Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Metallica hard-wires a different set list every night

nytimes.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

21–30 of 63 posts

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

#21

Post by midoridensha »

reidrac wrote: post #11
xinayder wrote: 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.

Listen to him in concerts: he can't keep time. In the studio (where he can use a metronome), yes, his drum parts are perfect for the song. But he's just not a good and consistent drummer, and he's gotten worse over time: it seems like he just doesn't practice.

There's even a theory that he doesn't even try to keep time, but instead leaves that to James.

No one's complaining about the style of his drum parts; if he could play them properly, no one would be complaining (aside from the sound of the snare on St. Anger).

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

#22

Post by midoridensha »

JTyQZSnP3cQGa8B wrote: post #14
sornaensis wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

I don't have to be an actor or movie director to tell you confidently that "Battlefield: Earth" is a bad movie.

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

#23

Post by midoridensha »

Guthur wrote: post #19
sornaensis wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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)

Metallica would be a lot better if they hired a new drummer, and Lars just became a manager.

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

#24

Post by niek_pas »

jpnc wrote: post #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.

I was reminded of that too. I’m fairly certain they stopped doing that when Portnoy left.

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

#25

Post by saiya-jin »

sdgdfgsfdfgsdfg wrote: post #13
reidrac wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 nev…

Couldn't it be some sort of physical or mental degradation, injuries, addictions etc? Some people are more open about these, some are not. I mean he is 60 soon.

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

#26

Post by jahsome »

msoad wrote: post #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

How did you determine nyt is being paid to promote the tour?

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

#27

Post by ChrisMarshallNY »

Xenoamorphous wrote: post #5
ainiriand wrote: post #4

As much hate as Lars gets he is a big part of Metallica's success.

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

Heh. A few of us might remember Camp Chaos’ “Metallicops” vids.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=LeKX2bNP7QM

https://youtube.com/watch?v=mb_jLAisPzk

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

#28

Post by version_five »

msoad wrote: post #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

That's a good article, amazing how relevant it still is today (18 years later, though paradoxically not much has changed)

  The problem with this article is not just that it originated in a PR firm. The whole tone is bogus. This is the tone of someone writing down to their audience.

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

#29

Post by flakeoil »

sdgdfgsfdfgsdfg wrote: post #13
reidrac wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 nev…

Well, someone who plays the drums in a band which I and millions of other people enjoy listening to for sure is a drummer. And a good one at that.

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

#30

Post by vibrio »

altacc wrote: post #12
rob74 wrote: 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' back…

I’m with you on this analysis, I’m good going see a local band at a club with 150 others. It’s a different objective and experience, but stadium shows seem so sterile.
Post reply on HN