John Paul Jones Arena @ Charlottesville, VA - 10/17/09

• Since Charlottesville is only an hour away from my home in Richmond, I was really looking forward to not having to rent a car, book a flight, or reserve a motel room. However, being a Virginia Tech alumnus, I HATED the fact that Metallica was playing in Charlottesville. I freaking HATE that city. But I digress...

• I drove with Ron, Sean and Lauren. George was going to meet us at the venue. When we got to Charlottesville, I got re-introduced to one of the reasons why I hate Charlottesville so much. The parking near the John Paul Jones Arena was RIDICULOUS! Unless you paid for an overpriced parking pass beforehand (something like $19), there was no parking available anywhere near the arena. And to make things worse, the first-come-first-serve parking lot didn't open up till later that afternoon. We eventually drove around and around until we found a parking spot.

  
  (Picture courtesy of MetOnTour.com)

• As you would guess, there were a TON of Virginia Fuelers at this show. Luckily for us, it was pleasantly warm most of the day despite forecasts for cold weather. I brought a deck of cards with me to pass the time. We even drew cards to see who was going to be the "Winner". I believe George pulled the "Shortest Straw" this time.

• In another example of how wonderful Charlottesville/UVA is, between opening acts, one of the JPJ Arena security guys told me to stop spitting on the floor. (Note: I tend to do that at concerts since my mouth usually gets a little dry.) Now, let me say that I didn't spit anywhere near the security guy, and I only spit (or is it "spat") in the same spot directly in front of me. Anyways, the guy's reason for me to stop spitting on the floor??? He didn't want to have to look at my spit. What a d-bag! I really hate this town!

  

• Despite being in one of the cities I hate the most (have I mentioned that I loathe Charlottesville?), the show was excellent. I finally got to hear "Apocalypse" live (w/ the creepy intro that Metallica added to the song), which was also the US debut of the song. "Trapped Under Ice" and "Blackened" also highlighted the setlist. And George got to hear (again) one of his favorite songs in the world - "Stone Cold (Mother F'in) Crazy"!!!

• After the show, some of us made the 2-hour trip to George's place in Blacksburg. Next up: Charlotte...