Metallica - like all of nature's formidable predators - has adapted for survival.
The latest proof of the foursome's ability to not only survive but thrive was the 14,000 or so rabid victims on hand to pound Weber State's Stewart Stadium with unprecedented ferocity.After a short cloudburst the foursome - all dressed in traditional black - stormed the simple but spacious stage and began to bludgeon the gathered masses with jackhammer-quick power chords and diabolical vocals, starting with "Breadfan," and jumping directly into the 13-minute epic title-track from the 1986 "Master of Puppets" album.
Fans moshed, screamed vocals and head-banged from the first notes and for much of the evening as one of the most popular bands in the world played its heart out to the Utah audience.
Since four pimply-faced boys released "Kill 'Em All" on Megaforce records in 1983, audiences have had strong reactions to the gut-wrenching, aggressive tunes and the angry lyrics of Metallica. But playing to frenzied metal heads in a club and playing to a frenzied cross-section of mainstream America - as they did Monday night - are entirely different.
The contemporary foursome, vocalist/guitarist James Hetfield, drummer Lars Ulrich, guitarist Kirk Hammett and bassist Jason Newsted have grown into a much fiercer animal than the wild but unsophisticated beast that it began as.
Weber's audience provided some good evidence that not all the 22 million Metallica albums sold in the '90s belong to long-hair thrashers.
Perhaps as a way of throwing a bone to its longtime fans, frontman Hetfield led the way into the first segment of the show with the sinister "Of Wolf And Man," and and the eerie "The Thing That Should Not Be." Both songs were definitely the old, raw Metallica.
Next came "Fuel" - the kickoff tune from the latest Metallica work, "Re-Load." The song was saturated with fire-spitting venom, performed with more guts than on the CD, maintaining the mob-like intensity in the raucous crowd. More important, the song signaled the evening's evolution from the band that wrote underground thrash tunes to the one that today rules the hard rock world.
Like the CD it calls home, the tune was slower, more melodic and shorter, giving it all the ingredients to appeal to the masses without losing too much of the Metallica flavor.
Hetfield took a break to talk to his thousands of "friends."
"Pardon me but I love that song," he deadpanned, delighting his fans just like every other time he dropped them a few spoken words.
The band played and sang its way into the successful single "The Memory Remains." During the number, fans in reserved seating made a mass exodus to what would have been the north end zone in the general admission section.
Firmly entrenched in the "new" Metallica mode, the middle-show set-list included such tunes as "Nothing Else Matters," and "Until It Sleeps."
After an uneven performance of "One," and a scorching rendition of "Fight Fire With Fire," the band famous for their lengthy encores ended their regular set.
"Are you still here?" Hetfield asked after being screamed back to the stage. "Don't you have something to do?"
The band spoofed their own musical library with some country-western style renditions of their own tunes, including twang and slide guitar on "Last Caress."
They pushed the limits of what fans thought was acceptable, effectively killing audience enthusiasm. Many fans started to wander away thinking the show was over, but the metal ones weren't done.
They pulled out their musical weapons and assaulted the audience with "Enter Sandman," a few chords of "Damage Inc.," and "Creeping Death," all tunes suitable to slaughter cattle by, leaving fans just what they needed to go home happy.
In perfect contrast to the headliner, Jerry Cantrell of Alice In Chains was musically patient, moody, measured and methodical. Days of the New also did a fine job, using material from their freshmen album, including "Shelf In a Room." Both acts have big-star potential.