Metallica Live Nov 3rd Show and tone review

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pokerrules47

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I got to see Metallica live for the first time since the late 90s' last night and I have to say they were fantastic sounding. Guitar tones were thick and meaty, the drums sounded fantastic, and the vocals were as clear as a bell. I didn't see what james or kirk were using for amps as they were under the stage, but I did see a bunch of recto-like cabs on stage. All bottom cabs, arranged around the stage, no mics. I presume they were DI'd.

I can say for sure that James was definitely NOT using his Duals for the whole show. His tone was definitely mesa like, but it was not like anything I've ever heard them sound like before. Then again, the last time I saw them play was in support of the black album. It's hard for me to explain it but his sound has become larger and more bone shattering that I expected it to be. He's got a very

They had their Meyer Sound "In the Round" array system going. 8 banks of 12 speakers arrayed together with 40 subs under the stage. Very good coverage of all frequencies, however I found some of Kirks solos didn't pierce through as much as I thought they would. I don't think it had anything to do with his rig, it might have been mixing or just where i was standing who knows.

Stage setup was awesome, 360 degree stage with only a sliver at one end for the band to get in. About 8 mics placed around the stage with wah stations peppered around as well. Stage was about 5 feet up, with about a 5-6 foot gap to the fence. There was no problem getting a good view from general admission. The guys just moved from station to station making sure the crowd got to see them as often as possible.

Crowd participation was awesome too and James seemed to respond well to that. You can really tell when the artist is getting off on the cheers or if the crowd is lackluster as it affects their performance significantly.

As far as the health of the band, I was impressed. It's late in a tour and they were pretty much on their game. Larsehole fucked up a few times, but his job is harder than any one else's on stage. It was like he couldn't keep up. Kirk seemed a bit distant, like he was stoned, or maybe just really tired or sick but he played well.. .he makes it look so fucking easy it makes me sick.

James and Robert were amazing tho. James stood up and did his thing all night long without skipping a beat. He seemed genuinely into it... and I have seen him when he's not into it before. Robert, I've only seen with Ozzy before, but he definitely loves playing with Metallica.

All in all, it was a great show, definitely the best sounding show I've ever seen them do. I am getting old though so I wasn't quite as into it as I would have been 10 years ago.
 
boogieslayer said:
james uses diezel and kirk uses randall

Don't assume that.... James doesn't just use diezels. He still has triaxxis/2:90 in his rig and he uses roland jc120 for clean. Kirk also uses Dual recs as well as his signature head. And I am sure there was mesa in both of their rigs.

I have seen metallica 10 times now and I have played marshalls and boogies all my life. I can tell the sound of a boogie when I hear it usually. Alls I was saying is that their sound was radically different, however I could definitely hear boogie tones throughout the show. Even though they had probably 20 cabs on stage, the sub bass coming from they meyers totally drown that out. I couldn't detect the sound from the cabs at all.

But like I said, I don't know for sure because I wasn't under the stage. 8)
 
The latest I have heard is that James uses the Tri's blended with Diezels. I think Kirk's live rig is the Triaxis, Dual Rec rackmount, and a Marshall. I think he only uses the Randall stuff in the tune up room to cover his endorsement contract.
 
I saw them a month ago. 3rd time I see them this decade and it was awesome. However, the actual live sound is far better to the live recordings of the shows. The live recordings show that age has crept up on them, except for Robert. James' voice struggles, Lars and Kirk are not tight. But live it sounds amazing.
 
ryjan said:
The latest I have heard is that James uses the Tri's blended with Diezels. I think Kirk's live rig is the Triaxis, Dual Rec rackmount, and a Marshall. I think he only uses the Randall stuff in the tune up room to cover his endorsement contract.

Ya, I am not sure if he was using the diezels for power or pre, but I assume power. He probably uses the triaxxes as his preamp for the whole rig, and the diezel/2:90 for power. He had a good pre-black album tone on the older songs tho...
 
Ive seen video of them practicing and James always plays straight out of a 2 channel dual recto and Kirk has his Randall. They still sound like them so I guess its technique over gear that gives them their sound.
 
ryjan said:
Ive seen video of them practicing and James always plays straight out of a 2 channel dual recto and Kirk has his Randall. They still sound like them so I guess its technique over gear that gives them their sound.


i am watching the tune up video from the show i watched and james is using a diezel kirks got a randall
 
pokerrules47 said:
ryjan said:
Ive seen video of them practicing and James always plays straight out of a 2 channel dual recto and Kirk has his Randall. They still sound like them so I guess its technique over gear that gives them their sound.


i am watching the tune up video from the show i watched and james is using a diezel kirks got a randall
How did the Diezel sound?
 
It sounded awesome, you can check it by logging into metontour.com. They have video of it there.
 
james uses four triaxis's a roland jc 120 head and two diezels vh4's

kirk uses two dual rectifier rackmounts and two randall kh signatures

theres also a vid on youtube about there live rig

James:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TmOQ1tt22q8&feature=related

kirk:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1jwkdGktP54&feature=related
 
I saw them in Oct in Atlanta. The great PA with the bass and drums thundering thru, along with a high energy performance made Metallica a good live show, still.
 
Feb 2009 Guitar Player issue had an article on Metallica and covered their live rig for this tour.

Hetfield's rig:
Roland JC-120H head, 4 Triaxis, 2 2:90s, 2 Diezel heads

Full equipment list, some pedals in there too..
http://www.guitarworld.com/metallica_death_magnetic_gear_rigs_james_hetfield


Hammet's:
2 Dual Rec heads, 2 Randal RM100KH

Full list here..
http://www.guitarworld.com/metallica_death_magnetic_gear_rigs_kirk_hammett



In the pics there are 2 Rack cases between them both, with James' Roland head sitting on top off one of the racks. The article also shows pics of all the guitars they had at the time, all the pics are from some arena. All so mention of a Krankenstien amp being used on the album.
 
His clean live chorus tone with the JC-120H head blended with the Triaxis sounded best IMO. Last show at MSG I had clear site of his rig and NO JC-120H. Now he uses POD XT pro's for his chorus effect (I think). I could tell as it sounded thin and week. Not as deep a warbly as his previous tones earlier in the tour. I have pic some where from montyjay of his triaxis settings but he blends it with Channel 3 of the VH4 as discussed before.
 
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