After sleeping in a room outside of Nashville that smelled like an ashtray and barely being able to breathe, I was eager to get on the road to Cincy. The drive wasn't too bad despite pouring rain for the first few hours. By the time we rolled into Cincy, it was sunny and hot. There was a short line at will call and we ran into Metalli-friend, Aaron, when we got there. The entrance for the early entry was a mystery until will call opened, which resulted in a mad dash from will call (at the upper level of the venue) down to the ground level. I'm still not sure why everybody ran, since there was such a small group, but it only takes one person to start running and everybody follows suit (myself included). Fortunately, we weren't led over a cliff or out in front of speeding bus by the first person who took off. The following several hours were spent waiting around outside being surrounded by people, most of whom were cool, but I can only take large groups of people talking in small doses. Fortunately, the nearest bathroom was a decent hike away, so I used that as an excuse to duck out from time to time.

You can barely see us on the front rail on the other side of the stage
(picture courtesy of MetOnTour.com)

More waiting ensued once we got inside the venue. Waiting for Gojira to get off the stage, waiting for Lamb of God to get off the stage, waiting for Metallica to get ON the stage. While we were waiting for Metallica, we got a hold of some of the black tape they use to stick setlists to the stage and fashioned some nice moustaches and eyebrows out it. Then Metallica hit the stage...Highlights of the set included "For Whom the Bell Tolls," "Fight Fire With Fire," "Whiplash," and "The Unforgiven." We also got what has become one of my least favorite cover tunes, "Stone Cold Crazy." Not sure what it is about that one, but if don't see it again live any time soon, I won't be too upset. (Wishful thinking.) Fortunately, it was followed up with "Whiplash," which I never tire of.

(picture courtesy of Lyle Ratliff)

The Good: It stopped raining by the time we got to Cincy. Some nice change-ups to the set.
The Bad: "Stone Cold Mother F'ing Crazy" (ok, it's not really "bad" but it's definitely not at the top of my list)
The Ugly: I heard there was a woman at the show with a Dave Mustaine mullet. Apparently, her hair is even worse than mine.