetic songs "That Was Just Your Life" and "The End Of The Line", the show kicked into high gear with lead-in chants for "For Whom the Bell Tolls" from the band's second album "Ride the Lightning" before little guy, spitfire Lars stood pounding on the drums as James led the band and the off-their-rocker crowd into "Ride the Lightning". So when I mentioned it was an altogether different Metallica show, we were already four songs in and "Bell" and "Lightning" were history, two songs that are usually reserved for mid-concert ramp up. So when the lights went out again and James disappeared underneath the by-now-completely-insane moshfest, the sound of machine guns and the sight of fire shooting from the stage to signal the classic epic "One" from And Justice for All was another surprise. Five songs in and "One" was gone, too. If you've ever been to a Metallica show, you know it only gets better.

The Thing That Should... Was Different:

But what was also different than the St. Anger show and some of the live performances I've caught on TV and YouTube in the years since is that Metallica sounded better and tighter than ever. Even on Death Magnetic James Hetfield's vocals don't sound quite like they used to on a few tracks. But on this night, Metallica was nearly pitch perfect on all fronts. Look, all Metallica fans know how great they are live (and I'm one of them) but this was something else. It was a passion and energy that I haven't seen from the band in years. If the Vancouver show doesn't wind up on a future live DVD release, I will be shocked, it was that great. After introducing and keeping the pace alive with the new "Broken, Beat And Scarred", which James described as a song about pushing through struggles, the only noticeable low point came during "Cyanide" from Death Magnetic when you could feel the crowd's energy level slowly fade away as if they were the ghosts of Vixen, Winger, Cinderella or any number of hair-metal bands from the '80s. That is until James got everyone's fists pumping and back to a high by mid-tune.

The next phase of the show was a full on assault from days gone by - "Sad But True", "Anywhere I Roam", and "No Remorse" - before slipping in the first "Death Magnetic" single "The Day That Never Comes", which was a hit with fans, and then headfirst to "Master of Puppets" and "Battery". After a break that saw now veteran guitarist Kirk Hammett slow things down with a haunting solo, the lighters sparked again for the best rendition on "Nothing Else Matters" I've seen and heard since 1993, with the crowd in perfect chorus. And with Hetfield on his knees at the end of the song, doubled over his guitar, head slumped to the stage as if he were feeling the raw emotion of the song underneath a lone spotlight, silence fell over the crowd before the still slumped James slowly picked at the first few bars of "Enter Sandman". Like I said, there was a passion from the band I haven't seen in years and it was an unexpected surprise for an intro to "Sandman". It was different and fresh.

And... Justice for All:

After two hours and the crowd still jacked on a metal feeding frenzy, the first encore came where Metallica burst into two covers from the past - a raw version of their staple of Diamond Head's "Am I Evil" from the Kill 'Em All reissue and their Grammy winning cover of Queen's "Stone Cold Crazy" - before exiting the stage. When the band returned for their second and final encore, James demanded the house lights be turned on so everyone could party their guts out together in plain view to "Seek and Destroy" as a mass of black balls rained down from the roof on everyone and stage as the band played on. When the explosive night was over, GM Place was a mess and the crowd was exhausted. It was exactly how a Metallica show should play out. Fans wanted a new album with a heavier sound and faster pace that would tap into the band's roots while still preserving the legacy of the older material. That's exactly what they got on December 2 at GM Place as Metallica killed Vancouver and left a trail of 'Death' in the best way possible.