METALLICA/ CREED/ KID ROCK/ SEVENDUST

WebbJC@ch.etn.com December 28th 1999 Orange Bowl, Miami, FL

I arrived at 2pm for this big show in the heart of Miami. It had been raining lightly since about 6am but the sun was bursting through the clouds now and bathing the stadium in warm, bright light. An auspicious beginning. About five thousand people were milling about the field and stands while I took in the scene. The stage was set up in the end zone, facing the other end zone, with the sound board at about the forty yard line. Metallica had brought the snake pit and it was already set up, extending about fifteen yards out from the stage. As I waited for Sevendust, I made friends with two couples who had driven their Harleys down to the show.

At 3pm, Sevendust casually walked onto the stage in front of about eight thousand. Only a few people cheered, which was discouraging. They kicked off the day with "Home". The mix was OK but the sound was not loud enough. A few cheers, then into "Terminator" and "Waffle", and Lajon walked around the perimeter of the snake pit. Let me tell you, it sucked be stuck that far from the band when nobody else wanted to be close. Next up was a long intro to "Black" and I was determined to start something, so when they ripped into that sucker, I jumped backward as hard as I could into the people behind me and thrashed about wildly. I actually got about nine people to mosh! Hell yea. Another couple tracks from "Sevendust" and "Home", polite applause, then a medley of Pantera "Walk", Slayer "Angel Of Death", and Metallica "Master Of Puppets", decent cheers, and they closed with "Denial". All in all, a tame set. Why play covers when you only have 35 minutes? Why play covers at all?

Another eight thousand people had come to the Orange Bowl by this time, and I was explaining the zen of slam dancing to my new biker friends when Twisted Brown Trucker took the stage in truly fine form. I had my doubts, but this band can rock the house. This is AC/DC meets Run-DMC in a great way. Good mix and loud too, the kind of production you wish for when doing a gig this big. The DJ introduced each guy in the band as they jammed out a little, and finally, the fur coated one emerged from backstage to a loud roar. "This...is Twisted Brown Trucker. You...are Miami fuckin' Florida. And me...my name is KIIIIIIIIIIIIIIID!" A shower of sparks erupted from the monitor wedges as the band launched into "Bawitdaba" The crowd was jumpin'. Pretty bad ass I must admit. The Kid busted out most of "Devil Without A Cause" and kept the party rolling, slowing things down for just one number with "Only God Knows Why" before bumping it back into gear with a sweet jam building up to "I Am The Bullgod." Hey, there ain't nothing original about Kid Rock, but that ain't the point. This stuff if fun!

Afterwards me and my new pals bought some drinks and relaxed in the shade near the sound board. Another five thousand fans had arrived, bringing the head count to near twenty thousand. I met a few guys from Germany who were in town for the millennium and were excited to see Creed. I practiced a bit of German. "Creed ist ass gekicken, ya?" I think they concurred. Finally, the sun began to set, and at the stroke of 530pm, Creed appeared, primed and pumped, and kicking into "Are You Ready?". The mix was a bit fuzzy and the sound not as loud as Kid Rock, which was disappointing, but you think the girls cared? The girls were swooning, dude, and the guys were singing along with Creed anthems "What's This Life For?" and "One". Scott Stapp sashayed around the snake pit ramp, as the women reached out to him from on their boyfriends' shoulders. "I can't believe we finally made it to the same stage as Metallica!" Scott exclaimed as the boys cranked the distortion for rocker "Ode". A few more from "Human Clay" and the apparent closer "My Own Prison" brought all to their feet, and then Creed tried to go over the top with a quick encore of "Higher" and fireworks, lifting the crowd to its peak of the night so far. Damn good, if a bit trite.

So I was getting tired of fighting the crowd by this time, but I hadn't seen Metallica since the summer of 94, so I hung in there, up against the snake pit, fighting the ebb and flow of too many people in too little space. After half an hour of waiting, I was getting anxious, and at 45 minutes I was pissed. Thirty thousand had shown their faces by 715pm and were getting rowdy. Finally, after a fucking hour since Creed left the stage, Metallica decided to start playing and began with a Misfits cover of all things. Fucking weak. Stand on your own two feet Metallica. Going back to the real world, they belted out "Fuel" and "For Whom The Bell Tolls", rocking the stadium to its foundations! Now you're talking. Into "Creeping Death" and we're doing allright, headbanging like the old days, fighting the crowd hard, taking a good look at James Hetfield and company as they stalked the ramps. I knew it wouldn't last though, and they followed up with a turd from "Load of Shit", another from "Reload of Shit", and then topped it off with a few pieces of trash from "Garbage Inc.". About this time I said fuck it and backed off, slipping through the mixed age crowd, teens and the middle aged alike entranced by the once great Metallica, worshipping them only because MTV keeps the masses ignorant of the many great bands which have far surpassed Metallica's material from the 90s. For an encore they actually got around to playing "One", but I was outside the stadium by this time, and I heard the opening notes of "Enter Sandman" as I drove away in the night, a slight disappointment simmering in me, but peppered a twist of smug glee, knowing I would never, ever be paying $60, or any amount for that matter, to see Metallica again.