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Metallica hard-wires a different set list every night

nytimes.com

11–20 of 63 posts

Re: Metallica hard-wires a different set list every night

#11
post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is it because of the Napster thing? Or there's more to it.

This video explains it all: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gjbAKqREg9g the meme is that he's a bad drummer, but even Hetfield said that he thought of kicking Lars before but realized later that he's an essential part of the band, after all, he's the one that founded the band - if it weren't for him putting out an ad on a newspaper in the US, Metallica might've not existed. he's not a great drummer, but he's an essen…

I don't get the "bad drummer" meme. The drum parts in any Metallica song are perfect for the song and you can tell his style by listening to the drums alone.

Even if it was just serviceable, he's Metallica's drummer, so he's going to be criticised anyway.

Re: Metallica hard-wires a different set list every night

#12
post #9

> you play on the doughnut itself and then the fans are in the doughnut hole. And then, well, where do the drums go? Then the concept of the four drum kits — one drum kit in each of the four different directions — came up, and then it sort of went from there. Er, how does this work in a stadium? Some stadium concerts already have premium prices for the area closer to the stage, but the others can at least see the sam…

I've been to a stadium concert with a similar doughnut layout and the main problem was that at all times at least half the audience is looking at a band member's back, not their face. You get some connection by being close but that doesn't last when they walk over to the other side of the stage. For what connection you can get in a stadium gig I prefer to see people's front, plus a big screen, not the musicians' backs just a bit closer.

Re: Metallica hard-wires a different set list every night

#13
post #11
post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This video explains it all: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gjbAKqREg9g the meme is that he's a bad drummer, but even Hetfield said that he thought of kicking Lars before but realized later that he's an essential part of the band, after all, he's the one that founded the band - if it weren't for him putting out an ad on a newspaper in the US, Metallica might've not existed. he's not a great drummer, but he's an essen…

I don't get the "bad drummer" meme. The drum parts in any Metallica song are perfect for the song and you can tell his style by listening to the drums alone. Even if it was just serviceable, he's Metallica's drummer, so he's going to be criticised anyway.

I'm not even sure that he is a drummer -- that is, someone who has a passion for the instrument and devotes a significant part of his life to improving his technique and skill set. It is not even up for debate that his playing has deteriorated over the decades. His on-stage blunders would be embarrassing even in a high school band.

I think he just stopped caring at some point, being satisfied with his success and never practicing.

Re: Metallica hard-wires a different set list every night

#14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is it because of the Napster thing? Or there's more to it.

If you have any musician friends who are into metal, ask them what they think of Lars as a drummer. :)

My friends say that he’s not a good drummer. They don’t play for Metallica though and I wish they were a bit more humble.

Also most of them are software engineers and I don’t think they would like to know what I think of their code and documentation.

Re: Metallica hard-wires a different set list every night

#15
post #9

> you play on the doughnut itself and then the fans are in the doughnut hole. And then, well, where do the drums go? Then the concept of the four drum kits — one drum kit in each of the four different directions — came up, and then it sort of went from there. Er, how does this work in a stadium? Some stadium concerts already have premium prices for the area closer to the stage, but the others can at least see the sam…

There's some videos up: https://youtu.be/yY4w-bIH3X4

Wow, the giant beach balls are just horrible.

Re: Metallica hard-wires a different set list every night

#16
post #11
post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This video explains it all: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gjbAKqREg9g the meme is that he's a bad drummer, but even Hetfield said that he thought of kicking Lars before but realized later that he's an essential part of the band, after all, he's the one that founded the band - if it weren't for him putting out an ad on a newspaper in the US, Metallica might've not existed. he's not a great drummer, but he's an essen…

I don't get the "bad drummer" meme. The drum parts in any Metallica song are perfect for the song and you can tell his style by listening to the drums alone. Even if it was just serviceable, he's Metallica's drummer, so he's going to be criticised anyway.

Have you seen Metallica live? Lars is allllll over the place with his drumming, to the point where "live" recordings are heavily edited. Nothing wrong with the editing, but if you pull up some videos on youtube comparing fan recording and official release, you'll see how bad it is sometimes.

Re: Metallica hard-wires a different set list every night

#17
This reminds me of pg’s submarine article[1]. NYT is being paid to promote Metallica’s tour. Possibly because not enough old people want to go to an expensive concert and young people think Metallica is an Instagram filter or something…

[1] http://www.paulgraham.com/submarine.html

Re: Metallica hard-wires a different set list every night

#18
post #11
post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This video explains it all: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gjbAKqREg9g the meme is that he's a bad drummer, but even Hetfield said that he thought of kicking Lars before but realized later that he's an essential part of the band, after all, he's the one that founded the band - if it weren't for him putting out an ad on a newspaper in the US, Metallica might've not existed. he's not a great drummer, but he's an essen…

I don't get the "bad drummer" meme. The drum parts in any Metallica song are perfect for the song and you can tell his style by listening to the drums alone. Even if it was just serviceable, he's Metallica's drummer, so he's going to be criticised anyway.

It’s just that he’s technically not good, that’s all. Like he drifts with time and isn’t very precise. I think the band would sound better if he were more competent. The same could be said of Kirk’s solos; even though he’s performed some classic and memorable guitar parts, on the whole they’re pretty bland.

I think for quite some time James and Jason were the best musicians in the band. Now Trujillo is far and away the most serious and capable musician among them.

That’s not to take away from the whole package. Cleary together they do (or did) something people love. But there is some objective notion of musical skill and capability that you can judge them by, and Lars is just not that great.

Re: Metallica hard-wires a different set list every night

#19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is it because of the Napster thing? Or there's more to it.

If you have any musician friends who are into metal, ask them what they think of Lars as a drummer. :)

I think much of the song arrangement is likely from Lars.

There is a video somewhere of Hammett describing how he shared a riff for one of their songs and Lars said "play that but 3 times them end on that" or something to that effect.

Live performances may not be super tight but it's OK because Hetfield is a better drummer (at least he keeps the rhythm)

Re: Metallica hard-wires a different set list every night

#20
I remember reading Mike Portnoy doing that for Dream Theater while he was in the band (not sure if they still do it). Not just mixing up the set list for the venue repeats but also taking into account that some fans like to go to neighboring venues and wanted to keep it fresh for them too.
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