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 Looks like somebody punched me in the groin! (picture courtesy of MetOnTour.com) I drove up to Blacksburg the night before and stayed with George. We were suppose to have someone else go alonn with us, but she couldn't make it. But I digress...I rented a Chrysler Sebring (sp?) for the weekend...only $40! The trip down to Atlanta (actually Duluth, a suburb northeast of Atlanta) was 6 hours. It wasn't too bad of a drive. The billboards kept us entertained.
 Mommy, what do all those signs on the road mean? As George and I are waiting in line, we eventually see Brad stroll up. He failed miserably at a "Name that Metallica tune" contest a local radio station was doing to get meet-n-greet passes. I told him he was officially banned from the MetClub. I also get recognized a couple of times from other fans who said they recognized me from the Charlotte show (in April)...weird. As doors were about to open, the local security totally fucked up the GA line. To make a long story, short, we got our spot, because the security down on the floor was the nicest and coolest (by far) of the tour (spring and fall). They let us go to our spot on the rail. See how easy that was!?! You could tell that the Gwinnett Center was a brand new arena, but it wasn't that big. Kinda reminded me of the Roanoke Civic Center (in terms of size). The show, as always, kicked butt! Favorite songs of the night were Leper, Fight Fire, Unforgiven, The Wait and Dirty Window. This was my first time hearing Dirty Window live, and it sounds VERY good live. They should play that song more often. Since this was my last show of the tour, and the fact that everyone knew Niclas was leaving Metallica/MetOnTour (for now), I had to do something. So, I made a "good luck" banner for him. He called me a son-of-a-bitch as he laughed, but he liked it. After the show, I caught up with him, said goodbye, good luck, thanx for everything, etc. I told him not to throw the banner away, and I don't think he will. The expression on his face when I gave it to him was so hilarious!
 Niclas' Good Luck banner As for the other banner, Larz pointed to it while nodding his head in approval. Jaymz initially shunned the banner. That's twice I've been 'shunned' by Hetfield (the other time was when he ignored my Happy 40th Birthday banner last August). Kirk and Rob both liked it, too. George and I made sure they all saw it when they took their bows at the end of the show. Kirk, Rob and Larz pointed to it and gave the thumbs up.
 Banner #3 (It's suppose to look like a license plate on the back of a Ford) Another cool moment during the show, was when Jaymz asked the crowd, "How many people here have seen Metallica before?", and then he goes on to ask how many people have seen Metallica 5 times, 10 times, etc. At one point, he pointed at some guy and jokingly said, "That's stalker material!" Of course, when he asked everyone has anyone seen Metallica more than 20 times, George and I (and a few other fans) cheered. At the same time, Kirk who was at the other end of the stage (with Jaymz), pointed to me and said, "That guy has!"...pretty cool moment. George Ulrich got another drumstick from his foster daddy. I got a bunch of picks. There's no way I could not have, since Rob (accidently) hit me in the face with a buckshot of picks. And it seems lately, that a Metallica show would not be complete if I didn't get into an altercation with a short female...and I did. Apparently, when the guys were passing out picks, she did not appreciate that we held up the banner thus blocking her chance of getting a pick. She dared to try to remove the banner from my hands, and after a few rounds of exchanging pleasantries, it was over. Some guy came up to me after the show and said "Aren't you the Va Fuel guy?". I wanted so bad to say "yah, I am Eric Nielsen, how can I help you!" But, I didn't. Apparently, this guy is a free-lance photographer and he took a pix of Metallica at the Charlotte show with me in it. He said he would email it to me. But I haven't seen anything from him! Fucker! George and I made the 6 hour trip home. We stopped half way at a 24-hour McDonald's/truck stop/gas station. We got back to Blacksburg around 6 am-ish, I crashed hard for 3-4 hours. I had to return the rental by a certain time, so I had George make sure I was up by 10 am. Luckily, I woke up moments before he was going to wake me up by blasting Sandman and flipping the lights on and off. Thanx dick! :) After a 4 hour drive home, I returned the rental and crash HARD. As so ends my last Metallica show of 2004. Metallica Concert Tip #1: Don't stand behind tall male Metallica fans. There are plenty of other spaces in the arena. Go find one! Metallica Concert Tip #2: Bring a small kid with you. The kid who was next to me along the rail got a drumstick, wristband, and tons of picks. |
