![]() ![]() And though the lack of any Nightwish material leaves a few casual fans huffing, the strength of solo songs like Fire and My Paragon, as well as a smattering of Northward/After Forever hits, and a climactic duet of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s The Phantom Of The Opera alongside local hero Henk Poort means her 60-minute slot is a real highlight of the weekend. Addressing the crowd mostly in her native Dutch and proudly sporting her growing baby bump, Floor is very much at ease in venues of this size, with her incredible voice turning the repurposed sports venue into a glorious cathedral of sound. Although not exactly a sonic like-for-like, there are few in Amsterdam who’d argue the Nightwish vocalist isn’t a substantial upgrade. It was supposed to be Five Finger Death Punch up next, but the Las Vegas metallers have been forced to withdraw due to unforeseen circumstances, opening a slot for home-country heroine Floor Jansen to step up and save the day. The sunlit, 30-minute slot doesn’t quite allow the horror movie-obsessed collective to show off all they’ve got (they did that at Friday’s Metallica-endorsed, between-shows headline at Amsterdam’s legendary Melkweg), but from the hacked-heads of Hip To Be Scared to Spencer sporting a Freddy Krueger claw for The American Nightmare, they’ve got a perfect blend of cutting/campy theatrics to command the gaping space. If there was a hint that Thursday’s openers struggled to fill the stage, there’s none of that here, as Spencer Charnas and the boys emerge in full black tie to scatter across the whole setup – while being assailed by two separated Leatherfaces for opener SAVAGES. ![]() That begins with the arrival of Boston terrors Ice Nine Kills. With bright Saturday sun falling through the closed roof, first-show nerves mercifully dissipated, and a Metallica setlist that feels far more predictable thanks to the no-repeat format and simple process of elimination, there’s more room to have fun. Night two feels substantially more relaxed. Nothing Else Matters dropped mid-set! When your show ends with a full-throttle run-through of Ride The Lightning, Battery, Fuel, Seek & Destroy and Master Of Puppets – and a whole stadium moshing – it’s a bit special, even by Metallica standards. And Metallica duly obliged, bringing a lean, mean set for the ages that managed to fit three new tracks ( Lux Æterna, Screaming Suicide, Sleepwalk My Life Away) while still feeling like a career-spanning retrospective from jaw-dropping opener Orion to lesser-spotted deep cuts King Nothing and The Day That Never Comes. Between Mammoth WVH’s somewhat-static virtuosity and Architects’ all-action attack, the stage was set for something special. We’ve already talked about the opening Thursday night in-depth but, in the context of the full weekend – or perhaps as the very first show of the whole damn tour – it had a no-frills urgency that stood apart. No, the one that’ll really endure is how, at the end of 32 songs and well over four hours of music across two awesome nights, the 50,000+ punters in attendance were still baying for more. If there’s one non-musical moment that’ll stick with us from the landmark first stop on the San Francisco giants’ planned two-year M72 World Tour, it won’t be queueing alongside the metal masses for a show-exclusive shirt six hours before doors open it wont be walking into Amsterdam’s colossal Johan Cruyff Arena to see the space-age stadium setup for the first time hell, it won’t even be Lars Ulrich’s eye-catching new 72 Seasons-yellow drum kit magically popping-up around their circular stage. Goodbye.Even after all these years, in the live arena Metallica still know how to raise the bar. Genre Metal Comment by And justice for balls I hope some of you singers out there and not the singers actually try to sing to some of these songs. This track was really enjoyable to sing to and just to jam out with.
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