One of my favorite songs from the newer "Metallica" albums was up next, "Memory Remains," from the "ReLoad" album. And it was abundantly clear that the audience was into the "new" albums as much as they were the older ones. You can't convince me that "Load" and "ReLoad" were not popular albums, with 3500 people singing every single word to the songs. "Memory Remains" had a huge back up from the Symphony on this number (another song that easily lent itself to Symphony enhancement), along with major lighting and strobes. Hetfield and Hammet had the audience clapping and singing the "na, na, na" part with their microphones pointed at the crowd, not themselves. I think this is the first concert I've been to when you could REALLY hear the whole audience singing - although this was a smaller venue and had good acoustics. The strings and lighting moved the musical bridge to the orchestra, playing an extended ending, only joined by the band for the closing sets of "na, nas." Amazing rendition! (Can you tell yet that I absolutely LOVED this concert?)

"Metallica" then introduced on entirely new song to their fans called "No Leaf Clover." Things quieted down a bit, since nobody was familiar with the song, which itself was very slow and heavy. The lights dimmed down for the first time, and the song itself ran from soft and mellow to loud and grating, then back again. Another extended instrumental bridge gave the song more character and texture as the Symphony REALLY brought the musical/melodic portions to the forefront. I think this song may have fallen a little flat (not off key, just not real inspriring) without the orchestra backing. Interesting song though.

For "Hero Of The Day ("Load" - 1996), the Symphony opened the song, while James sat on a stool singing the vocals, and no band instruments at all. Since this song has such a beautiful opening, the orchestra made the best backdrop for the beginning, and it was so powerful and moving it's hard to explain. Soon Lars joined in on drums, but softly, just increasing the power. The Symphony took over the the crashing change-up when the song picks up toward the middle, and the full band joins in - especially the drums! Things really start to rock out with both the band and symphany near the end, when the line " . . .so can't you hear your babies crying now. . .Mama they try and break me, mama they try and break me. . ." With the final notes beginning, strobes all over the stage flashed until the final note faded away. Just awesome!

To set the mood for "Devil Dance," from the "ReLoad" album, all the lights in the venue turned red. The Symphony again opened for the song, accompanied by deep guitar riffs, and this pattern basically continued on the instrumental bridges throughout the song. With a full Symphony AND "Metallica" providing the music, the lines "I feel you too . . .c'mon, c'mon and take a chance, Come dance" sounded REALLY creepy with the string section wailing away. During the extensive instrumental bridge, the orchestra again takes over, with Kirk, Jason and Lars. James again provides the vocals for the end of the song, and the music carries you out of the song with a chillingly abrupt end.

The final number before the Intermission (Yes, even "Metallica" took an Intermission on this gig - much to the relief of the audience who were totally sweating after the first ten songs of the twenty song concert, and were really glad to get a chance to go outside and cool off!), was another one of my favorites, "Bleeding Me" from the "Load" album. This one started off with semi-slow, twangy nasal vocals with a guitar and strings musical intro, followed by the drums/percussion. The strings really enhanced the long intro that finally gave way to the lyric ". . .this thorn is from the tree I planted . . ."

Another Big instrumental bridge came through toward the middle of the song, pretty much overwhelming the vocals when they started again. Moving toward the end of the song, quite a bit like the album version, but with MUCH longer instrumentals, all the lights on the stage, walls and ceilings went totally crazy - flashing strobes and spots into the face of the audience, the lights on the orchestra stands flashing, and pretty much close to the kind of lighting theatrics that "Metallica" usually uses - minus the flash pots of course. After all, this WAS a more "civilized" concert - yeah, RIGHT! Things did calm down a bit for the final vocals, and the song faded out along with the lights. INTERMISSION TIME!

The second half of the concert began with James Hetfield sitting on a stool in the first row of the orchestra, this time in a black T-shirt, with the acoustic guitar opening of "Nothing Else Matters" from the "Metallica" album. The intro sounded just like the album, but the acoustic was soon joined by keys and strings with the Symphony following up. This particular song was very well suited to the marriage of the band and the Symphony, which gave it an extremely powerful and emotional slant. As the song progressed into the second lyric beginning "So close no matter how far . . ." Lars added his part to the song, but the Symphony was playing the instrumental bridges - fantastically I might add. As the lighting changed to rising blues and whites, Kirk and Jason rounded out the sound with bass and electric guitar. This particular number was really spectacular, and got a huge response from the audience, but the power ballad was just a break in the action leading into "Until It Sleeps" from "Load." I was enjoying the music so much my notes are a bit sparse here, but this was a "everyone on stage playing together" number, and between the music and lighting effects, the only way to describe it is Fabulous!

Moving back in time to the "Ride The Lightning" album, we were treated to "For Whom The Bell Tolls." This one was a real production number, with a major light show, big sound and an long instrumental intro. The Symphony pounded out the beat, while the string section played with lightning speed. The orchestra grew and flourished in the background as the song progressed, while the string section drew the music along. Lars was accompanied by the great timanpi sound, and was actually standing at the drum kit pounding out the beat. This song got the audience on a roll again, and totally hyped for the other new Metallica song, "- Human" (as in "Minus Human").

"- Human" opened with a big drum and horn intro provided by the Symphony and Lars, with the drums predominant. The song had an interesting melodic twist, and an extremely long instrumental intro. About half way through, the vocals joined in, but they were a bit difficult to understand, so I only caught pieces here and there - ". . . take me with . . . tell me does your son still . . ." I wish I could remember more, but hopefully the new songs will be released on CD in the future and everyone can enjoy them. This song had a fantastic down beat, and was a heavy metal number, but the orchestra support really made things "happen."

Moving into "Wherever I May Roam," the Symphony again provided an extended, big sounding intro, accompanied by awesome lighting coming from everywhere in the venue. Again the orchestra backing made a big song even bigger, and during the instrumental bridges, Hetfield and Newstead were up in the orchestra stand playing guitar, which brought big smiles to the faces of the Symphony members, and even a high five from Newstead to one of the horn players. Another major production number, the orchestra provided a super back up to an extended guitar solo from Newstead and Hetfield, and led to an extended (as in you just weren't quite sure if they were finished or not), big bang musical finish. "Wherever I May Roam" is a great song to begin with, and this version was a knock out!

The last song on the "Load" album, "The Outlaw Torn," was one of the best songs in a night full of best songs. With an extended musical intro combined of mega-distorted strings and big horns, just the opening sent chills up my spine. Since this is such a creative song to begin with, and is one of the heavier ones on "Load," try to imagine "The Outlaw Torn" about 5 mega times bigger than it is on the album and you just MIGHT be able to imagine what this sounded like. With the beginning of the vocal "And now I wait my whole lifetime for you . . ." on top of this HUGE instrumental, the comment I put in my notes was "Outstanding!!!" And indeed it was. The orchestra backing pulled every nuance that may have been missing from the band production of the song on the album, and gave it a boost to a higher level. The instrumental bridges were fabulous, with extended, creative lighting to add to the atmosphere. I guess one fan was totally transported, since he managed to get through probably the heaviest security I've ever seen at a concert, got on the stage and then dived into the crowd - where he was promptly grabbed and escorted out the door. But, after that little interruption, the music just got better. There were strobes and spots and the tubes on the orchestra stands flashing all over the place, the strings came on strong, filling in between guitar notes, and the timpani pounded out the beat with Lars, as the finale to the song carried on and on, coming to a close with a crash! The audience reaction was unbelievable, including mine! This song totally blew me away!

James Hetfield announced the next song would be "Something Heavy" - like we hadn't been hearing that all night - and the Symphony moved into a masterfully big opening of "Sad But True." The band soon joined in, making the sound even bigger, and the audience was singing and clapping along with every note, including an interlude of "Hey!" from the crowd encouraged by James, Kirk and Jason. With another big time instrumental bridge, this number was almost better than "The Outlaw Torn" - which was a tough act to follow to begin with! By now the audience knew the best stuff had been saved for Concert Part Two, and we didn't have a clue what was still waiting for us, even though we thought we did courtesy of the program with the set list printed in it.

My notes from the balance of the concert have lots of exclamation points next to the song names - beginning with "One" labeled INTENSE!!! When I saw this song listed in the program, I was really waiting to see how it would be handled in this musical forum. I've seen "Metallica" play it in concert before, and was just overwhelmed by it, so this was going to be interesting - boy was it ever! Sounds mimicking gunfire and wailing from the Symphony filled the theatre, and set an eerie atmosphere. This was the only song during the entire concert where all the lights were off except on the stage, which lent even more to this dark song. The "Metallica" inro layered over the orchestra, and the horns and strings were massive in sound. Although a little shaky at first, the flashing lights and orchestra interpretation of a battlefield soon gave this song the intensity it deserves. The drum and "gun" flashes were totally amazing with the Symphony added, and there was one hell of a guitar solo screaming out to the accompaniment of the string section. This song may have started out a little shaky, but, by the time it ended, it far surpassed expectations!

To round out the evening was "Metallica's" Grammy winning song, "Enter Sandman." Let me say one word here - AWESOME!! During the extended intro, the orchestra layered it's sound over the band, and this was another "goosebumps" song. Although the interplay between the Symphony and the band complemented each other up to this point, "Metallica" had total control of this number, and the growling vocals were pretty intense with all those extra instruments running behind them. The audience was singing along full force, and all the lighting was going during this song, flashing and changing color and, well, sort of like the finale of a 4th of July fireworks exhibition when they send up the last bunch to end with a bang. Another HUGE and extended ending to this song had the crowd absolutely screaming and jumping up and down until the music stopped - then they got even louder. "Metallica" took their bows as the crowd went nuts, and it took them a bit to get off the stage.

When Michael Kamen came forward to present the Symphony, they got the same kind of ovation the audience gave "Metallica" - and it was most definitely well-deserved! Personally, I don't think the San Francisco Symphony has ever received an ovation like the one they got on 4/22/99, and certainly not from the type of audience they played for. You could tell they were overwhelmed, and excited, and trying to maintain their dignity all at the same time, but I think they kind of loosened up a bit as the clapping, and screaming, and whistles, and foot stomping continued on for them.

"Metallica" finally returned to the stage for the requisite encore after much pounding and shouting from the audience. This time they launched into the speed metal "Battery" from the "Master Of Puppets" album, and the place went even more nuts. I must give the orchestra credit for just participating in this song, but the encore was ALL "Metallica" in all their glory. And this was about the most exciting concert a "Metallica" or "San Francisco Symphony" fan could attend in my opinion. I'm not sure about the reaction by the Symphony season ticket holders, but I can assure you the "Metallica" fans loved every minute, every note played.

And then it was over. A wonderful night of music generated by the Bay Area's best musicians in two completely different genres. This WAS a once in a lifetime opportunity, and I'm so glad I got to be a part of it. I will remember this concert as one of the best I've ever seen. No, it didn't have the usual stage props and stadium lighting and all that other stuff that makes concerts fun, but it broke some new ground for fans of different genres and hopefully gave them some insight into what the other people listen to. This wasn't a perfect, earthshaking, masterpiece to go down in history forever. Instead, it was a meeting of many virtuoso musicians who worked very hard to make what they do blend with what all the others do. And in my mind it was a complete success!!