U2 and Muse Live - 6th Oct., 2009

God has indeed been generous to me in this Fall break. Right after the Metallica show, it was time to pump up the reverb, mellow down the distortion, and crank up the awe and fascination with an amazing show by U2 and Muse.

U2, I have been listening to since my 8th grade. Their music is as awesome as it is popular, a rare combination in the day where, the more degenerate the music, the more popular it is. To top it off, U2 were started off by an amazing contemporary British band, Muse. (one of the recent worth listening to bands that I added to my lists in all the digital media players that I possess or have installed)

Specs: Venue - Georgia Dome (the largest arena in Atlanta by far...), with crowds easily exceeding 30k. A stage shaped like a spaceship with 4 spider legs, and a spike running through its body, with a huge 360 degrees screen. The whole thing was riddled with lights. Bono was all over the place, with rotating bridges running over the people in the inner circle (incl. me), Edge was using his processor to the fullest advantage (as usual)..... the crowd was a mottled mix of women, and a few lucky guys like me :)..... It was quite sensational...

But through it all, something was missing..... I didn't feel the intensity when I was clapping, or jumping or hooting etc. that I did during Metallica. Something stole the thunder away. It might be the maturity of hearing the same music for years on end, or simply that all the rock-esterone was exhausted during Metallica's show 2 days earlier.

Nevertheless, I was thorougly content with the show. They did a good solid number of the old ones, some of which I am very fond of.

Muse, did not disappoint either. In fact, some of their songs stuck with me, despite having never heard them before. They are worth following from now on.

The setlists:
MUSE

• 1. Uprising
  2. Map of the Problematique
  3. Supermassive Black Hole
  4. Interlude
  5. Hysteria
  6. Undisclosed Desires
  7. Unnatural Selection
  8. Starlight
  9. Time Is Running Out

U2

• 1. Breathe
  2. Get On Your Boots
  3. Mysterious Ways
  4. Beautiful Day"Blackbird" snippet
  5. I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For"Stand By Me" snippet
  6. Stuck In A Moment You Can't Get Out Of
  7. No Line on the Horizon
  8. Magnificent
  9. Elevation
  10. Until The End Of The World
  11. The Unforgettable Fire
  12. City Of Blinding Lights
  13. Vertigo
  14. I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy TonightRemix version; "Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Again)" snippet
  15. Sunday Bloody Sunday"Rock the Casbah" snippet
  16. MLK
  17. Walk On
      
• Encore:
  1. One"Amazing Grace" snippet
  2. Where The Streets Have No Name
     
• Encore 2:
  
  1. Ultraviolet (Light My Way)
     
  2. With Or Without YouMoment of Surrender

Metallica Live - 4th Oct., 2009

Metallica was awesome! I still have a hard time believing how good a time I had at the show.
Some of the specs:
Venue: Philips Arena, Atlanta - A huge stadium (accommodates over 25k people). The lights were awesome. Excellent laser work as they move in complete harmony with the music. The crowd was crazy - a mosh pit going on at any given point in time.

But above all, the sound!... the sound was ecstatic. Everything was very very very loud, but very clear as well. I heard every note on the solo in Master of Puppets..... and that's saying something what with the crazy riff and the drums......
Hetfield was better than I had imagined, all doubts about his voice vanished when he nailed both Master and Sad But True. At one point in Master of Puppets, I felt like throwing myself onto the crowd in front.

It was a revelation in how shows ought to be done. I enjoyed the show more than I did for DT and Roger Waters...... which is saying something tantamount to, Suzuki Maruti 800 outraces a Ferrari..... but its true nevertheless.
Not having heard these songs for more than a couple of years now, I was not ready for the assualt that they launched on us in there. It was like they had hold of you by your collar, and where shouting in your face
"Listen #$@#$@%%$! Listen to us! We're $#^#%#$ Metallica!!!"

You can ignore this band on your Ipod list with the usual banter of "they're old school" or "the same stuff again" or "not a hard rock band anymore"...... but, on stage, they are in your face, and are so damn real and the music is so influential that all your misgivings are swept away, and for weeks, then onwards, you find yourself head banging on your way home from work to the entrance of a sandman.....

The setlist for the show was:

1. That Was Just Your Life
2. The End Of The Line
3. Ride The Lightning
4. No Remorse
5. One
6. Broken, Beat And Scarred
7. Cyanide
8. Sad But True
9. Welcome Home (Sanitarium)
10. All Nightmare Long
11. The Day That Never Comes
12. Master Of Puppets
13. Blackened
14. Nothing Else Matters
15. Enter Sandman
16. Last Caress (Misfits cover)
17. Hit The Lights
18. Seek & Destroy