Walking into Conseco Fieldhouse, I got to thinking about what kind of crowd to expect. I figured the older the band, the older the crowd. Probably dudes in their late-30s sporting mullets and wearing the original Ride the Lightning shirt they bought in 1985. So I figured the old material would be met with much applause while the band’s more recent stuff would be subject to yawns and bored glances. I was also pretty sure that this show wasn’t going to be the St. Anger tour as much as it would be a “greatest hits” kind of thing.

 

Not all of my predictions panned out, but it was indeed an entertaining two and a half hours watching Metallica Thursday night. The revolving stage from the ’96 tour made its return, which meant that no matter where you were sitting, Lars would be facing you at some point, and say what you want about the guy, he was on fire.

 

Speaking of fire, there were no choreographed stage explosions or combusting roadies like in tours past, but there were plenty of fireworks and 30-foot-tall flames accenting songs like “Fuel” and “One.”

 

Most of the set list was standard and predictable, but there were a few surprises like “Jump in the Fire” from Kill ’Em All. What really caught me off guard was how well some of their newer material worked live. “No Leaf Clover” was released on the symphonic experiment S&M from a few years back and I never cared much for it until hearing it played as a four-piece without all the string arrangements. And of the few cuts off the Black album, “Wherever I May Roam” was incredibly tight while “Nothing Else Matters” was the low point of the show, and should be retired from their setlist.

 

Even tried and true Metallica staples sounded a bit wore out. James Hetfield’s voice just doesn’t hold up like it used to and songs like “Master of Puppets” suffered because instead of his trademark whiskey-stink yell, he was trying to sing a lot of it and it didn’t quite feel right.

 

Overall, the band’s energy outlasted most of the crowd’s. Kirk Hammett nailed every solo, and even the ones he’s played a thousand times still sounded great. Interning bassist Robert Trujillo did his part to put a fresh spin on the overplayed material and worked the hell out of the crowd but some of his poses were laughable. Metallica’s better days may indeed be behind them, but they can still put on one hell of a live show.