Steven Tyler: J-j-jaded

A few weeks into its shelf life, Aerosmith's new album has fallen off the charts without a hit that Columbia Records didn't pay for. None of the shows on their current tour have been selling out. Steven Tyler is reportedly blaming the label, which is easy to understand. He's made bad albums (Just Push Play, Nine Lives) and released overwrought singles before ("I Don't Want to Miss a Thing"), but those have been hits, too. Why not Music From Another Dimension?

(Music that actually sounds like it came from another dimension)

Honestly, it's no worse than the past few Aerosmith albums, maybe even a little better. But for the first time ever, people know that Aerosmith isn't Steven Tyler's top priority. He's been pushing back this album for six years so that he could spent two seasons as an American Idol judge, promote a self-congratulatory autobio, star in a Hilfiger ad campaign and indulge himself with a solo project that was embarrassing enough to include a Pussycat Doll. In the past month, he's flung himself into feuds with Nicki Minaj (presumably for relevance) and KISS (presumably, shockingly, for credibility) to drum up publicity. Maybe these aren't the most egregious acts ever committed by a formerly great musician, but the fact is that they seem like all he's been doing. Now that Aerosmith's first studio album in eight years is finally out, it feels like an afterthought to years of Steven being Steven.

People don't want to listen to Aerosmith if Steven Tyler doesn't act like he wants to be there. Music fans want to know that their artists are putting thought into their work. "Jaded" may be no "Back in the Saddle," but it felt like Tyler giving it his best shot, which is all he really owes us in exchange for our attention. Music From Another Dimension sounds like he mailed in his vocal tracks from Bermuda. As Rolling Stone's critic pointed out, "Sometimes it's easy to hear that Tyler and his bandmates aren't on the same page, or the same planet. When he duets with his fellow American Idol alum Carrie Underwood for 'Can't Stop Loving You' (rhymes with 'because it's all I wanna do'), it sounds like the rest of Aerosmith is off hiding in the next studio."

(rhymes with "because it's all I wanna do"), it sounds like the rest of Aerosmith is off hiding in the next studio.

Read more: http://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/music-from-another-dimension-20121106#ixzz2DR8XXWuo
Follow us: @rollingstone on Twitter | RollingStone on Facebook

When he duets with his fellow American Idol alum Carrie Underwood for "Can't Stop Loving You" (rhymes with "because it's all I wanna do"), it sounds like the rest of Aerosmith is off hiding in the next studio.

Read more: http://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/music-from-another-dimension-20121106#ixzz2DR8FMj00
Follow us: @rollingstone on Twitter | RollingStone on Facebook

Sometimes it's easy to hear that Tyler and his bandmates aren't on the same page, or the same planet. When he duets with his fellow American Idol alum Carrie Underwood for "Can't Stop Loving You" (rhymes with "because it's all I wanna do"), it sounds like the rest of Aerosmith is off hiding in the next studio.

Read more: http://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/music-from-another-dimension-20121106#ixzz2DR7MblJt
Follow us: @rollingstone on Twitter | RollingStone on FacebookSo

Sometimes it's easy to hear that Tyler and his bandmates aren't on the same page, or the same planet. When he duets with his fellow American Idol alum Carrie Underwood for "Can't Stop Loving You" (rhymes with "because it's all I wanna do"), it sounds like the rest of Aerosmith is off hiding in the next studio.

Read more: http://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/music-from-another-dimension-20121106#ixzz2DR7MblJt
Follow us: @rollingstone on Twitter | RollingStone on Facebook

Sometimes it's easy to hear that Tyler and his bandmates aren't on the same page, or the same planet. When he duets with his fellow American Idol alum Carrie Underwood for "Can't Stop Loving You" (rhymes with "because it's all I wanna do"), it sounds like the rest of Aerosmith is off hiding in the next studio.

Read more: http://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/music-from-another-dimension-20121106#ixzz2DR7MblJt
Follow us: @rollingstone on Twitter | RollingStone on Facebook

Sometimes it's easy to hear that Tyler and his bandmates aren't on the same page, or the same planet. When he duets with his fellow American Idol alum Carrie Underwood for "Can't Stop Loving You" (rhymes with "because it's all I wanna do"), it sounds like the rest of Aerosmith is off hiding in the next studio.

Read more: http://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/music-from-another-dimension-20121106#ixzz2DR7MblJt
Follow us: @rollingstone on Twitter | RollingStone on Facebook

Sometimes it's easy to hear that Tyler and his bandmates aren't on the same page, or the same planet. When he duets with his fellow American Idol alum Carrie Underwood for "Can't Stop Loving You" (rhymes with "because it's all I wanna do"), it sounds like the rest of Aerosmith is off hiding in the next studio.

Read more: http://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/music-from-another-dimension-20121106#ixzz2DR7MblJt
Follow us: @rollingstone on Twitter | RollingStone on Facebook

For all his career missteps, Mick Jagger is foremost a Stone. Even Bono has gone on record as saying that his music is more important to him than his philanthropy, which is exactly as it should be. Who would want to listen to the biggest rock star in the world if he'd rather be someplace else? Steven Tyler should ask himself the same question as Music From Another Dimension sinks into America's bargain bins.

Song of the Day: Motörhead, "Iron Fist"

Man With the Iron Fists was everything that I hoped a RZA-helmed kung fu adventure would be. That being said, I assumed that hearing Motörhead's "Iron Fist" in the score would be too much to ask for. 



Kung fu metal is an untapped niche. There are more than enough horror-themed metal bands (White Zombie, GWAR, the Misfits), and some terrible sci-fi ones (anything that sounds like Fear Factory), but no metal band has incorporated martial arts into their music the way that the members of the Wu-Tang Clan have. Most likely, kung fu metal would end up sounding like the System of a Down and Tom Morello collabs with the Wu-Tang on the Loud Rocks comp. But hopefully, it would sound more like Motörhead.

Nothing conjures up action like Motörhead's music--one of the sharpest reviews I ever read compared Lemmy's tones to the sound that Snoopy's plane makes when he's fighting the Red Baron. The lyrics, like a kung fu movie screenplay, are just there to sound cool in the fray. "You know me, evil eye/You know me, prepare to die/You know me, you can't resist/Devil's grip, the Iron Fist" could be dubbed into Shogun Assassin. If Man With the Iron Fists gets a sequel, and it definitely deserves one, I'm hoping that RZA includes "Iron Fist."

Happy Thanksgiving

Lamb of God at Roseland Ballroom

It took a couple of mediocre albums to confirm what a great band Lamb of God really is. At last Friday's show at Roseland Ballroom, Virginia's greatest metal band aligned themselves with Maiden, Metallica and the elite few metal bands who can still stun from the stage long after their new albums stop mattering.



The smoke machines and projectors (which kicked off the show by airing Lyndon Johnson's "Daisy" attack ad) were new, but somehow they accentuated the excitement. Perhaps it was the novelty of seeing a band of Lamb of God's rawness with a higher-budget show--not since Pantera in the '90s has a band of such unmatched brutality fought their way into the Billboard Top Five. More impressive was watching the band lock in with the tightness of a brotherhood on older grooves like "Ruin," "As the Palaces Burn" and "Laid to Rest," still some of the best metal the past decade has offered. Even a few recent songs, rescued from the slog of their home albums, were even show highlights--every Lamb of God set should include "Set to Fail" and "Contractor." To the uninitiated, I'll recommend Sony's The Essential Lamb of God in advance.

Lamb of God's riff work will thrive Guitar World indefinitely, and snare master Chris Adler is still one of modern music's most discernible drummers. But this ongoing tour is deservedly the Randy Blythe Show. Currently facing involuntary manslaughter charges and coming off a stint in a Prague prison, Blythe is performing this tour like it literally will be his last, showing off 20 years of frontman experience, boundless energy and a bellow that shows no signs of winding down. Maybe he was especially charged up by the idea that he may be locked up for the next 10-15 years, but still some other force must account for his consistently rousing belligerence and engaging interaction. While his bandmates left stage to change instruments, Blythe was at times alone on stage, modestly thanking the fans or reflecting on his band's history between howling out curses to various oppressors.

Ending with the two-fisted "Redneck" and the swinging "Black Label," Lamb of God signed off with the conclusion that their best studio years may be behind them, but that they could be one of metal's best live bands for decades.

The openers were a mixed bag. England's Sylosis, hand-picked to star the show by Chris Adler, offered progressive, tuneful death metal, whereas Connecticut's Hatebreed epitomized the kind of hardcore kid numbskullery that Minor Threat worked to defy. In Flames, one of death metal's greatest claims on record, were slightly stifled by poor sound, an average setlist and a blinding stage light show.

Song of the Day: Suicidal Tendencies, "I Wasn't Meant to Feel This/Asleep at the Wheel"

Suicidal Tendencies are best known for a song about being institutionalized, but this is the song that makes the case that they actually needed it.



ST started as a punk rock band, but by 1992's The Art of Rebellion they were writing two-part, seven-minute psychedelic-metal songs for a major label. By description, "Asleep at the Wheel" should be an embarrassment, but instead it's a genuinely chilling track, with studio effects that recall "I Am the Walrus," and an "ay-ay-ay" rejoinder that will stay in your head for hours. Mike Muir turns out to be a surprisingly good singer, and Robert Trujillo's bass at the forefront suggests the Red Hot Chili Peppers at the start of a bad trip. The Vandals' Josh Freese provides crash cymbal magic here on his way to being one of the America's most in-demand session drummers. Be careful where you sleep tonight.

Songs of the Day: Converge "First Light" and "Last Light"

"First Light" reminds me of Neil Young's score to Dead Man. "Last Light" reminds me of something else.

Converge at Highline Ballroom

Converge, Torche, and Kvelertak, of thee I sing. On arguably the year's best touring lineup, three of the best metal bands of the 21st century proved that melodic doesn't mean saccharine, punk doesn't mean sloppy and that hardcore is worth saving.



Norway's Kvelertak amass more contradictions than a week of Mitt Romney campaign promises--a hardcore sextet with three guitarists, death metal without blast beats, shoutalongs in Norwegian. Fighting off mic difficulties and a ruptured disc, singer Erlend Hjelvik riled up the crowd from center stage while the band stormed through most of their 2010 debut. The d-beat riffage of "Mjød" provoked the evening's first mosh pit, and the thrashing "Blodtørst" and "Ulvetid" could have sat next to "Ace of Spades." Kvelertak probably won't tour again until their next album is out in 2013, and they deserve a headlining tour for it.



Torche intentionally changed the pace, showcasing more of the fleshed-out, major key glories from Harmonicraft and Meanderthal than their piledriving blasts of their singles. Not that the wallop wasn't there--the deadly Bo Diddley of "Letting Go" and Siamese Dreamscape in "Kicking" set the night for a cinder block-heavy stoner-pop show, driven by the supermelodies of guitarists Steve Brooks and Andrew Elstner and the restless drumming of Rick Smith. The lovely "Snakes are Charmed" and "Across the Shields" held up not only next to brutal tracks like "Pirana," but the two bands that Torche played between.



Now in their third decade as a band they've been in since boyhood, Converge shouldn't be surprising anyone. But their new album All We Love We Leave Behind is an accentuated version of their track record to date, as math-ridden and as straightforward as anything they've put together. This week's set was heavy on the new album, with the grinding "Trespasses," mathcore freakout "Aimless Arrow" and sweat-inducing title track eliciting as verbal and physical a reaction as anything from Jane Doe or Axe to Fall.

Technical problems couldn't derail the band, who carried on with segments of "Hot for Teacher" and even "Linus and Lucy" while the Highline staff worked out the sound issues. Singer Jacob Bannon whipped around the microphone like a limb, dodging bandmates, crowd surfers and stage divers with the deftness of a professional dancer. Kurt Ballou, whom, it should be noted, also produced the best albums by Torche and Kvelertak, is as vital a guitarist that punk rock can claim. By the time the crowd was satiated with a rare encore, 1996's "The Saddest Day," it was clear that Converge are one of the only bands ever to appear both DIY and born into greatness.

Richardpalooza 2012

When I first met Richard, he almost exclusively listened to hip-hop, world music and female singer-songwriters. At the time, I wasn't touching anything that wasn't punk, metal or in the Spin Alternative Record Guide. We've gotten closer since then.

 

Richardpalooza 2012

1. Green Day, "American Idiot"
2. Metallica, "Fuel"
3. Electric Six, "Danger! High Voltage"
4. Depeche Mode, "Personal Jesus"
5. Das Racist, "You Oughta Know"
6. Stevie Wonder, "Boogie on Reggae Woman"
7. Beastie Boys, "So What'cha Want"
8. Tinie Tempah, "Pass Out"
9. Booker T. & the M.G.'s, "Green Onions"
10. The Clash, "Guns of Brixton"
11. Shuggie Otis, "Strawberry Letter 23"
12. Sneaker Pimps, "Six Underground"
13. Curtis Mayfield, "Freddie's Dead (Theme From Superfly)"
14. Motörhead, "Orgasmatron"
15. Public Enemy, "Can't Truss It"
16. The Modern Lovers, "Roadrunner"
17. R.L. Burnside, "My Eyes (Keep Me in Trouble)"
18. Janet Jackson, "Love Will Never Do (Without You)"
19. Bill Withers, "Grandma's Hands"
20. Jimmy Cliff, "Many Rivers to Cross"
21. Elvis Costello, "Watching the Detectives"

5 intro songs to artists that I think he might like but hasn't heard.
3 songs we rocked out to in college.
3 songs that I'm pretty sure he likes but doesn't own. 
2 songs from the birthday mix our cohort Kate gave me this year.
2 fake reggae songs.
1 actual reggae song.
1 song urging a reggae woman to boogie on.
1 song from a movie we saw together.
1 song we saw performed live.
1 song that samples a James Bond movie score.
"Orgasmatron."

Song of the Day: Motörhead and Girlschool, "Please Don't Touch"

Lemmy's endorsement of President Barack Obama and women's right to choose last week confirmed his status at one of metal's most outspoken feminists. In a genre often deemed sexist by folks who don't listen to it, Lemmy has always been an exemplary metalhead, defying standards both artistically and socially.



In 1979, Lemmy invited a little-known band from Wandsworth on tour with him. As he remembers, in his autobiography:

"I listened to a single called 'Take It All Away' that they'd put out on some little label and thought they were fucking excellent. Plus I liked the idea of girls being in a band--I wanted to stick it up these pompous bastard guitarists' asses, because Girlschool's guitarist, Kelly Johnson, was as good as any guitarist I've ever seen in my life. The nights when she was really on, she was as good as Jeff Beck. So I went down to see them at a rehearsal they were having. I thought they were great, and I went back and told the others, 'They're coming on tour.' The boys were a bit weird about it at first, but after the first night they played with us, they shut up."

I won't give away the ending, but the best-remembered relic from Motörhead and Girlschool's team-up is deservedly the St. Valentine's Day Massacre EP, with the two bands covering each others' songs and collaborating on Johnny Kidd and the Pirates' "Please Don't Touch." Not only does the remake crush the original, it gets my vote for the best psychobilly song of all-time.

Song of the Day: Queens of the Stone Age, "A Song for the Dead"

Thrilled to hear that Dave Grohl is going to be drumming on the new Queens of the Stone Age CD. After the underwhelming Era Vulgaris and a five year break between studio albums, suddenly I'm ecstatic at the thought of seeing the Queens again.



With Nick Oliveri apparently never coming back, Grohl is the perfect madcap foil for Josh Homme's laconic persona. I love the fills that Grohl provided on 2002's Songs for the Deaf, particularly when matched against Homme's car alarm main riff in "A Song for the Dead." Grohl really has no cues to do anything at all here, yet his irrepressible tendencies end up carrying the song. That ultramelodic sensibility that everybody knows the Foo Fighters for is even better served behind a drum kit than leading a band.

Music is Going to the Dogs

Margaret got a dog.



Music is Going to the Dogs

1. Pulp, "Dogs Are Everywhere"
2. Led Zeppelin, "Black Dog"
3. The Stooges, "I Wanna Be Your Dog"
4. John Lee Hooker, "No More Doggin'"
5. Rufus Thomas, "Walking the Dog"
6. Elvis Presley, "Hound Dog"
7. Johnny Cash, "Dirty Old Egg-Suckin' Dog"
8. The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, "Chicken Dog"
9. Aerosmith, "Sick as a Dog"
10. Neil Young, "Old King"
11. Harry Nilsson, "Me and My Arrow"
12. Snoop Dogg, "Doggy Dogg World"
13. The Magnetic Fields, "Fido, Your Leash is Too Long"
14. Warren Zevon, "Even a Dog Can Shake Hands"
15. Tom Waits, "Rain Dogs"
16. Bob Dylan, "If Dogs Run Free"
17. Modest Mouse, "Wild Packs of Family Dogs"
18. Guided by Voices, "Bulldog Skin"
19. Robert Johnson, "Hellhound on My Trail"
20. Nick Drake, "Black Eyed Dog"
21. TV on the Radio, "Love Dog"
22. David Bowie, "Diamond Dogs"
23. George Clinton, "Atomic Dog"

Margaret knows more about music than nearly anyone I know, so I'm throwing all the aces in on this one. Elvis, Zeppelin, Bowie and more all competing for the canine ode championship of the world, tackling a rock theme that dates back to the earliest blues pioneers, two of whom appear here. Of course "Atomic Dog" was a must, which somehow I didn't already own. I ended up throwing my music cred out the window by procuring "Atomic Dog" through the 10 Things I Hate About You soundtrack, which is now apparently the easiest way to legally pick up George Clinton's biggest solo hit.

This mix's MVP might be Rufus Thomas, who not only provides one of the best songs here but sticks around to thrash with the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion. Then again, I've also included pop music's doggiest figure, represented by his doggiest song ever. Like Iggy Pop before him, Snoop just wants to be a dog. Who can blame him?

At risk of understatement, dogs bring out some some strange emotions in people, from the heartwarming "Old King" to the grouchy "Dirty Old Egg-Suckin' Dog" to Warren Zevon's best Springsteen impression. Then there's Bob Dylan with "If Dogs Run Free," his weirdest song ever. If Tom Waits recorded it, we'd think he was playing a character, but since it's Bob most people probably assume he was stoned.

Election Day Soundtrack

For Barack Obama: Judas Priest's "United"

British Steel is best-known for "Living After Midnight" and "Breaking the Law," but the third single, "United," is the most National Anthem-worthy metal song ever recorded. The rousing chorus and patriotic theme would make it a perfect campaign song for the President. Republicans would probably squawk about it being written and performed by a non-American band, but then again, most of them also don't think Rob Halford should be allowed to get married.



For Mitt Romney: Metallica's "Breadfan"




Budgie's depiction of a scrooge was revamped on a Metallica's "Eye of the Beholder" b-side, perfected with a key change and tighter, more aggressive breakdown. Hear it as a censure of trickle-down economics, and you have a clearer interpretation of Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan's $5 trillion tax cut than either of them have offered thus far.

Top Five Metal Movie Cameos

1. Alice Cooper in Wayne's World

Everyone remembers this scene for Alice's mild-mannered discourse, but the part that I could never get over is that Wayne and Garth head backstage while Alice is still playing "Feed My Frankenstein."





2. GWAR in Empire Records

Ever try to explain GWAR to someone? It never works, but I still try, and I usually start by asking if they've seen this movie. Easily the best scene. (Also, didn't realize until now that Daniel Johnston's "Rock 'n' Roll/EGA" is juxtaposed with "Saddam A-Go-Go" here. Brilliant.)




3. James Hetfield in South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut

Metallica's frontman tells Kenny that he's going to Hell, the consolation being that he'll still get better music than the angels.




4-5. Ronnie James Dio and Dave Grohl in Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny

One terrible movie bookended by a Ronnie James Dio poster coming to life and Dave Grohl playing one of the all-time best Beelzebubs. YouTube clips were invented for movies like this.

Song of the Day: Behemoth, "Conquer All"

This week, the Polish Supreme Court ruled that Behemoth's Adam "Nergal" Darski can be tried for tearing up a bible onstage. This probably won't make much a splash in the States, where prayer in public school cases still go to court and we still have to vote on flag-burning amendments. But if Nergal ends up going to jail, his case is going to need as much support as Pussy Riot's.

In his day job, Nergal leads one of the most intentionally funny black metal bands of all time. His stage banter reminds me of a Satanic Paul Stanley. The American equivalent of the Polish Supreme Court's decision would probably be to prosecute Oderus Urungus.

"Conquer All," from Demigod, made me a fan of Behemoth. The main riff owes as much to Anthrax's "Be All, End All" as Kanye does to "I Got a Woman," but I still love hearing it with blast beats.

Brooklyn Calling

Does this look like the kind of mix that would have "I Just Called to Say I Love You?" Go to the mall.



Brooklyn Calling

1. Foo Fighters, "This is a Call"
2. Queensrÿche, "Revolution Calling"
3. The Rolling Stones, "Come On"
4. Muddy Waters, "Long Distance Call"
5. The Beatles, "You Won't See Me"
6. X, "Your Phone's Off the Hook But You're Not"
7. The White Stripes, "Hello Operator"
8. Chuck Berry, "Memphis"
9. The Grateful Dead, "Operator"
10. Kraftwerk, "The Telephone Call"
11. Blondie, "Hanging on the Telephone"
12. Al Green, "Call Me (Come Back Home)"
13. Lou Reed, "New York Telephone Conversation"
14. The Notwist, "Pick up the Phone"
15. Love, "The Red Telephone"
16. Penguin Cafe Orchestra, "Telephone and Rubber Band"
17. Prince, "How Come U Don't Call Me Anymore"
18. The Mothers of Invention, "You Didn't Try to Call Me"
19. The Clash, "London Calling"
20. Bob Dylan & The Band, "Long Distance Operator"
21. Tom Waits, "Telephone Call From Istanbul"
22. The Cure, "Wrong Number"
23. The Replacements, "Answering Machine"

23 songs that are less annoying than "I Just Called to Say I Love You" or "Call Me Maybe."

I put this together for some volunteers who will be making calls to help re-elect the President this weekend. For their sake, I'm not including the Dillinger Escape Plan or the Beastie Boys, although those might have been too distracting anyway. Thus, Brooklyn Calling doesn't get any heavier than "This is a Call," which, since Dave Grohl wrote it, will offend exactly no one.

Like many of my half-decent ideas, this one started with the Sound Opinions podcast. Every week, Jim DeRogatis and Greg Kot kick off their call-taking segment ("On Sound Opinions, everyone's a critic, so give us a call on our hotline...") by playing a great song about the phone. Had I not heard them on Sound Opinions, I never would've picked out Chuck Berry's "Memphis" or "Come On," the Rolling Stones' first-ever single (also written by Berry) as phone songs. Kot and DeRogatis have also included "Operator," "The Telephone Call," "Call Me," "New York Telephone Conversation" and others on their show. Finally, thumbs up to Sound Opinions for featuring "Hanging on the Telephone," which I prefer to Blondie's more famous phone song.

Much has changed since the days of switchboard operators, and despite the underlying phone theme, many of these songs are hard to apply to the work that we do on the campaign. The most relatable songs here are definitely "Wrong Number," "Answering Machine" and "Your Phone's Off the Hook But You're Not."

Metal is Going to the Dogs

Metalsucks has a great Dogs Playlist this week. Here are a few that I would've added.

1. Primus, "Too Many Puppies" 
2. Fugazi, "Bulldog Front"
3. King's X, "Dogman"
4. Butthole Surfers, "Underdog"
5. The Giraffes, "Dog Sex #1"
6. AC/DC, "Dog Eat Dog" 
7. AC/DC, "Given the Dog a Bone"
8. The Dillinger Escape Plan and Mike Patton, "When Good Dogs Do Bad Things"
9. Dead Kennedys, "Dog Bite"
10. Dead Kennedys, "The Man with the Dogs"
11. Testament, "Dog Faced Gods"
12. The Melvins, "Sky Pup"
13. The Melvins, "Dog Island" 
14. Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention, "Evelyn, a Modified Dog"
15. Motörhead, "Dogs"
16. Mother Love Bone, "Stardog Champion"
17. Pearl Jam, "Pilate"
18. Head of David, "Dog Day Sunrise"
19. Jimmy Ågren, "Lester Howlin' Dog"
20. Gogol Bordello, "Dogs Were Barking"
21. Stillwater, "Fever Dog"
22. Andrew W.K., "Golden Eyed Dog"

More to come.

Metallica at Voodoo Fest

Loved watching footage of Metallica stepping up and headlining Voodoo Fest in New Orleans last Saturday. Original headliners Green Day pulled out weeks earlier so that Billie Joe Armstrong could complete rehab.

Here's Metallica opening the show with "Hit the Lights:"



Heating things up with "Blackened:"



Encoring with a Green Day tribute and "Creeping Death:"