April 1997 Concert
I went to the Metallica concert at the Ice Palace in Tampa on April 18, 1997. The name of the tour was "Poor Touring Me"(yeah, it's a lame name). The concert was great. There was lots of explosions, and of course great music. The stage was in the middle of the arena so Metallica did a lot of running to cover the entire crowd. The set itself was great: there were two platforms that the band would run between; each platform also had a drumset which could rotate. During King Nothing, the stage would "open up;" more specifically, each platform had a tower that rose up - very cool. There was also a lot of fog during King Nothing as well as a lot of explosions during other songs (such as One). In addition, they lit a "stage hand" (actually a stunt man) on fire and had him fall off the rafters and run around when the stage "opened up." This is the dangerous stunt that created some contoversy - not only because it was dangerous, but also because many people thought it was real. Another cool pyrotechnic was when Lars's drumset started spinning and shooting flames during Fight Fire with Fire. COC (Corosion of Conformity, the opening act) sucked, but that just makes you want to hear Metallica play even more. Metallica plays a non-stop set, so get something to drink and take a piss before the concert begins. Also, don't be a fag and get up in the middle of the concert to go buy a Metallica shirt. If you want to, buy one BEFORE or AFTER the concert; take at least $35. If you have floor seats, watch out- Lars may try to spit on you - a small worry compared to the hundreds of rabid (and drunk) fans moshing. At the Ice Palace, he tried to throw a plastic cup into the crowd but ended up hitting the mike instead (it made a cool sound).
Click here for the set list of what they played.
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