SUMMER SANITARIUM
July 5th 2003
SkyDome


It all started with 6(rob)6, Pigrem and myself. 6(rob)6 had gotten our PIT TICKETS the day they came out and waited in line (you are god man). July 5th rolls around and Pigrem's dad picks us up at 12:00 pm and we head out to the Sky dome. We arrive, get to our gate and there’s absolutely no line-up and we walk right in. We get nice and close for mudvayne, at this point there are only about 3 thousand people in the stadium, most of them sitting in seats, the pit isn’t full at all. The Mudvayne banner is hanging down the smell of nasty skunky weed arouses and a few minutes of waiting, Mudvayne comes out and their set starts, the vocals are as weak as anything! Kud gets pissed off and motions to turn up the microphone, still not good enough then he picks up another microphone it doesn’t work, so he throws is down on the stage hard... picks back up the other mic, you could tell he was agitated at the quality. Towards the end of Mudvayne’s set the vocals get better, it was still very enjoyable this was 6(rob)6’s second time seeing them, Pigrem’s First time seeing Mudvayne and my fourth.

After Mudvayne’s set the roadies start to set up for the Deftones, this takes for EVER because they are trying to fix the quality of the microphones so you can imagine how annoyingly long the sound check was! after like what seemed more than 30 minutes the set up crew disappeared and wham out came the Deftones, almost like the Deftones were eager to get out on stage, it really didn’t seem like the road crew even finished what they were doing because the lights just went out and there was Chino standing before us. The show began with a brutal pit, we were almost falling, first left, then right, damnit it was annoying! Deftones were pure amazing, they put on amazingly powerful show, actually one of the most mosh-pit filled shows of the night! Pigrem was going insane, along with 6(rob)6, I was up there with them, just relaxing a bit more, holding back for Metallica! Chino's screams filled the SkyDome, everyone was going crazy, I can say it was one of the most entertaining shows of the night.

Going to a big venue like Summer Sanitarium means you have to see some bands you don’t necessarily want to see, in my case it was Linkin Park and Limp Bizkit however Limp Bizkit brought back some memories and they surprisingly put on a good show which I can say I enjoyed, with some mad pyro technics! However in my opinion Linkin Park was a show that seemed to drag on! Limp Bizkit even played Metallica’s Welcome Home (sanitarium). Fred did his own version witch was cool to see.
After Limp Bizkit it was time for Metallica’s road crew to set up, there were about 40 people in the crew, and set up everything in decent time. 6(rob)6 and myself were in a very decent spot, close to the rail, centre stage, pigrem, who knows where he was, we decided to look for him. We must have walked past him a million times, we never saw him, however we saw some guy jump over the seats, and bolt it through one of the pit opening gates, he got threw!
So we are wondering around looking for Pigrem and the lights dull, I cant stand all the way at the back, no way, not for Metallica, I’ve been waiting too long! 6(rob)6 wasn’t feeling well, so I took off and screamed my lungs away, Battery was their first song, people around me weren’t singing, did everyone come to see Linkin Park god damnit? I felt like the only person there who knew the lyrics, I wondered around until I found some guys that were going insane and they got up nice and close I just tagged along. I’m so glad Metallica played all old songs, they played 3 new songs; Frantic, St.Anger, Fuel. St.Anger of course had a pit going for it, so I couldn’t resist going in. Fuel had some amazing pyro technics, I was close enough that it was burning my fuckin face! I sang along with every song, nothing could have meant so much to me than seeing Metallica, in front of me, Kirk Hammet whaling on the guitar, pumping out some huge solo’s, I loved just watching him, he was smiling non stop, this is what Kirk lives for! James had about 6 microphones he was moving all over the place all night, Lars was beating the living shit out of his drums and Rob was bashing his head back and fourth like nothing else.

I have never felt so much excitement for a band like this ever. I would have to say one of my favourite songs they played would be Nothing Else Matters, the whole stadium just lit up with lighters, it seemed like EVERYONE knew the lyrics! For Metallica’s encore they played “One” and “Enter Sandman” which may I say kicked me straight in the face. Enter Sandman had everyone jumping, I was quite happy that finally the fans had snapped out of their trance, and started to enjoy the show, too bad it was the last fucking song! At the end of the show Metallica had a standing ovation.

Just before they left the stage, a fan passed Lars a Canadian flag with “Metallica” at the top and the skull guy at the bottom, all four members stood there, holding the Canadian flag, with their thumbs and fists in the air, The screams coming from the crowed did not stop for about 5 minutes, it was the most respectful thing I have seen a band do onstage for a country. I actually don’t know what else to say, Metallica rocked, it was everything I ever expected and more! it was insane, it’s one week later and I still can’t talk from it! Metallica said they were coming back, and if they do, and you haven’t seen them, get a ticket, and fucking go. I will not miss their next show.

The songs Metallica played in exact order or performance:
Battery
Master of Puppets
Harvester of Sorrow
Welcome Home (Sanitarium)
For Whom The Bell Tolls
Frantic
Sad But True
St. Anger
No Remorse
Seek and Destroy
Blackened
Fuel
Nothing Else Matters
Creeping Death
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One
Enter Sandman