Permanently Midnight

A diary of my experience during Metallica’s M72 World Tour stop at Stade Olympique in Montreal in August 2023

When I was in high school, I had a 12 speed Schwinn. I loved that bike, I rode it all around Bergen County, New Jersey. It felt great to get out of the house and go as far away as I could. It didn’t matter if I had somewhere to go, or I just wanted to enjoy a long ride. I rode it every day it was not raining.

One night, I was waiting at a red light on the corner of Union and Jackson in Rutherford. A grey-bearded biker on a Harley stopped next to me. He looked at me and nodded, and when the light changed, he took off. It was fast and loud.

If you ever watched the show, picture the reaction Beavis and Butthead had whenever they saw Todd. That was what the moment was like for me. I slowly peddled away on my Schwinn and decided that someday I needed an upgrade to what that guy was riding.

Around that same time, I saw my first Metallica concert.

Wednesday

It was time to head to Montreal for my next Metallica M72 World Tour weekend. I flew to the first one in Paris, and the second one in East Rutherford was a simple six-mile drive from home. But for Montreal, I was going to use my favorite form of transportation, my 2006 Harley-Davidson Fat Boy FLSTFI.

My favorite mode of transportation

My objective for the day was to take the scenic route through the Catskills and Adirondacks and finish the day near the Canadian border. I managed to stay up until 2 AM on Tuesday so I could finish my blog about the New Jersey Metallica weekend, so I slept in and did not pack until the morning.

The forecast between Wednesday and my projected return date of the following Monday was somewhat chilly and rainy so I had to pack both my jacket and rain gear, in addition to everything else I needed so I was at luggage capacity when I finished packing.

Since I was running late, I had to truncate my plans somewhat. I got on the bike, headed for the New Jersey Turnpike, pointed north, and hammered the throttle. I slogged through the Bergen County traffic on Route 17, survived the suicide merge onto I-87, and got on the New York State Thruway. I exited at Saratoga Springs, which was further north than I wanted to go on the Interstate.

Not wanting to travel on the Interstate is a concept that is hard to explain to people who do not ride motorcycles. Car drivers tend to only drive when they have a destination in mind and take the most efficient route between two points. But when you are on a motorcycle, the experience is completely different. You are connected to the road and its surroundings. You can feel everything, see everything, and smell everything. It is an exhilarating feeling that does not compare to being inside of a climate-controlled car.

I stopped for lunch in downtown Saratoga Springs at a Mexican restaurant called Cantina and got on route 9D. I’ve been on 9D several times and it felt like home. I headed north through the tourist trap area of Lake George. 9D hugs the lake through Bolton and Bolton landing. The tourist traffic dissipated further north and I was able to enjoy the scenic views of the lake to my right.

Historical marker along Lake George
Parked along Lake George

Route 9D eventually multiplexed with Route 22, and I took 22 the rest of the way north. I’ve been on the southern end of 22 dozens of times, but I have never taken it this far north. Route 22 is labeled as part of the Lakes to Locks scenic route along Lake Champlain, and it did not disappoint. It passed through several small hamlets and towns, and I even saw what appeared to be Amish in horse-drawn carriages.

At around 7 PM, I stopped at a gas station to look for a hotel. The furthest north that there were any hotels near me was in Plattsburgh, New York. I booked the cheapest room I could find and settled for the night. I finished the day at 325 miles on the trip meter, about 180 of which were off major highways. It was not the epic trip I had envisioned, but I had no complaints. It was a beautiful day, and I was just getting started.

Thursday

I woke up and charted a course out of America and into Canada. I knew time was of the essence, the forecast was horrible starting at around lunchtime.

I headed north on US-9 towards Champlain. I spend a lot of time on US-9 in New Jersey, and it is quite a contrast in northern New York. It was much more serene and scenic in those parts. I hooked a right and headed east towards Rouses Point and took the Vermont Bridge over Lake Champlain into the Green Mountain State, and then north on 225 to the border.

I stopped at customs on the Canadian side and was greeted by the border guard with a firm scowl. He took my passport and gave me the standard interrogation, asking me where I’m from, why I came, when I’m leaving, and what I do for a living. He asked why I came from New Jersey and crossed the border in Vermont. Another person who does not understand why I would take local roads on a motorcycle instead of the Interstate. Seemingly reluctantly, he said I could go ahead and enter Canada, his frown never wavering.

The road on the Canadian side is also numbered 225. The southern border region of Quebec is full of farmland and was very pleasant to pass through.

I knew I was running out of time before the weather forced me to head for the hotel, so I charted course along the Richelieu River for a while before heading west over the river and towards the St. Lawrence River, and then headed south towards Montreal.  The totality of the ride was an interesting mix of farmland, strip malls, and industrial parks. I made the most of what time I had. I finished the day with 110 miles, a relatively low total by my standards.

I got to the hotel and checked in before the skies opened. It did not rain as early as I thought, but when it did, it was ugly, so I did the right thing by getting off the road. With some time to kill, I headed to the Metallica pop up store.

Another Metallica pop up store

Susan was supposed to fly up and join me for dinner. The weather system was bad in New Jersey, too and her flight was cancelled so our dinner plans were cancelled. I met up with Steve, a Metallica fan I met at my last Metallica concert in Montreal in 2017. We grabbed dinner at 3 Brasseurs McGill.

Canada’s Greatest Metallica Fan along with myself

He had a handful of Metallica fans with him, and their lifetime Metallica history puts mine to shame. One of them is going to every North American show on the tour this year and next.

They took me to a vantage point on the St. Lawrence River near the Jacques Cartier Bridge for a Metallica tribute fireworks show. I had no idea the city had planned a tribute to Metallica, this must be the best thing that’s happened to Montreal in years.

United Airlines finally found a way to get Susan to Montreal and she got in after midnight. Friday was going to be a big day!

Friday

Prior to our arrival in Montreal, Susan requested we visit Mont Tremblant because she had never been there before. Neither had I, and I had never been on any of the roads between there and Montreal. I jump at any opportunity to ride a new scenic route.

I plotted an indirect route to Mont Tremblant, and we took off from the hotel. It was an interesting ride, there was more suburban sprawl than I had expected, but the further out we got, the more pleasant the mountainside roads were. We got rained on a bit, so Susan ducked down low and used me as a windshield. We stopped at a restaurant for lunch called “Restaurant”. Seemed good enough for me.

The approach to Mont Tremblant was very enjoyable and we pulled into town. We stopped to walk around a bit, but I was pressed for time. We had to head back so I could make it to the stadium in time for Metallica.

The ride back to Montreal was much more utilitarian, most of it was on the freeway. We got slammed with traffic the closer we got to Montreal, and it took a lot longer than I expected to get back. I ducked into the hotel, changed my clothes, and took the metro straight to Stade Olympique.

The stadium was ready for Metallica

I walked into the general admission section just as Pantera was finishing their set and the excitement in the room was explosive. I circled the stage looking for a good spot as close as I could get and settled on an area in front of a microphone stand, assuming James Hetfield would spend some time in that area. I talked to some of the fans nearby, they drove over 13 hours from the east coast of Canada to get there.

It was finally time for the show to start, and the opening video came on the big screens accompanied by AC/DC. Metallica took the stage and tore right into “Creeping Death”. A mosh pit opened to my right, and I jumped into it to advance my position closer to the stage. Someone fainted behind me after just a few songs, and as they were sending her over the railing for assistance from security, I used that opportunity to advance again, this time to right behind the person on the rail.

The third song of the night was “Leper Messiah” and in my 30 years of seeing Metallica, it was the first time I’ve seen it played live. It always amazes me how they find a way to make almost every show unique and memorable.

The crowd in my immediate proximity was livelier than at the shows the prior weekend in New Jersey. I got pushed around a lot and had to do my best to hold my ground. I reminded myself that the reason I work out in my spare time is to be able to partake in events like these.

The people in front of me appeared to be a married couple with their son behind them and to my left. The guy got angry every time I got shoved into him by the crowd and kept pushing off the rail and moving me back. Then the crowd would push me right back into him. It was a futile exercise on his part. People like him don’t seem to understand that you are entitled to nothing in a general admission section other than admission to the section itself. If you want personal space, either stand in the back or buy a seat.

I was not going to let him spoil my fun. Metallica played a full career-spanning set of songs, and they nailed each one. Being up close to the band when they were in front of me made things that much more exciting. James and Rob did their usual “secret handshake” during “The Day That Never Comes” just a few feet from where I was standing.

The best part was the final four songs. Luckily, they put Lars’ drum kit in front of me for the last four songs. It was utter chaos for the last quarter of the show. The other band members gravitated towards him, and I had a bird’s eye view of it all. The crowd surged forward, and I kept getting crushed. The beach balls dropped on us during “Seek and Destroy” and it all just became a blur of heavy music and crowd surges.

They wrapped up with “Master of Puppets” and I was completely drained. It was a full day of riding my motorcycle straight into an intense Metallica concert and I earned that night of sleep.

Kirk Hammett
James Hetfield
Robert Trujillo and James Hetfield perform “The Day That Never Comes”
Lars Ulrich plays while his drum tech deflects gigantic Metallica beach balls

Saturday

Susan decided to sit this round of concerts out but wanted to come on the trip anyway, so I deferred the Saturday planning to her. The weather forecast was good in Montreal for most of the day, but it called for rain everywhere else nearby, so the motorcycle was going to stay parked.

We started with brunch at the Briezh Café. I thought it was affiliated with a café of the same name that we visited on the Paris leg of our M72 World Tour run, but it was not. Either way the crepe was good.

We walked around town for a while and visited a few local shops. Montreal has several distinct neighborhoods, and they seem to change every few blocks. Unfortunately, like most major cities, Montreal has a serious homeless problem, the level of which is surprising even to me and I spend a lot of time in New York City.

Random statue in Montreal. I think it is Martin Brodeur making a kick save.

While we were walking around, I started to notice people dressed in costumes. I looked around and figured out that there was an anime convention of some sort just two blocks from our hotel. That made for some interesting people watching for the remainder of our walk.

Susan made an appointment for us at the Bota Bota Spa on the St. Lawrence River. I had never been to a spa before and right away when I got there, I knew it was not my scene. They have a set of rules when you walk in that you must sign off on, and one of which is that there are areas of the spa that you are not allowed to speak! Me, not allowed to speak?

Anyway, I made the most of the experience. There were hot tubs, cold tubs (I don’t recommend trying the cold tubs, they are too cold), saunas, and there was a pool area with a bar where you were allowed to talk. I tried to spend as much time there as I could. Overall, it wasn’t a bad experience, but I don’t see myself running out to my local spa anytime soon.

In the evening we walked to Old Montreal for dinner at Monarque. I tried the Guinea Foul for dinner since I had never heard of that before and was curious.

The Guinea Foul, whatever that is

Following that, we bar-hopped the area. It seems like Montreal has a lively nightlife, but there were lines in front of most bars and clubs that we did not want to wait in. Then everything closes at 3 AM. There was never a real opportunity to go to any of the more popular places.

Sunday

Susan had to fly back in the afternoon, so we got up and went to brunch at Brasserie 701. The moment they brought our food out, Susan got a text that her flight was cancelled. This put a cloud over the day, she spent the next several hours on the phone with the airlines (both United and Air Canada were involved) and managed to get herself wait listed for a flight to JFK, not Newark as she had intended. She also had to leave early so we took a short walk around the waterfront attractions and went back to the hotel.

Along the waterfront in Montreal

We had a good time overall, but I would not necessarily recommend Montreal as a travel destination. The local attractions were few and far between, the food was nothing special, the bars and clubs were tricky to navigate, and the city did not have much charm.

Susan split for the airport (and from what she told me everything that happened after that moment was a nightmare, but she did manage to get herself and her luggage back to JFK and then home), and I relaxed a bit before heading out to the concert.

I got to the stadium a bit earlier for this show and caught the entire Five Finger Death Punch set. They are a sub-par band. They try very hard on stage, but their songs suck, and they are boring. I was happy when that was over with.

I positioned myself in the same general area I was for Friday’s show. The traditional canned intro hit the speakers, and Metallica jumped the stage to “Whiplash”. There is no better way to start a Metallica concert than “Whiplash”.

The crowd was slightly less rambunctious than on Friday, but I was still able to move around enough to get close to the rail. There were two big guys to my left and right that kept pushing me back behind them. I guess that while I had the strength and conditioning to stand in a general admission section for Metallica all night, my stature does not allow me to win battles for personal space with men who outweigh me by 50 pounds. There is a reason there are weight classes in mixed martial arts.

About halfway through the show, the guy next to me split because his wife was getting tired, so I slid into his spot and had a great view of the show for the rest of the night.

The set was sixteen songs of awesomeness. The songs from “72 Seasons” fill a new stadium just as well as the classics from the first five albums. I really like the new arrangement for “Wherever I May Roam” to encourage the crowd to sing along. Robert Trujillo played the majority of “Orion” right in front of me.

As was the case on Friday night, the best place to be was in front of Lars for the last four songs of the night. The whole band played most of “Battery” right in front of me. I liken it to having the opportunity to see Picasso paint. I was in awe of being able to watch them from so close, it was moments like those that make it worth it to get general admission tickets and fight your way to the front.

They wrapped with “Enter Sandman”, and I was wiped out. Two awesome shows in a row and it was time for me to head back to the hotel and get on the bike to leave in the morning.

The floor at Stade Olympique
James Hetfield
Robert Trujillo
Kirk Hammett
The entire band playing right in front of me

Monday

The trip home was uneventful. I mainly took the Interstates back home because I needed to get back and resume my normal life.

Happy to be back on this side of the border

Thoughts of both concerts filled my mind the whole ride back, and that broke up the monotony of riding in a straight line.

Although I wasn’t thrilled with the city of Montreal, and the weather cut my planned motorcycle rides in about half, I still got what I wanted out of the weekend. A great two days of being on the bike and two amazing shows by the greatest band of all time. I can’t think of a reason to go back to Montreal. Unless, of course, Metallica plans to come back.

Next up is Phoenix over Labor Day Weekend. 

My M72 World Tour Itinerary

Show #DateVenueCity
Complete15/17/2023Stade de FranceSaint-Denis, France
25/19/2023Stade de FranceSaint-Denis, France
38/4/2023MetLife StadiumEast Rutherford, NJ
48/6/2023MetLife StadiumEast Rutherford, NJ
Upcoming58/11/2023Stade OlympiqueMontreal, Quebec, Canada
68/13/2023Stade OlympiqueMontreal, Quebec, Canada
79/1/2023State Farm StadiumGlendale, AZ
89/3/2023State Farm StadiumGlendale, AZ
97/12/2024Estadio Cívitas MetropolitanoMadrid, Spain
107/14/2024Estadio Cívitas MetropolitanoMadrid, Spain
118/2/2024Gilette StadiumFoxborough, MA
128/4/2024Gilette StadiumFoxborough, MA

My lifetime Metallica concert history

Show #ShowDateVenueDescriptionCityTour/Event
14/8/1992Brendan Byrne ArenaEast Rutherford, NJWherever We May Roam
27/17/1998Giants StadiumEast Rutherford, NJPoor Retouring Me
311/24/1998Roseland BallroomNew York, NYGarage Barrage
411/23/1999Madison Square GardenNew York, NYS&M
57/20/2000Giants StadiumEast Rutherford, NJSummer Sanitarium
67/8/2003Giants StadiumEast Rutherford, NJSummer Sanitarium 2003
74/20/2004Nassau ColiseumUniondale, NYMadly In Anger With The World
810/22/2004Continental Airlines ArenaEast Rutherford, NJMadly In Anger With The World
91/17/2009Wachovia CenterPhiladelphia, PAWorld Magnetic
101/31/2009Prudential CenterNewark, NJWorld Magnetic
112/1/2009Prudential CenterNewark, NJWorld Magnetic
1211/14/2009Madison Square GardenNew York, NYWorld Magnetic
1311/15/2009Madison Square GardenNew York, NYWorld Magnetic
149/14/2011Yankee StadiumNew York, NYThe Big 4
156/23/2012Bader FieldAtlantic City, NJOrion Music + More
166/24/2012Bader FieldAtlantic City, NJOrion Music + More
175/12/2017Lincoln Financial FieldPhiladelphia, PAWorldwired
185/14/2017MetLife StadiumEast Rutherford, NJWorldwired
195/17/2017The New Coliseum Presented by NYCVUniondale, NYWorldwired
207/19/2017Parc Jean-DrapeauMontreal, QCWorldwired
2110/20/2018Bryce Jordan CenterState College, PAWorldwired
2210/25/2018Wells Fargo CenterPhiladelphia, PAWorldwired
239/6/2019Chase CenterSan Francisco, CAS&M2
249/24/2021Highland Festival Grounds at KY Expo CenterLouisville, KYLouder Than Life
259/25/2021Highland Festival Grounds at KY Expo CenterLouisville, KYLouder Than Life
265/29/2022Harvard Athletic ComplexBoston, MABoston Calling
278/11/2022Highmark StadiumBuffalo, NY(none)
285/17/2023Stade de FranceSaint-Dennis, FRM72 World Tour
295/19/2023Stade de FranceSaint-Dennis, FRM72 World Tour
308/4/2023MetLife StadiumEast Rutherford, NJM72 World Tour
318/6/2023MetLife StadiumEast Rutherford, NJM72 World Tour
328/11/2023Stade OlympiqueMontreal, QCM72 World Tour
338/13/2023Stade OlympiqueMontreal, QCM72 World Tour

Link to YouTube playlist of all official Metallica concert videos I have been present for.

Metallica songs I have seen performed on the M72 World Tour                

SongTimes Seen
72 Seasons3
Battery3
Creeping Death3
Enter Sandman3
Fade To Black3
For Whom The Bell Tolls3
Fuel3
Harvester Of Sorrow3
If Darkness Had A Son3
Lux Æterna3
Master of Puppets3
Moth Into Flame3
Nothing Else Matters3
One3
Orion3
Ride The Lightning3
Sad But True3
Seek and Destroy3
The Call of Ktulu3
The Day That Never Comes3
Welcome Home (Sanitarium)3
Wherever I May Roam3
Whiskey In The Jar3
You Must Burn!3
Blackened2
Holier Than Thou2
King Nothing2
Shadows Follow2
The Unforgiven2
Too Far Gone?2
Whiplash2
Cyanide1
Dirty Window1
Hardwired1
I Disappear1
Leper Messiah1
No Leaf Clover1
Screaming Suicide1
Sleepwalk My Life Away1
The Memory Remains1
Until It Sleeps1
Unique:41
Total:96

All Metallica songs I have seen performed live

SongTimes Seen
Enter Sandman28
Nothing Else Matters28
One28
Master of Puppets27
Sad But True27
Seek and Destroy24
For Whom The Bell Tolls22
Creeping Death19
Fade To Black18
Fuel15
Wherever I May Roam14
Battery13
Blackened13
Moth Into Flame12
Ride The Lightning11
The Unforgiven11
The Day That Never Comes10
Welcome Home (Sanitarium)10
Whiplash10
Harvester Of Sorrow9
The Memory Remains9
Hardwired8
Holier Than Thou8
Cyanide7
Now That We’re Dead7
Whiskey In The Jar7
Atlas, Rise!6
Fight Fire With Fire6
No Leaf Clover6
The Call of Ktulu6
The Four Horsemen6
All Nightmare Long5
Broken, Beat And Scarred5
Halo On Fire5
King Nothing5
Of Wolf and Man5
That Was Just Your Life5
The End Of The Line5
Breadfan4
Hit The Lights4
Last Caress4
Orion4
72 Seasons3
I Disappear3
If Darkness Had A Son3
Lux Æterna3
St. Anger3
The God That Failed3
Through the Never3
Turn The Page3
Until It Sleeps3
You Must Burn!3
Am I Evil?2
Bleeding Me2
Blitzkrieg2
Die, Die My Darling2
Dirty Window2
Don’t Tread On Me2
Frantic2
Last Caress/Green Hell2
Motorbreath2
My Friend Of Misery2
Overkill2
Shadows Follow2
The Outlaw Torn2
The Shortest Straw2
The Struggle Within2
The Thing That Should Not Be2
Too Far Gone?2
Trapped Under Ice2
– Human1
(Anesthesia) – Pulling Teeth1
…And Justice For All1
All Within My Hands1
Confusion1
Damage Inc.1
Devil’s Dance1
Disposable Heroes1
Dyers Eve1
Escape1
Hell And Back1
Helpless1
Hero of the Day1
Iron Foundry1
Jump In The Fire1
Justice Medley1
Killing Time1
Last Caress/So What/Die, Die My Darling1
Leper Messiah1
Low Man’s Lyric1
Mastertarium1
Mercyful Fate1
Metal Militia1
My Apocalypse1
No Remorse1
Phantom Lord1
Sabbra Cadabra1
Screaming Suicide1
Sleepwalk My Life Away1
Small Hours1
So What1
Spit Out The Bone1
Stone Cold Crazy1
The Ecstasy of Gold1
The Judas Kiss1
The Prince1
The Unforgiven III1
The Wait1
Unique:108
Total:580

Dragging Home This Heathen Harvest

A diary of my experience during Metallica’s M72 World Tour stop at MetLife Stadium in August 2023

MetLife Stadium feels like the epicenter of the 2023 mega tour season. It started with the “You can send your kids to see Taylor, or you can send them to college someday, but you can’t afford both” extravaganza in May. It was followed by some prick named Ed Sheeran in June who broke the MetLife attendance record with a crowd of 89,000. Beyoncé followed in July. The Boss himself, Bruce Springsteen is going to round things out over Labor Day weekend.

But all these shows combined could not match the level of intensity of the two shows Metallica played on August 4th and 6th at MetLife Stadium. Therefore, this is the only non-travel blog in my Metallica M72 World Tour series because Metallica brough the show to me.

There is something exciting about Metallica coming to the area you live in. They do not just show up and play, they take over the area for four days. They promote Blackened American Whiskey happy hours and events, host a film festival of Metallica related content, promote concerts for bands that their kids are in, and open pop-up stores with all the Metallica merchandise you could want. So, of course I bought half of the inventory at the pop-up store at the American Dream Mall the day before the first show.

The best store I have ever been in
I’ll take one. Of everything.

The most important thing to me about Metallica playing at home is getting to attend with my friends. It is a great excuse to get together, and it gives us an event that we will tell stories about for decades to come. In fact, we were telling stories about getting guitar picks at a Metallica show at the old Izod Center in 2003 while we were at the show this year.

Most of us had general admission tickets, and with as many people as I had going with me, it was a logistical exercise in herding kittens to get everyone in the same place at the same time. It started off in the afternoon on Friday, a bunch of us blew off work early, piled into my car, and went to the Blackened American Whiskey and WFAN pre-party at Redd’s in Carlstadt. Others partied at a local brewery; others drank on the NJ Transit Train on the way to the stadium.

After the pre-gaming was done, we shot over to the stadium, waited for Joe to get off the train, and headed in. Bobby was not one to wait, he went straight inside and scouted out a spot as close to the railing as he could get for us. We made it inside and then I had to text half a dozen people with our approximate location. I looked up and saw a banner for Larry Grantham who had his #60 retired by the Jets so I told everyone to look for that sign and meet us between that and the stage.

Larry Grantham was as good a spot as any to meet
The crew started to file in

It turned out to be a pretty good spot, it was right at the main entrance for the band members. First up was Mammoth and we caught a good view of Wolfgang Van Halen’s mother, Valerie Bertinelli who accompanied him to the stage.

Wolfie taking the stage

Mammoth was a lot of fun to watch. Wolfie has rock and roll genes, and he puts in the effort to prove he belongs on stage.

I wonder what’s in Pantera’s cooler?
As you can see, we were very happy to be there!
Pantera’s set list

Next up was Pantera. I haven’t seen them since about 1999 before they broke up and when the Abbott brothers were still alive and well.

Pantera bassist Rex Brown

Phil Anselmo walked on stage and milled about for a bit before the show started. He took his shoes off and performed the entire set barefoot.

Nice shoes, Phil

Zakk Wylde walked right in front of us before he went on stage. Zakk is the 5th greatest guitar player of all time and one of my favorite rock stars ever. I’ve seen him with Ozzy Osbourne, his own band Black Label Society, and Generation Axe. This was my first time seeing him with Pantera. He is the only guitar player in the world that is an acceptable substitute for Dimebag Darrell.

Zakk Wylde

Pantera hit the stage and crushed their set. It will always be a strange feeling to see Pantera play without the Abbott brothers, but Charlie Benante and Zakk filled in the gaps admirably. Pantera was one of the best opening bands I’ve ever seen for Metallica.

There are fewer things more enjoyable in life than watching Zakk shred

Pantera finished up and anticipation started to build. People that I had texted earlier kept filing in. We could barely contain our excitement.

All smiles before the show
Friends and former work colleagues getting together for Metallica
The wait is killing me at this point
Cool hat!

The lights went out and “Long Way to The Top” by AC/DC hit the speakers. It was time for Metallica to start and I thought my head was going to explode. Metallica walked through the aisle toward the donut-shaped stage and Lars Ulrich, the greatest drummer in history, stopped right in front of us.

Lars Ulrich putting his in-ear monitors in

Once the traditional opening song “Ecstasy of Gold” was finished, the excitement in the stadium was at fever pitch.  The band took the stage, and bam! They started right off with my favorite live Metallica song “Creeping Death”! I, along with the frenzied MetLife Stadium crowd of over 80,000, started singing along to every word.

Fifteen songs followed through a blistering set that spanned Metallica’s entire career. There was a heavy dose of classics such as “Harvester of Sorrow”, “Holier Than Thou”, “Battery” and others that we all grew up with. They also played three songs from the new album “72 Seasons”, including the live debut of “Shadows Follow”.

James Hetfield is a superbly talented front man. He held the crowd in the palm of his hand for the entire night. He compelled us to chant “Temptation” during “If Darkness Had a Son”. He acknowledged his 60th birthday just the night before the show as he prepared to play “Fade to Black”.

There is a genuine element to Metallica that helps them to connect with the audience. Kirk Hammett made a mistake during the intro to “Nothing Else Matters” but he laughed it off and started over and he nailed it. Nobody seemed to be upset about it. Robert Trujillo held down the bass line and backing vocals like the seasoned veteran that he is.

The stage setup is massive for this tour, and it is very difficult to take everything in. There was smoke, fire, lights, a snake pit, and a beach ball drop. Lars used four different rotating drumkits at different points of the stage throughout the show. We had a great vantage point when the band was right in front of us but had a hard time seeing them when they wandered elsewhere on the stage.

With “Master of Puppets”, the show came to an end. We were excited, exhausted, and left wanting more. We dove to the floor as the band showered us with guitar picks. I did not manage to grab one, but Pooch got two and gave me one of his. What a guy!

Our general admission Metallica Crew

Saturday was a day of rest for the band in between shows. I put on my finest Metallica t-shirt from the European leg of the tour and went to Manhattan with Susan to run some errands and see Bobby and his kids. Susan and I were in Eataly, and someone saw my shirt and told me he was at the show the previous night, too. We traded Metallica stories for a bit. As we walked around town, I spotted people who looked like tourists in Metallica apparel. They really did take over the whole area.

Sunday was a bit less hectic getting to the stadium. We left early to be there because I hired a friend BBQ-By-Bear to cater our tailgate. Bear is a grill master who routinely caters tailgates at MetLife Stadium events, and he was the right man for the job.

BBQ By Bear

Bear got to the stadium right when the parking lot opened and found a great spot right by the entrance to the stadium to set up. We started to filter in as food was ready on the grill. It was a perfect day for a tailgate and excitement was once again building for the show.

Don’t ask
The tailgate crew
The two best dressed of the bunch

This time we were on different agendas for when to go inside and where to stand. Ned, Sue, and their kids wanted to get inside for both opening acts, so they went back to the Larry Grantham spot early. Chris was unsatisfied with the view from that spot, so he went in by himself to get another vantage point.

A handful of us went in before Five Finger Death Punch went on to try to scout a different spot with a better view and settled on a different location where the stage was lower. I am not a FFDP fan and was not overly impressed with the show. They were slightly better than my low expectations.

I was at that Guns ‘N Roses show. And the Slayer show!
A lot of people wearing Iron Maiden tonight
I guess someone had to wear Metallica

The canned music routine to start the Metallica set was the same as on Friday. Metallica hit the stage and tore into “Whiplash”, and it was on! Bobby was especially excited, that is one of his favorite songs to see live. They went right into “For Whom the Bell Tolls” and the crowd nearly lost it. This was such a hot opening that I used up nearly all the energy I had on the first two songs.

Sunday night followed the same theme of career spanning songs, and as promised was completely unique from Friday’s set. We were treated to the live debut of “Too Far Gone?” which was intermingled with classics like “Ride the Lightning”. Kirk played the solo for “Lux Æterna” right in front of us. While this is far from his best solo, it was mesmerizing to watch a guitar god like him shred right in front of us.

James Hetfield commanded the crowd again. They re-worked “Wherever I May Roam” to pause the instruments so the crowd could sing the hook repeatedly. Giant beach balls fell from the light towers as the band ripped into “Whiskey in The Jar”. I was wiped out when “One” and “Enter Sandman” finished off the set and the show was over. This time, I was able to grab a guitar pick of my own as it hit the floor!

The last ones standing in general admission at the end of the night

It was a bitter-sweet feeling when the show ended. It was just such an epic weekend that I couldn’t wrap my head around it. It was an exciting feeling to know that Metallica was in town and had taken it over. The shows were breathtaking. Most importantly, as far as I could tell, everyone in my group had an absolute blast.

My plan when the tour was announced was to go to six cities in 2023 and 2024, but the most important two for me were Paris and East Rutherford. Everything else is just going to be the cherry on top. Metallica may be done with my home state, but next up for me is a road trip to Montreal to see them do it all over again!

My M72 World Tour itinerary

Show #DateVenueCity
Complete15/17/2023Stade de FranceSaint-Denis, France
25/19/2023Stade de FranceSaint-Denis, France
38/4/2023MetLife StadiumEast Rutherford, NJ
48/6/2023MetLife StadiumEast Rutherford, NJ
Upcoming58/11/2023Stade OlympiqueMontreal, Quebec, Canada
68/13/2023Stade OlympiqueMontreal, Quebec, Canada
79/1/2023State Farm StadiumGlendale, AZ
89/3/2023State Farm StadiumGlendale, AZ
97/12/2024Estadio Cívitas MetropolitanoMadrid, Spain
107/14/2024Estadio Cívitas MetropolitanoMadrid, Spain
118/2/2024Gilette StadiumFoxborough, MA
128/4/2024Gilette StadiumFoxborough, MA

My lifetime Metallica concert history

14/8/1992Brendan Byrne ArenaEast Rutherford, NJWherever We May Roam
27/17/1998Giants StadiumEast Rutherford, NJPoor Retouring Me
311/24/1998Roseland BallroomNew York, NYGarage Barrage
411/23/1999Madison Square GardenNew York, NYS&M
57/20/2000Giants StadiumEast Rutherford, NJSummer Sanitarium
67/8/2003Giants StadiumEast Rutherford, NJSummer Sanitarium 2003
74/20/2004Nassau ColiseumUniondale, NYMadly In Anger With The World
810/22/2004Continental Airlines ArenaEast Rutherford, NJMadly In Anger With The World
91/17/2009Wachovia CenterPhiladelphia, PAWorld Magnetic
101/31/2009Prudential CenterNewark, NJWorld Magnetic
112/1/2009Prudential CenterNewark, NJWorld Magnetic
1211/14/2009Madison Square GardenNew York, NYWorld Magnetic
1311/15/2009Madison Square GardenNew York, NYWorld Magnetic
149/14/2011Yankee StadiumNew York, NYThe Big 4
156/23/2012Bader FieldAtlantic City, NJOrion Music + More
166/24/2012Bader FieldAtlantic City, NJOrion Music + More
175/12/2017Lincoln Financial FieldPhiladelphia, PAWorldwired
185/14/2017MetLife StadiumEast Rutherford, NJWorldwired
195/17/2017The New Coliseum Presented by NYCVUniondale, NYWorldwired
207/19/2017Parc Jean-DrapeauMontreal, QCWorldwired
2110/20/2018Bryce Jordan CenterState College, PAWorldwired
2210/25/2018Wells Fargo CenterPhiladelphia, PAWorldwired
239/6/2019Chase CenterSan Francisco, CAS&M2
249/24/2021Highland Festival Grounds at KY Expo CenterLouisville, KYLouder Than Life
259/25/2021Highland Festival Grounds at KY Expo CenterLouisville, KYLouder Than Life
265/29/2022Harvard Athletic ComplexBoston, MABoston Calling
278/11/2022Highmark StadiumBuffalo, NY(none)
285/17/2023Stade de FranceSaint-Dennis, FRM72 World Tour
295/19/2023Stade de FranceSaint-Dennis, FRM72 World Tour
308/4/2023MetLife StadiumEast Rutherford, NJM72 World Tour
318/6/2023MetLife StadiumEast Rutherford, NJM72 World Tour

Link to YouTube playlist of all official Metallica concert videos I have been present for.

Metallica songs I have seen performed on the M72 World Tour

SongTimes Seen
72 Seasons2
Battery2
Blackened2
Creeping Death2
Enter Sandman2
Fade To Black2
For Whom The Bell Tolls2
Fuel2
Harvester Of Sorrow2
Holier Than Thou2
If Darkness Had A Son2
King Nothing2
Lux Æterna2
Master of Puppets2
Moth Into Flame2
Nothing Else Matters2
One2
Orion2
Ride The Lightning2
Sad But True2
Seek and Destroy2
The Call Of Ktulu2
The Day That Never Comes2
The Unforgiven2
Welcome Home (Sanitarium)2
Wherever I May Roam2
Whiskey In The Jar2
You Must Burn!2
Cyanide1
I Disappear1
Screaming Suicide1
Shadows Follow1
Sleepwalk My Life Away1
The Memory Remains1
Too Far Gone?1
Whiplash1
Total:64
Unique:36

All Metallica songs I have seen performed live

SongTimes Seen
Enter Sandman27
Nothing Else Matters27
One27
Master of Puppets26
Sad But True26
Seek and Destroy23
For Whom the Bell Tolls21
Creeping Death18
Fade to Black17
Fuel14
Blackened13
Wherever I May Roam13
Battery12
Moth Into Flame11
The Unforgiven11
Ride The Lightning10
The Day That Never Comes9
The Memory Remains9
Welcome Home (Sanitarium)9
Whiplash9
Harvester of Sorrow8
Holier Than Thou8
Cyanide7
Hardwired7
Now That We’re Dead7
Atlas, Rise!6
Fight Fire With Fire6
The Four Horsemen6
Whiskey In The Jar6
All Nightmare Long5
Broken, Beat And Scarred5
Halo On Fire5
King Nothing5
No Leaf Clover5
Of Wolf and Man5
That Was Just Your Life5
The Call of Ktulu5
The End Of The Line5
Breadfan4
Hit The Lights4
Last Caress4
I Disappear3
Orion3
St. Anger3
The God That Failed3
Through the Never3
Turn The Page3
72 Seasons2
Am I Evil?2
Bleeding Me2
Blitzkrieg2
Die, Die My Darling2
Don’t Tread On Me2
Frantic2
If Darkness Had A Son2
Last Caress/Green Hell2
Lux Æterna2
Motorbreath2
My Friend Of Misery2
Overkill2
The Outlaw Torn2
The Shortest Straw2
The Struggle Within2
The Thing That Should Not Be2
Trapped Under Ice2
Until It Sleeps2
You Must Burn!2
– Human1
(Anesthesia) – Pulling Teeth1
…And Justice For All1
All Within My Hands1
Confusion1
Damage Inc.1
Devil’s Dance1
Dirty Window1
Disposable Heroes1
Dyers Eve1
Escape1
Hell And Back1
Helpless1
Hero of the Day1
Iron Foundry1
Jump In The Fire1
Justice Medley1
Killing Time1
Last Caress/So What/Die, Die My Darling1
Low Man’s Lyric1
Mastertarium1
Mercyful Fate1
Metal Militia1
My Apocalypse1
No Remorse1
Phantom Lord1
Sabbra Cadabra1
Screaming Suicide1
Shadows Follow1
Sleepwalk My Life Away1
Small Hours1
So What1
Spit Out The Bone1
Stone Cold Crazy1
The Ecstasy of Gold1
The Judas Kiss1
The Prince1
The Unforgiven III1
The Wait1
Too Far Gone?1
Total548
Unique107

Feed The Appetite

A diary of my trip to France to see Metallica’s M72 World Tour in May 2023

May 15, 2023

Since this is 2023 and we were flying United, our scheduled 6:30 PM departure turned out to be a 12:15 AM departure out of Newark Liberty Airport. Our original flight was cancelled, and the replacement flight was delayed numerous times. I guess this type of fun is what I was missing all the years I spent not flying to Europe.

May 16, 2023

We landed about six and a half hours later than originally planned. Susan arranged for a pickup at the airport and notified the dispatcher about the cancelled flight and the delayed replacement flight before we took off. We landed and she got a note saying that they cancelled the ride because we didn’t show up. So, we stood in the “ham and egger” taxi line and hopped a cab to the hotel. The first thing I noticed about Paris is that they sure do love their graffiti. It’s everywhere, on the walls along the highway, on the box trucks, and on street signs.

We rolled up to the hotel in Montmartre and our room was not ready, so we headed into town. First off, I needed to kill my jet lag, so I started off with my trusty cure.

My handy jet lag cure, slam a 5-Hour Energy Extra Strength and chase it with a tall Red Bull

We wandered into Cimetière de Montmartre. The second thing I noticed about Paris is that they like their mausoleums.

This was a pretty serious cemetery

After checking into the hotel, we set off for dinner at Le Dôme on the Metro. The stations in the Metro do not smell nearly as bad as the stations in the New York City subway. I ordered the monkfish and the third thing I noticed about Paris, and this was not a surprise at all, is that the food is awesome.

The monkfish at Le Dôme

We walked from the restaurant towards Notre Dame through Jardin Du Luxembourg. It reminded me of a smaller version of Central Park. Notre Dame is still being rehabilitated from damage from a devastating 2019 fire so we could not get very close but could see where the fire had badly damaged the structure.

As close as you can get to Notre Dame while it is being restored

Across the street, we stopped at La Crème de Paris for dessert. I grabbed a honey crepe and officially ate too much on my first day in Paris.

First crepe in France

At about this point, bone-crushing jet lag set in, so we headed back to the hotel in an Uber. I needed to be at the top of my game for Wednesday, the night of the first Metallica concert!

May 17, 2023

I woke up ready to rock for the most important day of the year so far, my first Metallica concert since August 2022!

Our hotel gave us a walking tour guide of the surrounding area of Montmartre. One of the stops was a restaurant called Hardware Society, so we stopped there for breakfast.

My French isn’t very good, but I think I understood the sign at Hardware Society

After breakfast, we took a short walk to Sacre Coeur and the Montmartre overlook. This was my first view of what Paris looked like, sprawling and full of buildings that were only a few stories high. I was not expecting the terrain to be so hilly.

Sacre Coeur
View from the Montmartre overlook

We walked to the Metallica pop up store at Crémerie de Paris. I wanted to beat the lines at the concert by buying my t-shirts there, but there turned out to be a long line to get in anyway.

A Metallica store 🤯🤯🤯

Along the walk to the Metallica pop up store, I was taken aback by how many cafes and restaurants there are in Paris. I wondered at first how they all stayed in business, but throughout the trip noticed how full and bustling they all seemed to be.

With our Metallica merchandise in hand, we took the Metro to the Eiffel Tower. Our tickets included a glass of Moet at the top floor.

Cheers to the Eiffel Tower

The Tower offered an even grander view of Paris than the Montmartre overlook. The streets are laid out in a chaotic and maze-like fashion, and the sprawl is even more evident than my first vantage point.

View from the top of the Eiffel Tower
View from the top of the Eiffel Tower
Looking up at the Eiffel Tower

On the way out, we walked down the stairs from the “2nd floor”. I found out the hard way that the 2nd floor is much higher than two stories, and it was a dizzying descent down a long spiral staircase.

We went back to the hotel for a quick power nap and to get gussied up for Metallica! We grabbed a quick dinner nearby at La Sancerre. It was my first time eating French Onion Soup in France!

We used Google maps to plot a course to the show at Stade de France in Saint-Denis. It told us to take the Metro to a bus stop to connect there to a bus that went to the stadium. This turned out to be a huge mistake. Our bus did not show and there appeared to be angry commuters walking away in disgust. There was a lot of construction and traffic in the area, and we were confused about what to do. None of the buses that came were the bus we wanted, and the clock was ticking, we had to get there!

Walking didn’t seem to be a good idea; it would take about 45 minutes, which we didn’t have. We tried an Uber, but it looked like it drove past us and was stuck in traffic and wouldn’t arrive for 20 minutes. We tried hailing several taxis to no avail (we couldn’t figure out their red light/green light/no light system) until one finally waived us in, apparently somewhat begrudgingly. I expected to get stuck in traffic as we approached the stadium, but it took about five minutes for him to drop us off right outside. Crisis averted; we were there on time.

This was my first time in a stadium outside of the US. I read that it previously had hosted international events including World Cup Soccer. But it looked to be very bare bones to me, missing a lot of the amenities that standard NFL stadiums have. The lettering and numbering convention for their seating sections was confusing. I stopped to ask an usher where our seats were. He looked at my ticket and shrugged his shoulders and told us he did not know. It turned out we were only one section over from where he was stationed.

Our seats were in the lower bowl in the 16th row. I normally like getting general admission tickets for Metallica so I can get close, but I had a Ticketmaster snafu and accidentally bought seated tickets. This tour is the first time that Metallica featured a stage in the round in a stadium, normally that practice is reserved for arenas. There were six lighting and sound towers that surround the stage and one of them partially obstructed our view, but not to the point that we would miss any substantial part of the show.

We sat down 20 minutes before the show. The anticipation was building despite the continued sunshine. At this time of year, sunset in Paris is well after the normal start time for Metallica at around 8:45 PM. With all the exhaustion from the travel to Paris, and the transit debacle getting to the stadium, I barely had time for it to sink in that I was about to live a life-long dream to see Metallica in Paris! It hit me like a ton of bricks when the loudspeaker blared AC/DC’s “Long Way to The Top”, the traditional cue that a Metallica concert is about to start. We were minutes away and I thought my head was going to explode!

At the commencement of the recorded music to cue the show, Metallica took the stage to a thunderous reception from the crowd. They tore into “For Whom the Bell Tolls”. James Hetfield started jumping up and down to fire up the crowd and the audience sang every word.

Metallica night 1

Fifteen songs followed, and they were a mix of classics, rare cuts, and new songs from their recently released album “72 Seasons”. I was excited to hear “I Disappear” for the first time in years. It was the first time I got to see any of the new songs performed live. “Lux Æterna” was an instant heavy metal anthem. I enjoyed the three songs they played from their greatest album of all, the eponymously named “Metallica”. “Holier Than Thou” always fires me up. The band took delight in playing the instrumental “Orion”, their excitement was evidenced in their body language.

Metallica night 1

The centered stage let Metallica connect with the crowd in a way that they couldn’t do from their normal end stage setup at stadiums. James, Kirk Hammett, and Robert Trujillo circled the stage throughout the show. Lars Ulrich’s drum kit was relocated to different sections of the stage throughout the show and rotated in each spot, so the audience had many different vantage points for his playing. The band played to all sections of the stadium, including fans in the Snake Pit in the center of the doughnut-shaped stage.

Metallica night 1

The frenzied set concluded with “Master of Puppets”, which is critically accepted as one of the most important heavy metal songs in the history of the genre. Fireworks were displayed on the big screens on top of the lighting towers. I thought that was odd, I’m used to actual fireworks at Metallica shows, I wonder if they just didn’t have a pyrotechnic permit for the show in Paris.

Our view of the whole stage and the lighting towers, such a cool setup

Usually, the end of a Metallica show is bitter-sweet because it is over, but this one was different. Due to the nature of the M72 World Tour, they were going to play a second show in less than 48 hours with a completely different set list. I was able to leave happy both from satisfaction from the show I had just seen and anticipation for the second one.

We followed the crowd to a train station that was fifteen-minute walk away from the stadium. I guess city planners didn’t think it was important to build a stadium near a train station. We made our way back to Pigalle for a nightcap. This section of Paris was especially lively for a Wednesday night. A few glasses of wine later, we walked back to our hotel completely exhausted.

May 18, 2023

The day started with a breakfast of pain au chocolate from a local bakery. That was one of my objectives, to have pain au chocolate as much as I could in France. Our first destination was the Musée du Louvre. The Louvre started off as a palace for kings outside of the busy section of the city, so it is obscenely large. So large in fact, that it is hard to make sense of some parts of the visitor map. We managed to figure out the route to the Mona Lisa, observing the art collection along the way.

The Mona Lisa

A lot of the art in the Louvre was stolen from French conquests, but in recent years was purchased or collected from donations. It gave me an appreciation for their history and dedication to the arts. I’m not an art critic by any means, but it was interesting to see the conflation of pieces inspired by mythologies, Catholic teachings, and important historical figures.

Probably some French king who was a dick to his subjects

Next up was a wine tasting at Les Caves Du Louvre. It used to be the wine cellar for the Louvre. Some of the cellar tunnels were cut off for construction of the Metro. It was privately bought and turned into a wine shop that hosts tours. The ceilings were very low, even for someone of my stature.

Good thing I’m really short or I would have banged my head in here

We walked along the Seine and back to our hotel, about an hour away. The endless cafes were jammed, and people were out and about on a late spring day.

After a quick stop at the hotel, we went to dinner at La Boîte Aux Lettres. I grabbed a steak with smashed potatoes and cheese, it was fantastic. Susan rolled with a piece of fish and gave her meal high marks, too.

They do both the surf and turf very well in Paris

After dinner we went to see Moulin Rouge. We were prohibited from taking pictures of the show (probably because of the gratuitous nudity) which is too bad because it was quite an interesting experience. I’ve only been to a few Broadway musicals in my lifetime and sat there in agony throughout most of them. But I really enjoyed the Moulin Rouge cabaret, and it wasn’t just because of the nudity. It was an impressive production and featured some incredibly athletic performances and a fascinating contortionist. Maybe being in a different language helped, too. I couldn’t complain about the lyrics since I didn’t understand them.

Overall, visiting the Louvre Museum and the Moulin Rouge was quite a contrast to the previous day’s Metallica-centric activities.

May 19, 2023

I woke up ready to rock for the most important day of the year so far, my first Metallica concert since Wednesday!

We started the day with breakfast at the Breizh Café with both savory and sweet crepes. Why not have your first dessert of the day at breakfast?

The crepes at Breizh are off the page

Next up, we took the Metro to Le Catacombs for a tour. This was a wild experience, like nothing I had seen before.

The catacombs were originally a limestone mine underneath the entire city of Paris. Somehow their collective society forgot about the tunnels it left behind as they began to build throughout the city. The tunnels were structurally unsound so houses or even entire streets would sink into the ground. The catastrophe made its way to the king who did nothing at first but finally asked an architect to check out what was happening. They were startled to find the massive tunnels and set about stabilizing them to prevent further damage to the city.

Years later, cemeteries and hospitals were overflowing with carcasses from massive waves of death from diseases like the plague and syphilis. The reigning king ordered the bodies to be dumped in the mine tunnels, thus turning them into catacombs. Millions of bodies were disposed of in the catacombs in the following years, many of them in aesthetically pleasing patterns of femurs and skulls, with the rest of the bones piled up behind them.

The tour allowed us to walk among the bones throughout a small section of the tunnels. There were an unimaginable number of them throughout our walk. I found it to be paradoxically eerie and humorous. I took a lot of pictures.

I think that translates to “Attention: lotsa dead people ahead”
Luckily, I was dressed to match the skulls
Skull and femur selfie
I need to decorate my living room like this

This was a great way to prepare for a heavy metal concert: with skulls, bones, disease, despair, and death!

After the tour we stopped at La Mabillon for a drink, and I got a Tiki Toi. The name reminded me of one of my favorite drinks at the Jersey Shore, the Tiki Tea. This one was very different.

The Tiki Toi

I stopped for a quick dinner at Le Nazir and ordered the burger with fries. I forgot they serve fries with mayonnaise in France.

The burgers in Paris beat the ones at my local Wendy’s

We changed our plan of attack to get to the stadium, reversing the route we took to get back from the Wednesday show on the Metro. That worked out well to get us there, but the biggest annoyance of our trip stuck upon our arrival at the station. On our way towards the exit, we were stopped by security who asked to see our tickets. We were told we then had to talk to someone who appeared to be some sort of transit officer. She told us we bought the wrong priced tickets and had to pay a EUR 30 fine on the spot! My first inclination was to start screaming and cursing at her, but instincts kicked in right away. I didn’t want to spend the night in a French prison instead of watching Metallica. Incredulously, I paid the fine with my credit card and we headed towards the stadium.

For the life of me, I couldn’t figure out why our ticket at that price let us get through the turnstiles the previous night. Later, I checked into it, and we were exactly 1 EUR short on each ticket. I would have gladly paid the extra Euro had I known. Anyway, we chalked it up to France needing a way to keep government employees employed.

This time we had more time before the show to check out the stadium. Susan hadn’t had a chance to get dinner with me, so she tried to get a sandwich at the only concession stand anywhere near us. They said they were out of sandwiches, so she had to eat stale popcorn for dinner. They had only one beer to choose from, Heineken. What kind of stadium only serves one kind of beer? Especially something as awful as Heineken?

The bathrooms were woefully inadequate, they were far from the stands and undersized. They had no hand driers or paper towels, everyone just either didn’t wash their hands or walked out with them soaking wet.

Stade de France totally sucks. I don’t recommend attending an event there just to say you did. Only go for something important like Metallica.

None of that was going to deter me from having a blast. The standard canned audio to start the show hit the speakers and the crowd heated up. It looked like there were more people there, maybe because the show was on a Friday.

Metallica hit the stage and started with my favorite Metallica song, “Creeping Death!”. I was in absolute heaven, screaming along with the “Die! Die! Die!” chant coming from the frenzied crowd.

Just like on Wednesday, Metallica played a total of sixteen career-spanning songs, each one of which was an absolute delight. I really enjoyed seeing “If Darkness Had a Son” for the first time, the “temptation” chant it incurs from the crowd is intense. They played another instrumental, “The Call of Ktulu” from their second album. The set finished with blistering renditions of “One” and “Enter Sandman”.

These two concerts made the entire trip worth it. The members of Metallica have more money than they will ever need, and they are in their early sixties, around the age when many people start to think about retirement, especially those who are ultra-wealthy. But Metallica is soldering on, making new music and playing huge stadiums around the world. They have slowed down their touring pace considerably (this entire tour is only 25 shows over the course of two years), but they attack the shows with the same intensity they had when they started the band in the early eighties.

James told the crowd on both nights that they consider playing in front of crowds to be their purpose. The joy and excitement they play with cannot be faked; they clearly take pride in performing at the highest level of their lives.

Stade de France, the worst stadium you can possibly imagine
Almost time for the second Metallica concert in three nights
The greatest band in the world!
Metallica looks so heroic and triumphant

This time the end of the show was indeed bittersweet. I was thoroughly satisfied with both unique sets and happy that I was able to live a dream of seeing Metallica play in France. But I was bummed that the Metallica part of the trip was over, and I must wait until August to see them again in East Rutherford.

We bought the properly priced tickets for the Metro and headed back to Pigalle for a few drinks and a late-night snack before calling it a night.

May 20, 2023

We didn’t have much of an agenda for Saturday, so we started with breakfast at Marcel. We took the Metro to the Seine River for a riverboat tour hosted by Bateau Mouches. The narration was hard to follow because it was in about six different languages, and I kept zoning out before they got to the English portions. But it was a lot of fun and the views of the city from the boat were cool.

That’s an impressive thingy on that bridge
Notre Dame rehabilitation
The Seine River

After the tour was over, we walked to Champs-Élysées. Other than the monuments at each end of the street, there didn’t seem to be much uniquely French to the area. It was a shopping destination full of global brands that I can shop at home. I have a Foot Locker at my local mall, I didn’t feel the need to stop into theirs.

We took the Metro back to the hotel, and I ran down the hill to get a bite to eat. I heard a commotion and there was a protest headed my way. Prior to the trip, I had seen in the news that there were protests in French cities regarding a proposal from the government to raise the retirement age from 62 to 64. I couldn’t quite tell, but I think that was what the protest I saw was about.

Unlike the news clips I had seen at home, this one wasn’t dangerous looking. There were some senior citizens with makeshift drums and a megaphone singing a song. They were surrounded by dozens of cops in riot gear. The police presence seemed excessive, but I guess it was best they over prepared.

Good thing they sent in the SWAT Team, that guy with the megaphone looked dangerous

After avoiding catastrophic injuries due to the “riots” we ditched that part of town and went to Rue Montorgueil for the night. Rue Montorgueil is another Parisian walking street with lots of open restaurants and bars with outdoor seating. We settled on Le Compas on for dinner. I went with the pasta and Susan ordered tuna and it was another fantastic meal.

Another cool dinner at an outdoor bistro

We stayed in the area and bar hopped for the rest of the night. Let’s just say that the locals sure know how to live it up.

May 21, 2023

Sunday was our day to plan to leave Paris to visit the Champagne region of France. Originally, we were going to rent a motorcycle and head out this way, but logistics got in the way of easily making this happen, so we took the high-speed train there. The trains connecting the cities in France are insanely fast, I can’t think of a form of land transportation I have used in the states that moved this quickly. It only took about 45 minutes to make it to Reims.

We walked into town from the train station and this city has a much different vibe than Paris. I’m not sure if it was because we were there on a Sunday or because that’s how it always is, but compared to Paris, it was not very lively at all. There is a large pedestrian walkway in the center of town, and a big park nearby, but not many people were out and about, and we couldn’t find much to do.

We found another Notre Dame cathedral, like the rest of their cathedrals, it was insanely ornate and huge.

This is a different Notre Dame than the one in Paris!

After checking into our hotel, we walked to GH Mumm for our scheduled activity for the day, a tour of their historic champagne making facilities. Mumm has a history of using sophisticated techniques for harvesting and pressing grapes. We learned how sediment is removed from champagne in a process called riddling.

Mumm Champagne in riddling racks

The underground tunnel system for their cellars is incredibly long. I think our tour guide used the number of four kilometers in total. Susan noted how much of our trip was spent underground considering the Louvre wine cellars, the catacombs, the Metro, and now the GH Mumm cellars.

Mumm seems to be especially proud of the research and development they’ve done on the first champagne that can be enjoyed in space. They are waiting for approval from the French Space Agency to start including their bottles on space flights.

GH Mumm: turning space stations into nightclubs one bottle at a time

Following the tour, we grabbed a simple dinner at one of the only restaurants that was open. I’d say that the Mumm tour was very cool, but other than that, there’s not much to see in Reims as a tourist.

May 22, 2023

We woke up and got back on the train to Paris and checked into a new hotel. Today was supposed to be the full day we would have been on the Harley, but since that didn’t work out, we winged a new plan. A lot of tourist attractions in Paris are closed on Mondays so we settled on the modern art museum Centre Pompidou.

Centre Pompidou

We started upstairs at Restaurant Georges for lunch, and I ordered the croque monsieur.

Rooftop croque monsieur

The view from the rooftop outside the restaurant was cool.

Another towering view of Paris

We walked through most of the galleries to check out the current exhibits. The most interesting one to me was the Norman Foster exhibit, he is a world-renowned architect with a portfolio spanning 50 years.

The art on display there was expectedly different from what was on display at the Louvre. The contrast in modern art to the classical pieces is very pronounced. It was certainly less centered around mythology and religion. But it is all representative of Paris’ continued dedication to the arts.

Dinner that night was at L’Aller Retour. I ordered steak frites with mashed carrots. I sure had a lot of beef on this trip.

I came to Paris for Metallica. And the Steak frites.

May 23, 2023

This was the third biggest day of the trip, behind only the two Metallica days. Part of my original dream to see Metallica in Paris included renting a Harley and riding it around wine country. Tuesday was the day to seal the deal.

After I failed to locate a suitable bike using my paid Harley Owners Group membership, Susan managed to easily find one by contacting ATS Harley-Davidson Paris Bastille. I’m not sure why HOG didn’t make it that simple for me, but I’m glad she just googled it and figured it out.

We reserved a Road King for 9 AM for when they opened. We woke up and headed straight there to maximize the time on the road. They had the bike waiting for us outside the dealership. After signing off all the paperwork, we got on the bike and headed off. We had until 7 PM that day to get the bike back.

Brand new 2023 Harley-Davidson Rode Glide that was mine for the day

My normal bike that I’ve owned since 2007 is a Fat Boy. Harley has changed a lot of things since then, and the Road King is a bigger bike than my Fat Boy. It has a hydraulic clutch, a windshield, a bigger engine, and a six-speed transmission (mine is a five-speed). Additionally, my bike has a mount on the handlebars to use my phone as a GPS, but the Road King didn’t have the mount, so I was riding blind in a strange land. Even worse is that everything is in kilometers, there is a toll system I don’t understand, and all the road signs are in French.

All told, this added a great degree of difficulty for me. But with Susan’s help navigating from the back seat, and my exceptional riding talent and experience, we made it work. We rode through the craziness of the Paris city traffic and made it to the A4 highway.

The further we got from the city, the less traffic there was, and the scenery got better and better. We exited the A4 in the Champagne region and found signs for a Champagne trail through a series of vineyards. We made our way into Epernay and stopped for lunch. We walked to the Moet headquarters to take a few pictures and got back on the bike.

The Moet headquarters

We improvised a route from there, heading north and west through Parc naturel régional de la Montagne de Reims. There were vineyards everywhere and the scenery was stunning.

The Champagne region
Grapes everywhere
Me and my temporary ride
Susan posing on front of the Harley

From there, we wandered west and south, improvising a route through small towns and farmlands. We passed a lot of old homes and champagne houses. There were signs for WWII memorials, and even a sign for a US Memorial Day celebration. We kept this up until it was time to get back on the A4 to get the bike back to Paris by 7 PM.

The ride was exactly how I imagined it and I was impressed that we were able to improvise a ride without a GPS in a foreign land. It was the culmination of a dream come true vacation.

We timed it perfectly, getting the bike back to the dealer with about 25 minutes to spare. They checked it over, decided I didn’t do any damage to it and refunded my EUR 2,500 security deposit!

I noticed that the dealership windows were smashed with a blunt object. I asked about it and was told that the protestors had targeted them for some reason.

A very friendly and helpful Harley dealer, attacked by protestors

We went back to the hotel to get dressed for one last dinner. We went back to Rue Montorgueil for a late reservation at L’Escargot. Of course, we ordered the snails!

We ate snails

My last dinner in Paris was duck confit, and it was so good.

I chased my snails with the duck confit

That was it for France, we woke up early the next morning, went straight to the airport and had an uneventful flight back home to New Jersey. I spent the time on the flight reflecting on this trip and writing most of this blog.

I got everything I wanted out of this trip and then some. I got to see the greatest band of all time play two concerts, I got to ride a Harley around wine country, and I got to explore a city I had never been to before. On top of that, I gained a new perspective about traveling to places outside the US. I think I need to keep this up. Most of all, I am grateful for Metallica, I probably would never have done a trip like this if it wasn’t for them.

Next up for me on the M72 Tour is the lone home game: East Rutherford in August.

My M27 World Tour itinerary

Show #DateVenueCity
Complete15/17/2023Stade de FranceSaint-Denis, France
25/19/2023Stade de FranceSaint-Denis, France
Upcoming38/4/2023MetLife StadiumEast Rutherford, NJ
48/6/2023MetLife StadiumEast Rutherford, NJ
58/11/2023Stade OlympiqueMontreal, Quebec, Canada
68/13/2023Stade OlympiqueMontreal, Quebec, Canada
79/1/2023State Farm StadiumGlendale, AZ
89/3/2023State Farm StadiumGlendale, AZ
97/12/2024Estadio Cívitas MetropolitanoMadrid, Spain
107/14/2024Estadio Cívitas MetropolitanoMadrid, Spain
118/2/2024Gilette StadiumFoxborough, MA
128/4/2024Gilette StadiumFoxborough, MA

My lifetime Metallica concert history

Show #ShowDateVenueDescriptionCityTour/Event
14/8/1992Brendan Byrne ArenaEast Rutherford, NJWherever We May Roam
27/17/1998Giants StadiumEast Rutherford, NJPoor Retouring Me
311/24/1998Roseland BallroomNew York, NYGarage Barrage
411/23/1999Madison Square GardenNew York, NYS&M
57/20/2000Giants StadiumEast Rutherford, NJSummer Sanitarium
67/8/2003Giants StadiumEast Rutherford, NJSummer Sanitarium 2003
74/20/2004Nassau ColiseumUniondale, NYMadly In Anger With The World
810/22/2004Continental Airlines ArenaEast Rutherford, NJMadly In Anger With The World
91/17/2009Wachovia CenterPhiladelphia, PAWorld Magnetic
101/31/2009Prudential CenterNewark, NJWorld Magnetic
112/1/2009Prudential CenterNewark, NJWorld Magnetic
1211/14/2009Madison Square GardenNew York, NYWorld Magnetic
1311/15/2009Madison Square GardenNew York, NYWorld Magnetic
149/14/2011Yankee StadiumNew York, NYThe Big 4
156/23/2012Bader FieldAtlantic City, NJOrion Music + More
166/24/2012Bader FieldAtlantic City, NJOrion Music + More
175/12/2017Lincoln Financial FieldPhiladelphia, PAWorldwired
185/14/2017MetLife StadiumEast Rutherford, NJWorldwired
195/17/2017The New Coliseum Presented by NYCVUniondale, NYWorldwired
207/19/2017Parc Jean-DrapeauMontreal, QCWorldwired
2110/20/2018Bryce Jordan CenterState College, PAWorldwired
2210/25/2018Wells Fargo CenterPhiladelphia, PAWorldwired
239/6/2019Chase CenterSan Francisco, CAS&M2
249/24/2021Highland Festival Grounds at KY Expo CenterLouisville, KYLouder Than Life
259/25/2021Highland Festival Grounds at KY Expo CenterLouisville, KYLouder Than Life
265/29/2022Harvard Athletic ComplexBoston, MABoston Calling
278/11/2022Highmark StadiumBuffalo, NY(none)
285/17/2023Stade de FranceSaint-Dennis, FRM72 World Tour
295/19/2023Stade de FranceSaint-Dennis, FRM72 World Tour

Link to YouTube playlist of all official Metallica concert videos I have been present for.

Metallica songs I have seen performed on the M72 World Tour

SongTimes Seen
72 Seasons1
Battery1
Blackened1
Creeping Death1
Cyanide1
Enter Sandman1
Fade To Black1
For Whom The Bell Tolls1
Fuel1
Harverster Of Sorrow1
Holier Than Thou1
I Disappear1
If Darkness Had A Son1
King Nothing1
Lux Æterna1
Master of Puppets1
Moth Into Flame1
Nothing Else Matters1
One1
Orion1
Ride The Lightning1
Sad But True1
Screaming Suicide1
Seek and Destroy1
Sleepwalk My Life Away1
The Call Of Ktulu1
The Day That Never Comes1
The Unforgiven1
Welcome Home (Sanitarium)1
Wherever I May Roam1
Whiskey In The Jar1
You Must Burn!1
Total:32
Unique:32

All Metallica songs I have seen performed live

SongTimes Seen
Enter Sandman26
Nothing Else Matters26
One26
Master of Puppets25
Sad But True25
Seek and Destroy22
For Whom the Bell Tolls20
Creeping Death17
Fade to Black16
Fuel13
Blackened12
Wherever I May Roam12
Battery11
Moth Into Flame10
The Unforgiven10
Ride The Lightning9
The Day That Never Comes8
The Memory Remains8
Welcome Home (Sanitarium)8
Whiplash8
Cyanide7
Hardwired7
Holier Than Thou7
Now That We’re Dead7
Atlas, Rise!6
Fight Fire With Fire6
Harvester of Sorrow6
The Four Horsemen6
All Nightmare Long5
Broken, Beat And Scarred5
Halo On Fire5
No Leaf Clover5
Of Wolf and Man5
That Was Just Your Life5
The End Of The Line5
Whiskey In The Jar5
Breadfan4
Hit The Lights4
King Nothing4
Last Caress4
The Call of Ktulu4
I Disappear3
St. Anger3
The God That Failed3
Through the Never3
Turn The Page3
Am I Evil?2
Bleeding Me2
Blitzkrieg2
Die, Die My Darling2
Don’t Tread On Me2
Frantic2
Last Caress/Green Hell2
Motorbreath2
My Friend Of Misery2
Orion2
Overkill2
The Outlaw Torn2
The Shortest Straw2
The Struggle Within2
The Thing That Should Not Be2
Trapped Under Ice2
Until It Sleeps2
– Human1
(Anesthesia) – Pulling Teeth1
…And Justice For All1
72 Seasons1
All Within My Hands1
Confusion1
Damage Inc.1
Devil’s Dance1
Dirty Window1
Disposable Heroes1
Dyers Eve1
Escape1
Harverster Of Sorrow1
Hell And Back1
Helpless1
Hero of the Day1
If Darkness Had A Son1
Iron Foundry1
Jump In The Fire1
Justice Medley1
Killing Time1
Last Caress/So What/Die, Die My Darling1
Low Man’s Lyric1
Lux Æterna1
Mastertarium1
Mercyful Fate1
Metal Militia1
My Apocalypse1
No Remorse1
Phantom Lord1
Sabbra Cadabra1
Screaming Suicide1
Sleepwalk My Life Away1
Small Hours1
So What1
Spit Out The Bone1
Stone Cold Crazy1
The Ecstasy of Gold1
The Judas Kiss1
The Prince1
The Unforgiven III1
The Wait1
You Must Burn!1
Total516
Unique106

On I Run, Still My Shadows Follow

Do you ever think about what it takes to maintain a level of creative excellence for four decades? Do you take for granted that your favorite musical artists can just crank out new albums that easily engage their fan base on a whim? Evidence indicates that it is not as easy as it seems.

Billy Joel’s last rock album was released in 1993. These days he is content to play the same set of songs that are between 30 and 50 years old at every performance. It is a business model that works well for him, he is currently amid a residence at Madison Square Garden with no end in sight. I went to go see him last November, I enjoyed the show.

Twisted Sister was not as fortunate. They found mainstream success with their third album “Stay Hungry” in 1984 and that pushed them to the top of the rock and roll mountain for a fleeting moment. They did not take their own advice to stay hungry. Dee Snyder admitted that once he was rich and famous, he got writers block and couldn’t write good songs anymore. The band went on to only release two unremarkable albums and became an on again-off again nostalgia touring act until their split in 2016.

I found a playlist on Amazon Music titled “90’s Alternative Alternatives”. It is about seven hours long and I recognize three out of every four of the songs from the radio in the 1990’s. I could not tell you if any of those bands are recording new songs or touring today. Most of the acts barely had one album or even more than one song in them before they ran out of ideas.

Some rock and roll acts are best suited to remain relevant by repeating their strong back catalog to live audiences. Others simply did not have the ability to keep a stream of hits coming and faded away. This perspective makes it remarkable that Metallica is still writing and recording new music at the highest level of their career.

Metallica does not just release a new album. They have a public relations machine that turns their album releases into highly anticipated global events. They drip singles with accompanying videos one at a time up to the album release date. The day before the album release, they preview the album in movie theaters across the world. Following the release date, they continue to release videos for the remainder of the songs on the album. It is pretty much enough to whip their diehard fans into an extended frenzy.

All the attention they brought to the latest album also attracted plenty of reviews and commentary. In the four weeks since “72 Seasons” was released, you can sort through plenty of them online, and you’ll find that the album has been mainly positively received.

I refrained from making an instant judgement on the album when I first heard it, I wanted to spend some time with it to really listen and let it sink in. After listening to it constantly since it was released, I am comfortable saying that Metallica is still absolutely at the top of their game, and they have never sounded better.

“72 Seasons” proves that Metallica still has a hard creative edge. Despite all his fame and success, James Hetfield is still processing childhood trauma through the lyrics of his songs. Most of the themes of the songs are identical those of their earlier works: misery, darkness, suicide, and their own concerts.

Some of the songs are mature versions of songs they wrote when they were younger. “Screaming Suicide” is a new “Fade To Black”. “Lux Æterna” is a grown-up “Hit the Lights”. “Inamorata” is an extension of “My Friend of Misery”.

Time will tell if “72 Seasons” will be considered a classic Metallica album. Chances are that it will not be regarded in the same light as one of their first five albums. But the new music is moving Metallica forward and it demonstrates that they are not content to stand pat on their back catalog for their live act.

All of this has me extra excited for the M72 World tour which just started last week in Amsterdam. I’m glad that there will be new songs mixed in with the classics and that the set lists will differ from what I’ve seen at their concerts these past two years.

I am equally excited to visit Paris for the first time. My travel companion Susan is fluent in French and is an accomplished world traveler. But she’s never been to a Metallica concert! She oversees the itinerary for much of the trip, and I trust her plans are going to work out great. My job is to get the Metallica tickets (done!) and to operate the rented Harley Davidson Road King if the weather cooperates.

Next week, the M72 World Tour adventure begins for me. A year and a half with 12 Metallica concerts in six cities and four countries. I am grateful for this opportunity, and I plan to make the most of it. On I run!

My M72 World Tour itinerary

Show #DateVenueCity
Upcoming15/17/2023Stade de FranceParis, France
25/19/2023Stade de FranceParis, France
38/4/2023MetLife StadiumEast Rutherford, NJ
48/6/2023MetLife StadiumEast Rutherford, NJ
58/11/2023Stade OlympiqueMontreal, Quebec, Canada
68/13/2023Stade OlympiqueMontreal, Quebec, Canada
79/1/2023State Farm StadiumGlendale, AZ
89/3/2023State Farm StadiumGlendale, AZ
97/12/2024Estadio Cívitas MetropolitanoMadrid, Spain
107/14/2024Estadio Cívitas MetropolitanoMadrid, Spain
118/2/2024Gilette StadiumFoxborough, MA
128/4/2024Gilette StadiumFoxborough, MA

My lifetime Metallica concert history

Show #DateVenueCity
14/8/1992Brendan Byrne ArenaEast Rutherford, NJ
27/17/1998Giants StadiumEast Rutherford, NJ
311/24/1998Roseland BallroomNew York, NY
411/23/1999Madison Square GardenNew York, NY
57/20/2000Giants StadiumEast Rutherford, NJ
67/8/2003Giants StadiumEast Rutherford, NJ
74/20/2004Nassau ColiseumUniondale, NY
810/22/2004Continental Airlines ArenaEast Rutherford, NJ
91/17/2009Wachovia CenterPhiladelphia, PA
101/31/2009Prudential CenterNewark, NJ
112/1/2009Prudential CenterNewark, NJ
1211/14/2009Madison Square GardenNew York, NY
1311/15/2009Madison Square GardenNew York, NY
149/14/2011Yankee StadiumNew York, NY
156/23/2012Bader FieldAtlantic City, NJ
166/24/2012Bader FieldAtlantic City, NJ
175/12/2017Lincoln Financial FieldPhiladelphia, PA
185/14/2017MetLife StadiumEast Rutherford, NJ
195/17/2017The New Coliseum Presented by NYCVUniondale, NY
207/19/2017Parc Jean-DrapeauMontreal, QC
2110/20/2018Bryce Jordan CenterState College, PA
2210/25/2018Wells Fargo CenterPhiladelphia, PA
239/6/2019Chase CenterSan Francisco, CA
249/24/2021Highland Festival Grounds at KY Expo CenterLouisville, KY
259/26/2021Highland Festival Grounds at KY Expo CenterLouisville, KY
265/29/2022Harvard Athletic ComplexBoston, MA
278/11/2022Highmark StadiumBuffalo, NY

Link to YouTube playlist of all official Metallica concert videos I have been present for.

Metallica songs I have seen performed on the M72 World Tour

N/A

All Metallica songs I have seen performed live

SongTimes Seen
Enter Sandman25
Nothing Else Matters25
One25
Master of Puppets24
Sad But True24
Seek and Destroy21
For Whom the Bell Tolls19
Creeping Death16
Fade to Black15
Fuel12
Blackened11
Wherever I May Roam11
Battery10
Moth Into Flame9
The Unforgiven9
Ride The Lightning8
The Memory Remains8
Whiplash8
Hardwired7
Now That We’re Dead7
The Day That Never Comes7
Welcome Home (Sanitarium)7
Atlas, Rise!6
Cyanide6
Fight Fire With Fire6
Harvester of Sorrow6
Holier Than Thou6
The Four Horsemen6
All Nightmare Long5
Broken, Beat And Scarred5
Halo On Fire5
No Leaf Clover5
Of Wolf and Man5
That Was Just Your Life5
The End Of The Line5
Breadfan4
Hit The Lights4
Last Caress4
Whiskey In The Jar4
King Nothing3
St. Anger3
The Call of Ktulu3
The God That Failed3
Through the Never3
Turn The Page3
Am I Evil?2
Bleeding Me2
Blitzkrieg2
Die, Die My Darling2
Don’t Tread On Me2
Frantic2
I Disappear2
Last Caress/Green Hell2
Motorbreath2
My Friend Of Misery2
Overkill2
The Outlaw Torn2
The Shortest Straw2
The Struggle Within2
The Thing That Should Not Be2
Trapped Under Ice2
Until It Sleeps2
– Human1
(Anesthesia) – Pulling Teeth1
…And Justice For All1
All Within My Hands1
Confusion1
Damage Inc.1
Devil’s Dance1
Dirty Window1
Disposable Heroes1
Dyers Eve1
Escape1
Hell And Back1
Helpless1
Hero of the Day1
Iron Foundry1
Jump In The Fire1
Justice Medley1
Killing Time1
Last Caress/So What/Die, Die My Darling1
Low Man’s Lyric1
Mastertarium1
Mercyful Fate1
Metal Militia1
My Apocalypse1
No Remorse1
Orion1
Phantom Lord1
Sabbra Cadabra1
Small Hours1
So What1
Spit Out The Bone1
Stone Cold Crazy1
The Ecstasy of Gold1
The Judas Kiss1
The Prince1
The Unforgiven III1
The Wait1

WrestleMania 39 Postscript

All it took was one heel turn. Roman Reigns was a disaster as a babyface champion, and all of his WrestleMania main events were near dreadful affairs. In 2020 he took some time away from WWE and returned as the bad guy that we all wanted him to be. That moment set him up to finally live up to his potential as the best performer in the company.

The Bloodline saga was punctuated with two top-notch WrestleMania main events this year. There were plenty of other good matches that exceeded expectations, but this was The Bloodline show. Cody Rhodes won the fans over and was the betting favorite on offshore betting websites, but it was not meant to be for him. Roman Reigns was set to maintain his grip on the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship the whole time. The initial critical reaction was that Reigns vs. Rhodes was the greatest WrestleMania main event of all time. It might be a bit early to make that call, but it certainly felt like an important match that will be remembered fondly.

WrestleMania Sunday overcame two significant injuries to close the weekend on a strong note. Both nights were captivating from start to finish.  Most of the undercard matches were wildly entertaining. Matches were kept simple, and they were based on storylines that resonated with the audience. The broadcast duo of Corey Graves and Michael Cole nailed it on commentary.

The critical acclaim for this WrestleMania is no doubt due to the creative direction of WWE content under the stewardship of Triple H. He clearly learned well under the tutelage of Vince McMahon but brought a fresh perspective to the approach of storyline and character development that connected with the fans.

There were more ups than downs, and many wrestlers came out of the weekend in a better place in their careers, having elevated their status through their performances, or by cementing indelible WrestleMania legacies. The winners far outnumbered the losers.

The Losers

  • Bobby Lashley: Got the short end of the stick when Bray Wyatt had to pull out of action. The big guy deserved a spot on the card and didn’t get it.
  • Dominik Mysterio: Come on, kid! If you are going to step up to your old man, you better beat him.
  • Shane McMahon: Legitimately tore his quadricep muscle seconds into his first in-ring action in over a year. Maybe his body is telling him something.
  • Gable Steveson: Remember Steveson being introduced to the crowd twice during WrestleMania 38? What happened to him since then?

The Winners

  • Austin Theory: Welcome to the big time, son. A victory over John Cena at WrestleMania is as good as it gets.
  • Logan Paul: Triple H said it best, “he has no business being this good”.
  • Seth “Freakin” Rollins: Seth can be counted on to work with anybody anywhere and make it look great. He continues to author a great WrestleMania legacy for himself.
  • Gunther: What a great Intercontinental Championship run for this ethnic heel. He got a late start to his main roster WWE career, let’s see what else he is capable of.
  • Sheamus: Just put this guy in the Hall of Fame now. Sheamus has quietly been one of the most important players in WWE over the course of his decade plus career.
  • Drew McIntyre: Drew carried the championship well during the closed-arena era for WWE. But his calling card of late has been his ability to capture a moment. He did just that, along with Sheamus and Gunther in this match.
  • Snoop Dogg: Does Snoop even know how to throw a working punch? Or run the ropes? Or drop a People’s Elbow? None of that stuff is easy! Well, he sure figured it out on the fly.
  • “The Demon” Finn Bálor: He recovered from a nasty cut that stopped the match and put on a show with Edge. This was the best WWE match the 41-year old has been involved in.
  • Edge: He is already in the Hall of Fame so it’s not like he needs to add to his legacy. But he sure did anyway. With Triple H retired, he got to take over the “cool entrance” spot with his Brood Edge character set to Slayer’s “South of Heaven”. Amazing!
  • Kevin Owens: If you are keeping score at home, this is the second WrestleMania main event in a row for the kid from Quebec who learned English from watching WWE programming. Is there a cooler story?
  • Sami Zayn: The MVP of the WWE was prominently featured in both WrestleMania main events. He knocked it out of the park this year.
  • The Usos: They already surpassed Demolition and The New Day with the length of their title run. But most importantly, they are the backbone of the Bloodline, and I don’t think Roman would be as good without them.
  • Solo Sikoa: This rookie played a critical role in the main event. He wasn’t a competitor in the match, but he hit his time cues perfectly and delivered the final blow to Cody before the match-ending spear from Roman. Solo played his part perfectly.
  • Paul Heyman: Roman Reigns is in the midst of one of the greatest championship runs ever, but Paul Heyman gets to wear the championship title belts to and from the ring. That pretty much makes him the coolest dude in WWE.
  • Cody Rhodes: He got his big WrestleMania main event and will be remembered for this match forever. This loss isn’t going to set him back, it is just another chapter in his story. Watch this space.
  • Roman Reigns: The face of the WWE is in his prime and delivered his best WrestleMania match yet. Look for him to be in this spot again next year in Philadelphia.

WrestleMania 39 Analysis and Predictions

WrestleMania 39 will be of historic significance, but not because of what happens in the ring. It will be the first WrestleMania without Vince McMahon at the helm of the creative direction of the show. Triple H has overseen the on-screen product since SummerSlam in August. He has had an immediate positive impact on what we have seen on Raw and Smackdown. Here are a few of the improvements under Triple H’s regime which are apparent up and down the card:

  • An investment in long-term storylines that are engaging and meaningful.
  • Championship reigns are longer and more important.
  • Giving pushes to NXT call-ups that would have been previously discarded under McMahon.
  • Re-signing performers who never should have been fired in the first place.

The Bloodline storyline was the best angle I can think of in years. It lasted for months, made you want to tune in to find out where it would go next, and elevated everyone involved, especially Sami Zayn and The Usos. Shakespeare couldn’t have written it better. It was such a good story that its outcome will be prominently featured both Saturday and Sunday night.

The rest of the card is also centered around solid storytelling and will complement the main events well. There is a lot to cover, so what you need to know about each match is as follows.

WrestleMania host, The Miz

There is not much of an obvious direction where this is going to head, but it is clear that Miz is hosting both nights. Maybe he will set up an angle on Saturday that pays off on Sunday. Maybe he even ends up in a match somehow. Maybe he gets involved with a returning superstar or a celebrity. Your guess is as good as mine.

Saturday Night

Austin Theory (c) vs. John Cena in a Singles match for the WWE United States Championship

WrestleMania was once John Cena’s show, now it belongs to Roman Reigns and Cena is just a participant. But he Cena not so far removed from his heyday making this a great opportunity for Austin Theory. There may have been some truth to the promo Cena cut on Theory that Theory is not ready for the WrestleMania spotlight. But Theory is young and has the look and the tools to be successful, and Cena is known for making young talent look good.

Prediction: Winner and still WWE United States Champion, Austin Theory

Seth “Freakin” Rollins vs. Logan Paul

Logan Paul’s early work in the WWE has been unprecedented. In his very limited set of appearances as a part-timer, he has impressed both on the microphone and in the ring in the biggest spots imaginable. He wowed the crowds at WrestleMania and at Crown Jewel, and he has made seamless transitions from heel to babyface and back to heel. Paul being matched up with the talented veteran Seth Rollins should be a treat for fans and an opportunity for a WrestleMania moment for both individuals.

Prediction: Winner, Logan Paul

Trish Stratus, Lita, and Becky Lynch vs. Damage CTRL (Bayley, Dakota Kai, and Iyo Sky) in a six-woman tag team match

Not even two hall-of-famers can save this from being a complete disaster. Trish Stratus wasn’t capable of working a match without a blown spot when she was in her prime as a full-time competitor so don’t expect her to be better in retirement. The Damage CTRL gimmick is displeasing and needs to be wound down in a hurry.

Prediction: Winners, Trish Stratus, Lita, and Becky Lynch

Braun Strowman and Ricochet vs. The Street Profits (Angelo Dawkins and Montez Ford) vs. Alpha Academy (Chad Gable and Otis) vs. The Viking Raiders (Erik and Ivar) (with Valhalla) in a Men’s WrestleMania Showcase fatal four-way tag team match

Try saying that one fast. This is a typical “let’s get everyone on the WrestleMania card” tag team match. They tend to be uglier than a bowling shoe. Everyone will try to get one big spot in before they quickly get pinned. The only thing that can save this match is a heel turn.

Prediction: Winners, Alpha Academy

Charlotte Flair (c) vs. Rhea Ripley

Rhea Ripley complements the rest of the Judgement Day faction members very well, and her work with Dominik Mysterio got her hot and afforded her the opportunity to take on Charlotte Flair for the championship. Given that it is the only women’s match of the night, one would hope that they give it their best effort.

Prediction: Winner, Charlotte Flair

The Usos (Jey Uso and Jimmy Uso) (c) vs. Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn in a tag team match the Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championship

Sami Zayn might be the WWE MVP these days, but don’t overlook how well the Usos have played their parts in this saga. The twins were given a chance to show their individuality and turned Zayn from a trusted friend to a foe. Kevin Owens — star of last year’s WrestleMania Saturday main event – is dependable in his role as always. This should be the main event on Saturday, but even if it isn’t, it will be the most important match on the card.

Prediction: Winners and new champions, Owens and Zayn

Rey Mysterio vs. Dominik Mysterio

I always say that professional wrestling is at its best in a one-on-one grudge match. And what kind of grudge match is better than father versus son? Dominik and the Judgement Day have tormented Rey for months and the payoff happens on Saturday, on the night after Rey is inducted into the Hall of Fame. What better way for Rey’s WrestleMania weekend to end than to have him job to his own son?

Prediction: Winner, Rey Mysterio

Sunday Night

Gunther (c) vs. Sheamus vs. Drew McIntyre in a triple threat match for the WWE Intercontinental Championship

Quite often, the Intercontinental Championship match at WrestleMania is either over-booked or an afterthought. Neither is the case this year. These three brawlers have already worked together and have great chemistry. This is going to look like it hurts because it actually will hurt.

Prediction: Winner and still WWE Intercontinental Champion, Gunther

Edge vs. “The Demon” Finn Bálor in a Hell in a Cell match

We have not seen a Hell in a Cell match since the Hell in a Cell premium live event was eliminated, and that is a good thing. It cheapened the HIAC gimmick to have it on the calendar every year. It is much better to bring it out when the situation warrants it. This is a situation that warrants it.

Edge is likely to wrap things up very soon and call it a career again. This could be his swan song, one last emotional and violent match at WrestleMania. Finn Bálor is still searching for a signature in-ring moment in the WWE, and he is teasing bringing back his “demon” gimmick for this match Expect the two of them to create WrestleMania memories.

Prediction: Winner, Finn Bálor

Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez vs. Natalya and Shotzi vs. Ronda Rousey and Shayna Baszler vs. Chelsea Green and Sonya Deville in a Women’s WrestleMania Showcase fatal four-way tag team match

If they were going to have an over-booked men’s fatal four-way on Saturday, might as well showcase an even worse women’s fatal four-way on Sunday. If you are experiencing WrestleMania fatigue by Sunday night, this is your opportunity to flip through the channels, you won’t miss anything important.

Prediction: Winners, Ronda Rousey and Shana Baszler

Bianca Belair (c) vs. Asuka in a singles match for the WWE Raw Women’s Championship

Belair was a participant in what is considered by most to be the best Women’s WrestleMania match of all time against Sasha Banks two years ago. She typically saves her best work for premium live events. If you must watch one of the women’s matches on this card, this would be it.

Prediction: Winner and new WWE Raw Women’s Champion, Asuka

Brock Lesnar vs. Omos (with MVP)

This is a cold pairing for Brock Lesnar who did not have an obvious main-event level opponent for this year’s Showcase of The Immortals. Lesnar has done some of his best work these past two years. Omos still is struggling to sell credibly for his opponents, which is a critical skill for a monster heel to master. With any luck, Lesnar can make Omos look good but it will be an uphill battle.

Prediction: Winner, Brock Lesnar

Roman Reigns (c) (with Paul Heyman) vs. Cody Rhodes in a singles match for the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship

Roman Reigns has completely transformed himself from the “Ruiner of the WrestleMania Main Event” to the unquestionable number one star of the company in just a few short years. The Tribal Chief has connected with the audience in a way he was unable to earlier in his career, and it is making his matches must-see events. He is enhanced by the talents surrounding him in The Bloodline, and he enhances the superstars he competes against.

Cody Rhodes took an unusual path to this year’s WrestleMania. Since the inception of AEW, he is the only talent who has switched from WWE to AEW, and then back to WWE. He played the companies off of each other to his own advantage, elevating his status as a performer each time. Despite the setback of a significant injury in 2022, Cody was able to ride the wave of momentum he is on to the main event of WrestleMania while doing nothing flashy. He is not the most gifted wrestler, and his promos are centered around true stories about himself and his family. It worked for him, he connected with the audience and they want to see him in this spot.

It should be an enjoyable and emotional match, but this one is tough to call, there is a compelling case for both of them to have their hand raised as champion.

Prediction: Winner and still Undisputed WWE Universal Champion, Roman Reigns

2023 WWE Royal Rumble Analysis and Predictions

Cody Rhodes returns to the WWE in the Royal Rumble after suffering a gruesome injury while training for Hell In a Cell

Welcome to the most unique WrestleMania season we have ever known. As far as we know, Triple H is entirely in charge of the WWE creative product and for the first time in the history of WrestleMania, Vince McMahon is not. I say as far as we know because McMahon weaseled his way back into the WWE board of directors after having had to retire in disgrace because he is a lecherous old man. Ostensibly, his role as chairman of the board is not the same as his hands-on role as CEO and he is just there to re-negotiate the television rights and possibly sell the company.

Wrestling fans and critics largely are hoping McMahon does not return to WWE creative as he had become increasingly erratic with his decisions regarding talents and the on-screen product, and he was severely out of touch with his audience. Triple H has taken things in a much different direction. He brought back fan-favorite talents that McMahon abruptly fired. The NXT callups to the main roster were given a chance to get over on television without being instantly buried. He even gave two-named wrestlers turned one-name wrestlers their first (or last) names back!

The product is far from perfect, but it has been noticeably more enjoyable with Triple H at the creative helm. But the pressure is going to be on for him to deliver at WrestleMania, and that will only be a success if things get off to a good start at the Royal Rumble. There are only five matches on the card and two of them are inconsequential women’s matches, but there is still a lot to unpack here.

Bray Wyatt vs. LA Knight in a Mountain Dew Pitch Black Match

It is good to see Bray Wyatt back in the WWE after he was unceremoniously fired from the company following WrestleMania 37. However it is somewhat incongruous for his supernatural character to be featured in a match sponsored by Mountain Dew. It remains to be seen (or not, I guess) what a Pitch Black Match looks like, but if this progresses Wyatt’s character headed into WrestleMania, it will be worth the icky corporate tie-in.

Prediction: Winner, Bray Wyatt

Roman Reigns (c) (with Paul Heyman) vs. Kevin Owens in a singles match for the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship

Roman Reigns may be the face of the WWE, but it is Kevin Owens that keeps the company running. There is no more important opponent for the main-event level talent in today’s WWE than Kevin Owens. This is his second high-profile match in the last twelve months, having experienced his career peak with a main event match against Stone Cold Steve Austin at WrestleMania 38. Owens can work with anybody in any type of match and can come off as a credible opponent.

The tie-in with Sami Zayn is critical to this angle. Zayn has never been more popular than he is right now. The crowds at live shows are enamored with him and his compelling storyline with The Bloodline. His tenuous status with the Tribal Chief and his cohorts changes from show to show, and the twists and turns in their relationship always leave us wanting more. There will certainly be a twist to this match that propels Sami towards a high-profile clash at WrestleMania 39.

Prediction: Winner and still Undisputed WWE Universal Champion: Roman Reigns

Women’s Royal Rumble Match

There is virtually no build up to the Women’s Royal Rumble Match as evidenced by the fact following the go home episode of Smackdown, there were only a total of twelve entrants announced. One of them is Emma (insert face palm emoji here). The only one that has doing anything of note right now is Rhea Ripley.

Ripley is the centerpiece of the only interesting storyline involving any of the female talent on the WWE main roster right now. The Judgement Day is a serviceable faction, and she is their most visible member.

Prediction: After countless blown spots and anti-climactic surprise returns, your winner will be Rhea Ripley.

Bianca Belair (c) vs. Alexa Bliss in a singles match for the WWE Raw Women’s Championship

Alexa Bliss is in the longest yo-yo of a career arc we have ever seen. She was aligned with Bray Wyatt until his firing from the company, and the unwind of her supernatural character was pretty much wrapped up when he was rehired. So, it appears that she is headed back to be part of a faction with him. Other than that possibility, there’s nothing to see here.

Prediction: Winner and still champion, Bianca Belair

Men’s Royal Rumble Match

The return of Cody Rhodes from a gruesome torn pectoral injury has been the talk of the rumble. There has been criticism levied at the announcement of his return instead of making it a surprise. But this was obviously going to happen for quite some time, so it made sense to build up his return.

There are still at least ten entrants that have not been announced yet so there is room for legitimate surprise entries into the rumble. Edge seems like the most logical one because it is time for him to return to gear up for his WrestleMania program. After that you can let your imagination run wild. It could be a few NXT callups, a returning Hall-of-Famer who gets tossed in thirty seconds, or maybe The Rock?

I would guess that the winner is in the pool of entrants that were already announced. I have them bucketed as follows:

No Chance in Hell:

Kofi Kingston, Santos Escobar, Ricochet, Baron Corbin, Omos, Karrion Kross, Dominik Mysterio, Xavier Woods, Braun Strowman

Dark Horse Winner Potential:

Edge, Austin Theory, Rey Mysterio, Gunther, Drew McIntyre, Sheamus, The Miz

High Probability of Winning:

Seth “Freakin” Rollins, Bobby Lashley

Odds-On Favorites:

Brock Lesnar, Cody Rhodes

In reality, the condition that the winner of the Royal Rumble goes on to face the champion at WrestleMania is a creative trap that limits the pool of potential winners to a select few. But WrestleMania is two nights long now so there is potential for multiple angles to be set up from the outcome here.

Full Speed or Nothing

My New Jersey Transit bus was predictably late, and when it arrived it was standing room only. The Lincoln Tunnel was jammed on the way to the Port Authority Bus Terminal. I dodged a few homeless people on my way to the subway platform and hopped the C Train to the Fulton Street Station. A quick walk from there to my Financial District office in Downtown Manhattan and my Monday morning slog to work was complete. I settled into my desk, said hi to everyone, put my phone on the charger and got to work. I am a software developer, and I had a lot of coding to do that day.

There was nothing out of the ordinary on the agenda for the day. The only unusual circumstance was that my boss was visiting that day from our Miami office. He and I had placed a sandwich bet on a Dolphins/Jets NFL game about a month prior, and my Jets won it for me. We decided we would settle the bet at the recently reopened Lenwich in Hanover Square that day. I knew he would be extra annoyed because he really hates the Jets. That was going to make my sandwich even more enjoyable.

About two hours into my day, I paused what I was doing to look at my phone. There was a text message from Metallica (I had previously subscribed to text alerts from their website):

Wait, what? A new Metallica song? How come I hadn’t heard anything about this? What is happening? I’m confused! Wait, how to you pronounce the title? Is “Æ” even in the alphabet?

With alacrity I put my PC headset on and navigated to YouTube. At the top of Metallica’s channel was a link to the new video. I set the volume to maximum and clicked play. Metallica had unleashed a thrash metal instant classic. On first listen, it sounded like a grown-up sequel to “Hit the Lights” from their first album “Kill ‘Em All” crossed with Motörhead’s “Overkill”. I was instantly amazed and fired up.

My mind was racing as I tried to take it in. I needed to know more so I navigated to metallica.com in search of answers. The home page was remade since my last visit.

Wait, what? I just found out about the new Metallica song. But what’s this about a new Metallica album? And what is this about a new Metallica Tour?

I clicked on the tour link and saw the full itinerary. They laid out their touring schedule for 2023 and 2024 all at once. They announced they would play two nights in each city and both set lists would be unique. There were cities all over North America and Europe on the list. One city jumped out at me. It would be a chance to finally make a dream come true.


Metallica is my favorite band, which probably goes without saying. I am imbued with the following beliefs:

  • Metallica is the greatest band of all time.
  • James Hetfield is the greatest singer of all time.
  • James Hetfield is the greatest guitarist of all time.
  • Lars Ulrich is the greatest drummer of all time.
  • Kirk Hammett is the second greatest guitarist of all time.
  • Robert Trujillo is the second greatest bassist of all time.

If you were to challenge me on any of those points, I would not even bother to argue. I would just think that you are stupid, and it would not be worth my time.

In 2018 I wrote a story about a twenty year stretch of my life as a Metallica fan against a backdrop of technological changes in the world over that time. I detailed the twenty-two Metallica concerts I had seen up to that point. But Metallica has been on the move since then and I added five more concerts to my total since 2019.

We flew to San Fransisco in September 2019 for S&M 2, which was the first event at the newly built Chase Center. After a pause in touring for the COVID-19 restrictions, the band hit the road again in 2021. We flew to Louisville in September for the Louder Than Life Festival, and Metallica headlined two of the four nights, playing a distinct set each time. In 2022 I went to the two closest Metallica shows to New Jersey, Boston in May, and Buffalo in August.

Each show was a unique experience, and they were all a reminder about how important it is for me to continue to see Metallica play live at every opportunity I get. They have significantly cut back on their touring schedule, and they are not getting any younger. But they look and sound better than they ever have.

I have been to 27 Metallica concerts over a 30 year stretch from 1992 to 2022. But prior to 2019, I had never traveled very far to see them. I was content to see them play in cities I could drive to from New Jersey, the furthest one being Montreal.

I was never much of a traveler. As a child, our family vacations consisted of driving south for two hours for a two week stay in Long Beach Island. I loved it. I never was jealous of other kids who flew to other places like Disney World. The Jersey shore had everything I needed from a vacation spot, and it was cheap and easy to get there.

Not much changed as an adult. I would rent out houses with friends in various spots between Belmar and Point Pleasant Beach and spend weekends there in the summer. The stories I could write about the things I have seen and done at the Jersey Shore could fill a book. If I could even remember them all!

I also purchased a Harley Davidson in 1999, and I have owned one ever since. When I was not at the shore in the summer, I would be on the bike exploring routes and destinations all along the Appalachian Mountains, from Georgia to Quebec.

Typically, those two activities would satisfy my need to get out of the house and go somewhere. But along the way, I did pick up a nagging desire to mix things up occasionally.

For a long stretch, in the 2000’s, Metallica would only tour in Europe. They would send me an e-mail with my fan club pre-sale code for tickets every time they announced a tour. It started to get annoying that I had priority access for tickets to shows on another continent, but there were none here in America. I started to think to myself that maybe I should go see them play in France one summer and make a vacation out of it. Maybe even rent a Harley and ride through the countryside for a day or two.

I was never able to put it together. At first, I didn’t make it a priority. Then, I had run myself into financial trouble by gut renovating a house. The project went off the rails and I was flat broke for four years. I finished the project in 2019 and sold my condo and I finally had both the time and the money to try to make the “Metallica in France” dream come true. Then a plague swept the earth and shut down all live concerts!

In 2021 I tried to go to one of their European shows, but due to a snafu with ticketing, and rising flight prices, I failed to put it together yet again. But that turned out to not be much of a problem when I saw the itinerary for the “M72 World Tour” for 2023 and 2024. Now was going to be my chance to live out that dream.


Within a few minutes of watching the Lux Æterna video, my phone lit up like a Christmas tree. Friends were texting back and forth about the news and the potential tour dates. I was so distracted that I had to come clean and explain to my boss that Metallica had just announced a tour and I immediately needed to plan. The pre-sale was going to start in less than 48 hours so some quick decisions would have to be made.

This was a tour announcement like none other. Metallica will play two shows in each city with no song repeats. The stage is in the center of each stadium. It will have a donut hole-shaped “Snake Pit” in the middle of the stage offering a 360 view. The tour itinerary covers North America and Europe from April 2023 to September 2024. The first round of tickets would be sold in two-night passes for each city that cannot be broken up.

The second city on the tour is Paris and that jumped out at me immediately! This could be my chance to finally make this dream a reality. The date is not great, it will require me to reschedule a camping trip that I traditionally host that weekend, but sacrifices would have to be made.

After a few more stops in Europe, the tour heads to North America and the first stop is right here in North Jersey at MetLife Stadium. If Metallica plays New Jersey, I go every time.

The following weekend, they head due north to Montreal. Motorcycle and Metallica trip!

The next city that looked good to me is Phoenix on Labor Day weekend. I just visited the area in 2021 for the NASCAR Cup Series championship race and felt like my trip was too short for some of the things I wanted to do. I also have family in the area and they are fun to spend time with. That would be four cities in 2023, a pretty good number to cap it.

Metallica is going to take a well-deserved break starting in November 2023 and they hit the road again in June 2024, beginning again in Europe. Of the five European cities they will travel to in 2024, the one that looked the most interesting to me is Madrid in July. Why limit my dream to see Metallica in Europe to just Paris when I can also go to Madrid?

The next city on the tour is back in America in Foxborough, MA. That will be another motorcycle and Metallica trip for me, not to mention I have a college friend in the area that I enjoy visiting.

Now that I had an itinerary planned out, it was time to start planning the logistics of buying tickets. To steal a quote from a crappy movie I once saw, I’d rather stick a flaming hot skewer in my eye than deal with Ticketmaster. The company was recently in the news for botching a Taylor Smith tour pre-sale. I was surprised so many people were unaware how horrible the Ticketmaster experience was until then. They have been screwing me since they went online in the late 1990’s.

But I still have my priceless Legacy Fan Club Membership at my disposal, so I was counting on that to help me get tickets for every show. I was a paid member of the Metclub for about 17 years, and in 2016 Metallica obsoleted the paid tier, but promised all paid members that they would be grandfathered in to future pre-sales before the rest of the general pubic. Since then they have kept that promise. Today, no amount of money could buy you a Legacy Fan Club Membership from their website. Take that, Taylor Swift fans!

I collected my unique pre-sale code and got to work. I asked around to see what friends wanted to go to what shows. I was able to buy four passes for each city (but only two Snake Pit passes if I was lucky enough to pull them). There were too many of us going to the New Jersey show for me to help everyone who was going. But between us all we had enough pre-sale codes to accommodate everyone. For the rest of the shows, I had enough of my own ticket allocations to cover those that wanted to join me.

I read through the fine print in the ticket sale FAQ. The Legacy Fan Club pre-sales all start at 9 AM local time. That meant that for the France and Madrid shows, I would have to be online at 3 AM local time. Great.

The East Rutherford, Montreal, and Foxborough pre-sales started simultaneously at 9 AM. But I was advised that Ticketmaster does not like when you are buying tickets for multiple events at the same time. It supposedly guards against things like different browsers on the same device, using one Ticketmaster account login or a singular credit card to make simultaneous purchases. There was no good way to verify this, but I was not going to take any chances. I opened two additional Ticketmaster accounts, I assigned each one a different credit card. I lined up three devices: my personal computer, my work notebook computer, and my work desktop computer. I could use them in conjunction to order tickets for the three shows simultaneously. I never trusted the Ticketmaster iOS app, so I nixed the idea of using my phone.

Finally, there was the Phoenix show. That pre-sale would start at 11 AM, but of course the venue has an agreement with Seat Geek instead of Ticketmaster so that would be a different platform and account altogether. I had never previously bought primary market tickets on Seat Geek, so I had a lot of apprehension about their web site capabilities. But I assumed I would be able to figure it out once the rest of the pre-sales were out of the way and just hope for the best.


I reviewed my plan, checked all my accounts and credit cards, got my PCs ready, copied my pre-sale code to them, then set my alarm for 2:40 AM. I do not recall a previous instance that I was so nervous heading to bed. Maybe it was the day before I bought my first Harley, and I knew that I had to ride it home having never previously operating a motorcycle on a highway.

I did not get much sleep, but I was groggy when the alarm went off. My cats Ozzy and Lemmy gave me a confused look as I stumbled down the hallway to the computers I set up. I followed the links from the band website to the event pages on Ticketmaster France and Ticketmaster Spain. The first thing I noticed was that Ticketmaster France has a much different user interface than the American version. On top of that, despite clicking the “EN” link at the top for English, it didn’t translate everything.

I managed to enter both ticket queues for the Madrid and Paris shows and waited about 15 minutes for my spot to pop up to buy tickets. Madrid was first and I immediately selected two Snake Pit tickets and clicked buy. Bingo, I was allocated two Snake Pit tickets! I began the checkout process, and my username and password weren’t working. Unbeknownst to me, you need a separate Ticketmaster account for each country you want to buy tickets in. I had to begin the process of creating an account quickly enough to secure the Snake Pit tickets.

While this was happening, I was trying to pull Paris tickets on a different computer. But with the different interface and the failed translations, I was having a much harder time figuring out what to do. Everything was in a grid that looked like this:

The Snake Pit column was straightforward, but this didn’t appear to be a simple 2-day pass as advertised. I had no idea which to pick but I tried the link for “Tarif Pack 2” but it came back and said “no more seats in this category”. While I was still trying to check out my Madrid tickets, I had to try to figure out how to drop down to general admission for Paris. I grabbed two tickets for what I thought was general admission, then I also had to create a Ticketmaster France account as a requisite for completing the purchase.

Groggy and as confused as I was, I managed to get Snake Pit for Madrid and two tickets for Paris as well. Off to a good start. I went back to bed.

In the morning, I forwarded the French confirmation e-mail to a friend to ask him if I screwed something up. It turned out that I had, I got seats and not general admission tickets. I guess I confused “Pelouse” with “Carrie Or” when I bought tickets. This was a mistake, but not the end of the world. I would still have a pretty good perspective.

Next up, it was time to buy tickets for East Rutherford, Montreal, and Foxborough at the same time. I checked and my regular Ticketmaster account worked for Montreal, so I was all set with my original three-computer plan. Everything was smooth this time, I was not able to get Snake Pit tickets for any of the shows but was easily able to move down to general admission for all three.

Finally, Phoenix was up next at 11. I checked my Seat Geek account and it said, “there is a problem with your account, please call customer service”. I opened a new account, added a credit card, and got in line for more tickets. I was unfamiliar with their queuing system, but after what seemed like a longer than usual wait, I managed to pull general admission tickets.

With that, I was locked in. No Ticketmaster snafus in any country was going to keep me out. My trusty Metclub Legacy Membership came through for me.


This capped a whirlwind 48-hour stretch. I came out of it with a whole new direction in life. I am going to break up the cycle of only spending my vacation time and weekends on my motorcycle and at the Jersey Shore and throw some big travel plans into the mix, inspired by the greatest band of all time.

I have a lot of preparing I need to do. I need to book flights and accommodations along with sightseeing itineraries. I told my personal trainer that I need to step up the intensity of my workouts. I need my strength and conditioning to be as best as possible for these shows.

This turn of events has inspired me to write. I’m going to keep a journal of events around every trip and every concert and turn it into a Metallica travel blog.

Four countries, six cities, twelve Metallica concerts. When it is done, my lifetime total of Metallica concerts seen will increase from 27 to 39.

The text message I got on Monday, November 28, 2022, wasn’t just a notification for a new Metallica video. It was my existential pivot.

Full speed or nothing.


My M72 World Tour itinerary:

CityCountryVenueDates
ParisFranceStade de FranceMay 17, 19 2023
East RutherfordUSAMetLife StadiumAug 4, 6 2023
MontrealCanadaStade OlympiqueAug 11, 13 2023
PhoenixUSAState Farm StadiumSep 1, 3 2023
MadridSpainEstadio Cívitas MetropolitanoJul 12,14 2024
FoxboroughUSAGilette StadiumAug 2, 4 2024

My lifetime Metallica shows:

DateVenueCity
4/8/1992Brendan Byrne ArenaEast Rutherford, NJ
7/17/1998Giants StadiumEast Rutherford, NJ
11/24/1998Roseland BallroomNew York, NY
11/23/1999Madison Square GardenNew York, NY
7/20/2000Giants StadiumEast Rutherford, NJ
7/8/2003Giants StadiumEast Rutherford, NJ
4/20/2004Nassau ColiseumUniondale, NY
10/22/2004Continental Airlines ArenaEast Rutherford, NJ
1/17/2009Wachovia CenterPhiladelphia, PA
1/31/2009Prudential CenterNewark, NJ
2/1/2009Prudential CenterNewark, NJ
11/14/2009Madison Square GardenNew York, NY
11/15/2009Madison Square GardenNew York, NY
9/14/2011Yankee StadiumNew York, NY
6/23/2012Bader FieldAtlantic City, NJ
6/24/2012Bader FieldAtlantic City, NJ
5/12/2017Lincoln Financial FieldPhiladelphia, PA
5/14/2017MetLife StadiumEast Rutherford, NJ
5/17/2017The New Coliseum Presented by NYCVUniondale, NY
7/19/2017Parc Jean-DrapeauMontreal, QC
10/20/2018Bryce Jordan CenterState College, PA
10/25/2018Wells Fargo CenterPhiladelphia, PA
9/6/2019Chase CenterSan Francisco, CA
9/24/2021Highland Festival Grounds at KY Expo CenterLouisville, KY
9/25/2021Highland Festival Grounds at KY Expo CenterLouisville, KY
5/29/2022Harvard Athletic ComplexBoston, MA
8/11/2022Highmark StadiumBuffalo, NY

Songs I’ve seen performed live:

SongTimes Seen
Enter Sandman25
Nothing Else Matters25
One25
Master of Puppets24
Sad But True24
Seek and Destroy21
For Whom the Bell Tolls19
Creeping Death16
Fade to Black15
Fuel12
Blackened11
Wherever I May Roam11
Battery10
Moth Into Flame9
The Unforgiven9
Ride The Lightning8
The Memory Remains8
Whiplash8
Hardwired7
Now That We’re Dead7
The Day That Never Comes7
Welcome Home (Sanitarium)7
Atlas, Rise!6
Cyanide6
Fight Fire With Fire6
Harvester of Sorrow6
Holier Than Thou6
The Four Horsemen6
All Nightmare Long5
Broken, Beat And Scarred5
Halo On Fire5
No Leaf Clover5
Of Wolf and Man5
That Was Just Your Life5
The End Of The Line5
Breadfan4
Hit The Lights4
Last Caress4
Whiskey In The Jar4
King Nothing3
St. Anger3
The Call of Ktulu3
The God That Failed3
Through the Never3
Turn The Page3
Am I Evil?2
Bleeding Me2
Blitzkrieg2
Die, Die My Darling2
Don’t Tread On Me2
Frantic2
I Disappear2
Last Caress/Green Hell2
Motorbreath2
My Friend Of Misery2
Overkill2
The Outlaw Torn2
The Shortest Straw2
The Struggle Within2
The Thing That Should Not Be2
Trapped Under Ice2
Until It Sleeps2
– Human1
(Anesthesia) – Pulling Teeth1
…And Justice For All1
All Within My Hands1
Confusion1
Damage Inc.1
Devil’s Dance1
Dirty Window1
Disposable Heroes1
Dyers Eve1
Escape1
Hell And Back1
Helpless1
Hero of the Day1
Iron Foundry1
Jump In The Fire1
Justice Medley1
Killing Time1
Last Caress/So What/Die, Die My Darling1
Low Man’s Lyric1
Mastertarium1
Mercyful Fate1
Metal Militia1
My Apocalypse1
No Remorse1
Orion1
Phantom Lord1
Sabbra Cadabra1
Small Hours1
So What1
Spit Out The Bone1
Stone Cold Crazy1
The Ecstasy of Gold1
The Judas Kiss1
The Prince1
The Unforgiven III1
The Wait1

The Quiet and Sad End of The Vince McMahon Era

Vince McMahon, former CEO and Chairman of WWE

My journey as a professional wrestling fan began sometime in early 1988 when I was in the eighth grade. It was in the lead up to WrestleMania IV. André the Giant won the WWF championship from Hulk Hogan in controversial fashion. Hogan appeared to kick out before three, but referee Earl Hebner counted the pinfall. André surrendered the title immediately to The Million Dollar Man, Ted DiBiase. Due to the controversy, DiBiase was stripped of the title, and it was put up for grabs in a 14-man tournament to be held at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, NJ.

I did not watch WrestleMania IV live on pay-per-view, but I managed to get a copy on VHS.  I feel like I watched it at least 100 times. A cast of colorful characters including future Hall-Of-Famers Hogan, André, Randy “Macho Man” Savage, Ravishing Rick Rude, and Jake “The Snake” Roberts fought it out for the WWF championship. After four grueling victories, Savage defeated DiBiase in the finals and was crowned the new WWF Champion.

I was hooked.

In that era, the WWF would drip programming to you for free on Saturday mornings. Feature talents would compete in “squash matches” against nobodies who were hired to lose. It was all a commercial for the live events in your area and for the broadcast pay-per-views throughout the year.

The announcing team on Saturday mornings was the duo of Jesse “The Body” Ventura who always sided with the bad guys, and Vince McMahon who looked and sounded like a strait-laced sports play-by-play guy.

A friend had a subscription to Dave Meltzer’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter. It was an inside view of world of professional wrestling that your typical fan would not be able to find anywhere else in the pre-consumer Internet world.

Much to my surprise, I learned from the newsletter that Vince McMahon wasn’t just an announcer, he was the owner of Titan Sports which was the holding company for the WWF. Having that newsletter put me slightly ahead of my time. In subsequent years the curtain was peeled back and most of wrestling’s secrets were revealed, including Vince McMahon’s role as owner of the WWF, now WWE.

Thirty-four years later, I am still as much of a professional wrestling fan that I was in 1988. The big difference is that I am no longer in the eighth grade. Now I am a middle-aged Wall Street professional. I also am a WWE shareholder. My perspective has changed a bit.

Between the mid-90’s and the present day, the WWE has grown exponentially, and Vince McMahon has been the driving force behind all of it. Most wrestling fans think of Vince McMahon as the gregarious on-screen character known as Mr. McMahon, and the man behind the scenes who makes all the creative decisions. We cheer for him when he enters the arena, but we make negative comments on social media when we believe that he didn’t give a “push” to one of our favorite stars that we believe deserved it.

But that does not nearly paint the whole picture of who Vince McMahon is. He has a third dimension as and the leader and the visionary of the company. He is a hard-charging businessman, and a very successful one at that. Here are just a few of his accomplishments that I can think of without even having to research them:

  • He muscled all the regional wrestling promotions out of business and took over North America, and then brought WWE to the rest of the world.
  • He fought off fierce competition from Ted Turner’s WCW, ultimately leading to him buying out WCW and leaving the WWE with no legitimate competition.
  • He took the WWE public in 1999.
  • He signed countless television deals and expanded WWE programming offerings to the point that your average fan can barely keep up with all of it.
  • He stayed ahead of the media and technology curve by offering WWE content on every nascent platform including cable television, close circuit television, pay-per-view, video games, VHS, DVD, 1-900 phone lines, Internet, social media, and over-the-top streaming.

You do not grow a branded media empire by being a nice guy. You must ruffle some feathers, step on some toes, have conviction in yourself and your beliefs, and have an extremely thick skin. McMahon has never faltered over the years, maintaining a tight grip on his company no matter what trials and tribulations came his way. He was often quoted as saying that he would never retire because he loved what he did.

That all came to an end when his run with the WWE came to an end with a solitary tweet late on a Friday afternoon. Vince McMahon would be quietly retiring from the WWE.

As shocking as it might feel like to a decades-long WWE fan like myself that Vince McMahon is gone from the WWE, the announcement was hardly a surprise. For while all this was happening throughout his tenure with the WWE, there were always indications that he was a really bad guy. And those indications turned out to be true when the Wall Street Journal reported that McMahon had been paying hush money to women who worked for the WWE to remain quiet about his sexual misconduct with them.

The Journal story may have been a bit of a shock to some who were not paying attention, but McMahon had similar allegations levied against him in the past but managed to keep them from damaging his career. The most prominent one was made by a former WWF referee Rita Chatterton in the early 1990’s.

Chatterton brought her story public on the Geraldo show in 1992. She alleged that McMahon lured her into his limousine under the guise of talking about her career, only to proceed to rape her and then go on to fire her from the company.

As was customary before the #metoo movement, Geraldo and the audience mainly blamed her for what happened, and some did not believe her story. This video remained hidden in plain sight for the last thirty years. But it appears that Chatterton finally is going to get people to believe her story given the current allegations against McMahon.

While McMahon has not publicly addressed the allegations against him, his lawyer did admit that McMahon had made the payments. That is very damning evidence against McMahon. Why would he pay millions of dollars to multiple women if they were just shaking him down and he was innocent? That does not sound very Vince-like.

The twists and turns in this story got my attention more as a Wall Streeter and a share holder than as a fan. It is now being alleged that McMahon used WWE funds to pay these women off, and that the WWE is now going to have to re-state past earnings. The SEC is investigating the situation because it is illegal to intentionally misstate earnings.

That is not to mention the messed up corporate governance structure of the WWE that allowed this to go on for so long. It might have even enabled McMahon to continue to misbehave had the Journal not reported the story. McMahon owns a majority stake in the company, so he controls the voting rights. The WWE board is supposed to be his boss, but they effectively report to him.

Allegedly, one of the victim’s friends e-mailed the accusation to someone on the WWE board. The board investigated the situation, but they were powerless to do anything about it. Apparently, this frustrated a board member to the point that they leaked it to the Journal to make it public. McMahon remained defiant at first, but after a few weeks he had to give in and quietly step away.

Just like that, the man who could not be stopped by any outside forces on his way to building a global content empire was done in by his own bad behavior.

From a fan’s perspective, this looks like a sad ending to an amazing career. But from a corporate standpoint, and from a human decency standpoint, this is good riddance to a monster. McMahon is a sexual predator who abused his position of power to force himself on women who worked for him, then tossed them aside and illegally covered up his hush money payments.

As a life-long fan it is impossible to imagine WWE without Vince McMahon controlling every aspect of the company with an iron fist. But I am also glad that he was forced quit so I do not have to be conflicted about remaining a fan of a company controlled by a horrible human being.

WrestleMania 38 Postscript

After a 19 year absence, Stone Cold Steve Austin returned to the ring at WrestleMania 38 against Kevin Owens

I must move past my complaints about the WrestleMania two-night paradigm because it appears to be permanent. But when WrestleMania spans two nights for a total of 16 matches, there is a lot to unpack. First and foremost, as a whole WrestleMania was very enjoyable. Most of the matches were exciting and there were many unexpected moments.

In isolation, however, Saturday night was the better of the two. In fact, if WrestleMania 38 was just what was given to us on Saturday night, I would have been perfectly satisfied. It was full of great matches that were capped by a surprise main event match featuring Stone Cold Steve Austin that re-wrote the history of his career and legacy.

Sunday night was a good show, even if things were a little strange at times. The Gable Steveson segment was a bit awkward and made him look very green. The New Day match was unusually short. The Pat McAfee bonus match with Mr. McMahon was another awkward segment that did not do either one of them any favors. The main event between Roman Reigns and Brock Lesnar ran a little short for a champion versus champion match.

These are minor criticisms. A show this large would be impossible to make perfect. Not every wrestler is the best and not every match can draw five stars from the critics.

To look at it through a different lens, I offer a list of WrestleMania winners and losers every year. This year, there are far more winners than there are losers.

Losers

  • Rick Boogs: The show got off to a rough start when Boogs suffered a devastating leg injury in the first match. Things were looking good for the upstart wrestler, but now he is facing surgery and a lengthy rehab.
  • Otis: The big man has a lot of potential but got lost in the shuffle in his six-man tag team match.
  • Omos: Having him lose at WrestleMania is not a great way to build a monster heel of his size.
  • The New Day: As I mentioned, their match was so short it was a throw-away. Time to move on from this gimmick.
  • Mr. McMahon: He should know how to sell a Stunner by now!

Winners

  • The Usos: Their career began with them constantly being overlooked at WrestleMania. Now they are the top tag team in the WWE and made a strong statement by winning the opening match.
  • Drew McIntyre: He got to cut the ring ropes with a sword. Cool!
  • Logan Paul: I had no expectations for his wrestling ability given that as far as I could tell, he had never worked a match in front of a crowd. I was blown away with how well he performed. He carried himself like a veteran. He was smooth, paced himself well, and his mechanics were solid. He should sign a full-time contract.
  • Cody Rhodes: Jim Ross always says that when a wrestler leaves a promotion, it is usually because of one of “the two c’s: cash or creative”. Rhodes left the WWE for AEW for the latter but returned for the former. And while he was cashing in, he orchestrated himself a great WrestleMania moment with his win over Seth Rollins.
  • Kevin Owens: The big man from Marieville, Quebec was in a WrestleMania main event match against Stone Cold Steve Austin. Enough said!
  • Stone Cold Steve Austin: He looked a little slow, but it did not matter. His connection to the audience is as strong as it has ever been. He often said he did not want to return because he did not think he was physically capable of performing at a high level. But he proved himself wrong and found a way to make his match work.
  • Steve Austin Fans: If you ever chanted “ONE MORE MATCH” at Steve over the last 19 years, you finally got your wish!
  • Triple H: He got the send-off he deserves with one last WrestleMania moment.
  • Gable Steveson: The Olympic gold medalist and NCAA champion was spotlighted two nights in a row. I only hope for his sake that this sake he doesn’t get slapped with the “he’s being forced down our throats” label.
  • Randy Orton: What a pop for that hot tag!
  • Pat McAfee: He might not look like a wrestler, but he can sure work like one. He even got to call his own match on commentary. He should be on cloud nine all week after the weekend he had.
  • Austin Theory: Hey Mr. McMahon, you can learn a thing or two from your protégé about how to sell a Stunner!
  • Roman Reigns: I started this blog primarily so I could rant about how much I could not stand to see Reigns in the WrestleMania main event year after year. But since he took WrestleMania 36 off and returned as The Tribal Chief, he has been the top performer in the world. I have done a complete about-face about Roman. It is about time I finally say it: I acknowledge Roman Reigns!

Raw is beginning as I am finishing this post. I look forward to seeing where things go from here. Hey look, Veer is going to make his Raw debut tonight…