‘Epic!’ ‘Awesome!’ Fans rave over Metallica show
Posted Jul 15, 2011 05:42:49 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
It was the right band, the right venue and the right crowd: heavy metal icon, Metallica, played to a crowd of thousands on the Garrison Grounds Thursday night.
People coming from the show said it was everything they wanted from hearing their favourite songs, to watching the pyrotechnics, to hearing the personal addresses from frontman James Hetfield.
“The show was fantastic. We got here just for the Metallica set. It was everything we expected. It was just fantastic,” said one man.
Thousands of fans waited in long line ups in the rain, wind and cold temperatures before they were allowed entry for the opening acts, Death Valley Driver, Matt Mays, Seether, Coheed and Cambria.
Police estimate 25,000 people attended the event and they closed Bell Road and Sackville Street when the concert ended, between 11 and 11:30 p.m., to let the throng disperse.
“Concerts on the hill are always really cool,” Sheena told News 95.7. “They’re unexpected. You don’t know what’s going to happen. There’s mayhem. There’re nice people. There’re crazy people.”
While people said it would have been better if the weather had been better, no one seemed discouraged.
“I bought a poncho for $5,” said one woman. “Best thing I ever purchased.”
One man said he had some concerns about the historic site being ruined by all the concert goers and the rain turning the Garrison Grounds to mud. But he added the venue was “awesome.”
For some, it wasn’t just a concert or just a band, it was an event which will have a profound impact on the rest of their lives.
“When ‘Nothing Else Matters,’ played, they played that at my brother’s funeral. I f***ing love that song,” said one man.
Another man said the concert was a sendoff before his wedding on Saturday.
Some of the concerts Halifax has held in recent years have been less than successful.
Celine Dion cancelled her 2008 concert in Halifax because she said she was upset by the negative media.
Ticket sales for the 2009 Paul MacCartney concert were lower than expected and the 2009 KISS concert also suffered from dismal weather.
The city is embroiled in a concert spending scandal involving unauthorized cash advances to the concert promoter for the 2010 Alan Jackson and Black Eyed Peas concerts.
