Metallica was one of the opening acts for the Rolling Stones at SBC Park in San Francisco on November 13, 2005. As many might know, during this year's "Bigger Bang" tour, the Rolling Stones asked many different bands to open for them in various cities. Among the opening acts were Black Eyed Peas, Dave Matthew's Band, Motley Crue, and Metallica. Lars, James, and Kirk all live in Northern California, specifically, in the Bay Area, so they could not say no to opening for the 'Stones' in their "hometown" of San Francisco.

I have to say I did not know what to expect -- Metallica is an great band with a huge following and it was odd to watch them open for someone else since they are always the main act. Since the majority of the people in the crowd came to see the Rolling Stones, the median age in the crowd was about 45. Metallica followed Everclear, which gave a mediocre performance. It is fair to say that the audience was blown away by Metallica's energ and the crowd really got into Metallica after the first two songs.

The setlist was good, combining newer stuff, with older, grittier songs. One thing that was noticeably missing were the pyro and fireworks. Those who have seen Metallica in the past undoubtedly missed the explosions during "One" and at the end of "Sandman." But even without the pyro special effects Metallica was full of energy and "spunk" that is all to familiar to their fans. James sounded better than he did during the last tour (I saw their last two shows during their concert tour in 2004) and it was as if he got the much needed rest. Rob, Lars, and Kirk all gave great performances, although none of them had any solos.

This was also the first time I have ever heard Metallica start with "Orion," which was a nice touch. Several people mentioned that they did not like Metallica's version of "Turn the Page," but considering that most of the people were from an older generation it was expected that they preferred the Bob Seiger original.

Metallica will open for the Rolling Stones once again on Wednesday, November 16.

Setlist:
Orion
Master of Puppets
No Leaf Clover
King Nothing
Fade to Black
I Disappear
Turn the Page
Sad But True
One
Nothing Else Matters
Enter Sandman