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LEEDS FESTIVAL 22 August 2008

METALLICA, TENACIOUS D, AVENGED SEVENFOLD

Upon starting up Get Ready To ROCK!, today was precisely what we are all dedicating a large chunk of our lives to, the uplifting experience of pure hard rock heaven.

In all honesty Friday at Leeds festival was a series of dramatic highs and disheartening lows.

Firstly the news that Slipknot were not going to appear anymore was a devastating blow for a lot of fans, especially as it was rumoured that the lead singer Corey Taylor had prior commitments with Stone Sour.

The first band to really make an impact was American hard rockers Avenged Sevenfold with what seemed to be so far, an undisputable reputation. With a million selling album and the rare occasion of an underground rock band to brake through on commercial radio, it must be said a lot was probably expected from these guys.

A brilliant entrance then broke Avenged Sevenfold onto the Leeds festival scene. Short lived, singer M. Shadows then announced that coincidently the whole band had woken up with flu that very morning, tragic! The whole band have flu, not a cold, FLU! , therefore unfortunately the band only managed four songs, well three if you don't count their last song 'A little piece of heaven' which they made an audience member sing for them.

Rightly, Avenged Sevencold then exited the stage to an array of boos from much disappointed fans. The irony here is that Keith Richards can complete a world tour shortly after a brain operation, almost triple their age but these guys can't finish a fourth five minute set with a sore throat.

After Avenged Sevencold's somewhat disheartening performance Jack Black's Tenacious D injected the crowd with a much needed adrenaline boost. Although not vast amounts can be said about the actual music, Tenacious D provided a lot of entertainment and the stage show was fantastic which involved a dancing robot, Jack Black in a wizards costume and his accomplice in an alligator, literally. A fun and energetic performance on the whole for Tenacious D, definitely not worthy of any type of heavy criticism.

The arrival or Heavy Metal legends Metallica unsurprisingly blew all the previous bands out of the water. Immediately establishing a great connection with the crowd Metallica rocked out with song 'Seek and Destroy'.

It became clear early on that the Rock Legends were somewhat aware of the previous let downs the Leeds crowd had endured that day and had no intention of doing the same.

Fierce and dedicated front man James Hetfield seemed to bless the stage with his rock godly presence, turning the crowd into a mass of roaring lions. Metallica most definitely lived up to their reputation of being an exciting, thrilling heavy metal band.

Metallica played a magnificent two hour set. Songs included most of the golden oldies such as 'Nothing else matters', 'Sad but true' and 'Master of puppets'. Also Metallica performed a couple of new songs from the highly anticipated new album 'Death Magnetic'. These songs were 'Cyanide', a brilliant concoction of catchy riffs and awesome soloing, and their new single, 'The day that never comes'.

Although Metallica's most recent album St Anger did not gain too many positive reviews from the fans and appeared to be a bit of a let down despite reaching chart position 1 in the states,  new album 'Death Magnetic' - Metallica's twelfth studio album - produced by Rick Rubin proves to be in very much the old style of Metallica with many fist pumping hard rock anthems.

'Death Magnetic' is scheduled for release on September the 12.
 

Review by Betsy Green