( From top) 1. The sea of fans at Bangalore’s Palace Grounds; 2. Metallica foursome greet the crowd; 3. Vocalist James Hetfield; 4. Lead guitarist Kirk Hammett

Ground zero

Seven people in a Santro, the ride to the venue — Palace Grounds — was uncomfortable but enjoyable. As a friend drove, we made calls to others who had already reached.

One such friend was Subir, who had flown in from Delhi after the Gurgaon gig got cancelled. With him was his brother-in-law, who had flown in from Malaysia. The gig would start at 6pm. Subir had got a great place close to the stage and asked us to hurry as the venue was spilling over.

Our Santro reached at 5pm and I saw what he meant. It was a sea of Metallica fans. Metalheads in black Metallica T-shirts everywhere, the most popular T-shirt being one with a Metallica songlist printed at the back.

The way to the ground was unkempt. There was wild growth of weed where sloshed fans and dead animals lay undisturbed, some next to puddles of puke. But the crowd was disciplined and moved towards the ground resembling a giant wave.

HETFIELD & US

Scottish band Biffy Clyro opened for Metallica. I didn’t mind them but everyone else prayed for them to leave. “Go home, Britney Spears!” screamed the guy in front of me. But some others raised their hands in satanic salute and shouted: “Metallica you rock!”. As I looked puzzled, a friend explained that half the crowd had no clue this wasn’t Metallica.

Ah, wannabes… they’re everywhere!

Finally Metallica took the stage. I couldn’t believe the band I grew up listening to on my iPod was performing before me. I saw James Hetfield in a sleeveless black vest, pointing his guitar at me and singing: For whom the bell tolls. I and the 20,000-strong crowd roared in disbelief!

We stood pretty close to the stage but there were too many six-footers blocking my view. I jumped and stole glimpses of the rockers. There were also three giant screens around the stage.

Next up was Fuel and as Hetfield sang the line Give Me Fire, giant flames burst out of the stage. Fade to Black, Enter Sandman, Sanitarium…the sound quality was so good we could feel every beat against our hearts. And we went into frenzy when Hetfield did his trademark sneer at the end of Master of Puppets.

But there were two songs during which I could not hear Hetfield’s voice at all — Sad But True and Memory Remains. That’s because the audience sang it with him from start to finish! Such was the crowd’s chant of Memory Remains that Hetfield stopped singing. He walked away from the mic, put his hands on his hips and smiled as the crowd exploded into Na na na. The guitars faded away and the audience sang it with Lars Ulrich’s drums alone. “You’re beautiful!” Hetfield screamed to us once we finished the song.

The audience’s next attempt was Nothing Else Matters but it was terribly out of tune.

It didn’t matter.

WOLF WHISTLES

Bassist Robert Trujillo drove us wild with his skills. He de-tuned his guitar on the mic and made the strangest sounds scream out of it. He slung the instrument around his body and looked quite the beast as he did a hula hoop with the guitar twirling around him. Hetfield impressed by playing a twin guitar. I didn’t get to see much of lead guitarist Kirk Hammett but drummer Ulrich was cool, just the way he appears in Metallica’s music videos.

I don’t know if the ‘ceetee’ culture exists in the West but at Palace Grounds shrill whistles filled the air as the ultimate offering to a song well sung.

Hetfield teased the audience now and then by pretending the show had come to an end. He grinned impishly as we sighed and cheered loudly each time he took off his guitar and immediately slipped it on again.

Two complaints: One, they didn’t sing Unforgiven. And two: They didn’t say one word about Delhi. I was expecting an apology for cancelling the show or a line condemning the unruly behaviour of the crowd there, but nothing.

“Is it just me or do you also think Metallica should come back to India?” is all Ulrich asked us at the end. They promised to come back. “We have waited 30 years for this,” Hetfield repeated several times during the show.

As a final flourish, the musicians flung their drumsticks and plectrums into the crowd.

THE SIDESHOW

My friend Timothy had not bought tickets beforehand and so he stood at the on-spot ticket counter before the show. But the queue was serpentine and so he gave way to acquiring a ticket in black from a beggar.

That’s right. A beggar sold him a Rs 2,750 ticket for Rs 4,000. But beggars (in this case Timothy!) can’t be choosers.

Rohit, who had flown in from Delhi, had booked tickets online but the queue to collect the hard copy of the ticket was equally long. He waited three hours and when Metallica took the stage he was still in queue. He thought he would miss the show for the second time in three days so he quit the queue and sat to cry. The bouncer felt sorry, asked for a Rs 100 bribe and let him in. Rohit saw the rest of the show sitting on a barricade.

Others like my friend Abhishruti gate-crashed and saw the entire show without a ticket.

During the gig I saw a chap climb the tower on which the floodlights and cameras were kept. It was funnier seeing a cop climb after him, baton in hand. I also spotted a shirtless wonder trying to climb the stage to headbang.

It rained off and on during the show but no one cared. My heels ached after standing for four-and-a-half hours straight. Veteran gig-goers said the Iron Maiden shows in Bangalore were better than this but I wouldn’t know. Metallica was the first international band I saw live.