Prudential Center @ Newark, NJ - 1/31/09 & 2/1/09

• After staying the night with friends in Baltimore, I drove up the day of the show to Jersey. I met up with the usual suspects - Ron, George, Matt, Yuri, Blou, Brad, Allen, Steph, etc.

• It was another cold day. Luckily, the Prudential Center staff brought us some great-tasting hot chocolate. That's never happened to me while waiting to get into a concert. Awesome!

• Once doors opened and we got our spot on the rail, I noticed some drunk asshole who was near us. I knew immediately that this guy was gonna be a problem. He makes his way up near Steph, who was next to me. He started talking to Steph who introduced herself as "Linda from Brooklyn". The drunk asshole asked me what my name was. I copy what Steph did and said, "I'm John." He asked me where I was from. "Pennsylvania," I replied. George had gone to get some water, so there was an open spot on the rail. What the drunk asshole was trying to do, other than hit on Steph, was trying to weasel his way to the rail. Once George got back, the guy wouldn't leave, so I had to "strongly persuade" him that it would be in his best interest to take a few steps back. The sharp-witted drunk asshole's only comeback was, "Pennsylvania sucks! You're weak Pennsylvania boy!" By this time other fans around had grown tired of this guy and notified security. Before anything really happened between me and him, local security had quickly and forcefully escorted him out of the building. Nice! He paid $90+ for a Metallica show that he never got to see.

• Blou, who hails from Ireland, mentioned to me that he likes seeing stuff like this - you know, drunk American assholes who yell, "Woooooo!" and stuff like that. No wonder people outside of America hates us so much. Blou also confessed to me his affinity for red plastic cups, but that's a story for another day...

  
  The only clapping George was willing to do for The Sword or Machine Head

• Newark show #1 came to an end. I know you're probably getting bored of us saying, "The show rocked as usual.", but, they do! Highlights of the show included "Justice", "Lights" and "Blitzkreig" even made an appearance on the setlist. After the show, Ron, George, Ron, Matt and Yuri hit a local pizza joint. The pizza was good, but we all burned our mouths because the pizza was so freaking HOT!

• The next day, we ate a local hot dog place. The hot dogs were good, and I even tried their secret relish recipe - and I HATE relish. But the relish was actually pretty good!

• The day of the second Newark show was also Super Bowl Sunday. I didn't really care that I was missing the game, because my team, the Dallas Cowboys, weren't playing in it. Plus, Metallica is the ONLY band I would go see to miss a Super Bowl.

  
  (L to R) Brad, Ron, Lauren, Blou and George

• At least the weather was warmer on show #2. Since this was the last US show of this leg of the tour, we were all hoping something special on the setlist - "Orion", maybe???

• Do you know how you know if you are a spoiled rotten Metallica fan? You actually complain about Metallica not changing up the setlist enough from night to night. The setlist was pretty standard and no "Orion."

• Before the show started, they added some new speakers on the stage. The sound was a lot better for people on the floor. I could actually hear James sing, but I still couldn't hear the singer from The Sword.

• After the show, we crashed at Ron's place. George and I must have caught something, because after we got home the next day, both of us became VERY SICK for the next several days. We believe we got the rare strain of flu called "Dieritus" (aka "Dier's Disease"). I was in bed with the flu and a 102 degree temperature, and I only worked one day the following week. Damn you "Dier's Disease"!!!

• Well, this was my last US show until the fall, or so I thought...

  
  Picture from MetOnTour.com