CONCERT REVIEW: Tool – Blonde Redhead: Live at The Chase Center


By my own admission, I have been to some weird Tool shows in my nearly thirty years as a fan. Some of them have been weird thanks to the band, and some have been weird, because well I’m (not a creep), a weirdo. One of my last shows before the world shut down was Tool at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, complete with an army of relentless rent-a-guards practically assaulting fans due to the notorious Tool cell phone policy. I’ve no issue with the policy, just the way it is implemented. Tonight was by far the weirdest Tool show ever for many reasons.

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Metallica to Celebrate 40 Years in December with Two Shows in San Francisco 


Ten years ago Metallica celebrated their 30th anniversary with a week of shows in their hometown, San Francisco. Now they have announced details of its massive 40th birthday celebration: The band will mark this milestone by inviting the worldwide Metallica Family to join them in their hometown of San Francisco for two unique live shows featuring two different setlists December 17 and 19 at Chase Center. Tickets for these shows will be available only to registered members of Metallica’s Fifth Member fan club at the link below. 

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Metallica’s S & M Concert to Air on PBS Tonight


 

 

According to a published report by Blabbermouth.net, Metallica’s recently released 2019 concert film “Metallica And San Francisco Symphony: S&M²” will air on PBS tonight. The concert will premiere tonight (Thursday, October 29) 9:00-10:30 p.m. ET (check local listings) and will re-air a number of times over the coming weeks on PBS affiliates. You can read our review of the original concert here. The S & M2 boxed set arrived in stores, streaming, and mailboxes on August 28th via Blackened Recordings, the Metallica with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra with ton of exclusive and limited edition merch bundles with all the typical merch, as well as special things, such as S&M2 performance-used music. S&M2 were two performances held in San Francisco in September of 2019, the second show was added after scalpers boxed out real fans from getting tickets. The band also world-premiered the concert footage in a series of exclusive global movie theater events via Trafalgar Releasing. Continue reading


Metallica to Perform First Show of 2020, to be Broadcast One Night Only at Drive-In Theaters


Metallica will take the stage for the first time since the September 2019 S&M2 concerts that opened Chase Center in San Francisco. Metallica will be the first rock band to be featured in the Encore Drive-In Nights series, with a full set showing August 29 at hundreds of drive-in and outdoor theaters across the United States and Canada. The show will be shot for the Encore Drive-In Nights Series at a location near the band’s Northern California headquarters and will subsequently be edited and mixed by Metallica’s award-winning production team to the highest standards possible.  The concert, the band’s first show in nearly a year, will feature material from throughout their near four-decade career and provide Metallica fans with an intimate, unique, and truly memorable concert experience.

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Metallica and The San Francisco Symphony Perform Second Show at The Chase Center


Metallica performed last night with The San Francisco Symphony for the second time to complete their “S & M 20” performances this weekend, that opened the brand new Chase Center in the Bay Area, the bands’ hometown of San Francisco. They played essentially the same setlist as night one, playing hits and new classics. The band did perform the full version of the Kill Em All classic ‘Anesthesia… Pulling Teeth’, which is rarely performed anymore. The second show was not originally planned but was a thank you to fans and fan club members for getting screwed by bots buying up most of the tickets. The two shows were filmed for an exclusive global event next month, by Trafalgar Releasing. Watch fan-filmed videos below! Look for our review of night one coming later today! Continue reading


Metallica’s “S&M 20th Anniversary Concerts” to Debut in Theaters in October


The much-anticipated Metallica “S&M²” concerts taking place September 6th and 8th will appear on movie screens at 3,000 theaters worldwide on October 9th. The concerts also serve as the grand opening of the state-of-the-art Chase Center, a historic addition to San Francisco’s waterfront. Recorded live on September 6 and September 8, “S&M²” will see Metallica joining forces once again with the San Francisco Symphony, led in part by legendary conductor Michael Tilson Thomas as he kicks off his final season. The band will perform several tracks from the original 1999 “S&M” release as well as symphonic versions of new songs released since then. Movie theaters are still being confirmed and tickets will go on sale August 7, so visit the link below to sign up for alerts, including more ticket on-sale details, and stay up to date on all the latest information about this one-night-only film event. The classical musicians and classic rockers will be the first acts to perform at the new 18,064-seat arena that will serve as home to the NBA team Golden State Warriors in the fall. Most Metallica fans took to Twitter to express their outrage after the pre-sale for the “S&M²” show ended within seconds due to bots grabbing all the available tickets. Members of Metallica’s fan club were supposed to be given the opportunity to buy tickets a few days early, but it was reported that tickets began showing up instantly at StubHub before fans had a chance to view their pre-sale opportunity. Fans reported signing in at exactly 9:00 a.m. PT and being unable to purchase a single ticket, while tickets went on sale at StubHub via resellers at prices ranging from $300 to $16,000 for one ticket. The original “S&M” concerts were conducted by the late Michael Kamen in spring of 1999 at the Berkeley Community Theatre.Continue reading


Metallica Is Planning A Second Symphonic Show Only For Fan Club Members


Following the recent announcement of Metallica’s reunion with the San Francisco Symphony for the 20th anniversary of S&M, and the subsequent debacle that saw scores of fans shut out of tickets by bots and scalpers, the band have announced they are planning a second show. Members of the bands fanclub, specifically legacy members promised early, unfettered access to ticket buying options were particularly bitter and outspoken on social media during and following three separate pre-sales and the public on-sale. Meanwhile, the band was patted on the back for selling out the all-new Chase Center so quickly, much the chagrin of fans. In the letter to fan club members below, Metallica extends an olive branch to try and fix this slight. The date of Sunday, September 8th has been announced for the show, but no one sale date yet. Maybe they ought to keep that part private, and just for the fans.  We are tracking this story at Ghost Cult for you, the real fans. Continue reading


Metallica Fans Outraged as Scalpers Claim Most Tickets For Symphonic Concert


Yesterday should have been a great day for Metallica fans. The band announced their 20th-anniversary concert to celebrate the release of the S & M (Elektra) album with the San Francisco Symphony. By partnering with the new venue the Chase Center, Metallica sacrificed their usual anti-scalping practices and ended up succumbing to Tickets today and Ticketmaster. Of course, the minute the fan pre-sale went live, some fans got tickets. But many more still were shut out by bots, clearly having infiltrated the fan club ticket event. Quickly the queue filled up with over 2000 places ahead of most trying to get through to make a purchase. Fans trying for the second pre-sale at 3 PM local time a few hours later were also, mostly shut out. Metal Insider reported on the outrage felt by fans and also the resale prices escalated grossly with tickets that were priced at face values of 50, 100, 250 and 500 going for up to $10000 USD. For many years Metallica’s fanclub was a paid membership, but the band made the Fifth Member Club free when they relaunched it last year. One of the main perks was to be unencumbered access to tickets. This isn’t strictly Metallica’s fault, but a brutal burn on fans. We have reported in the past that companies like Ticketmaster are colluding with scalpers, allowing Bots and artificially inflating the resale market at a profit, at the expense of fans. Continue reading


Metallica Books Show With The San Francisco Symphony In September


According to the San Francisco Chronicle, Metallica and the San Francisco Symphony have been booked to open the brand new Chase Center, the home of the Golden State Warriors on September 6th, in Mission Bay, CA. They will perform together at the show, reprising Metallica and a symphony for “one night only”. Warriors officials announced Monday, March 18 at a sweltering press conference attended by Metallica’s Lars Ulrich and James Hetfield, San Francisco Symphony Music Director Michael Tilson Thomas, Warriors Owner, and CEO Joe Lacob, Warriors President, and Chief Operating Officer Rick Welts and San Francisco Mayor London Breed. Metallica is no stranger to symphony collaborations, as they did an entire concert album with 1999’s S & M (Elektra Records), with 2019 marking the 20th anniversary of the album. Watch the press conference video below. Continue reading