Metallica at Sonic Temple May 9 2025

 I bought these tickets for my kids for Christmas. It was not a hard decision. My daughter wanted to see Rob Zombie and he just happened to be on the same night as my favorite band! So to say it was just for them it would be a lie. It was totally for me too. Especially when I saw the rest of the lineup. It was billed as "The Heaviest Day In America". And in my opinion, they are not wrong! Overkill, Exodus, Testament, Suicidal Tendencies, Rob Zombie, Metallica, and many others!

 Three of my all time favorite bands and several others that I really like. So I was buying these tickets. Even though the week after I bought the tickets, I was laid off from my job. Oh well. I am very happy that I was able to go with my Daughter and Son-in-Law. Any time spent with them is the best. Kristeen was pregnant last year when Kaden, Cyin and I went to see the Misfits. So it was nice she could go this year and that there was someone she really wanted to see (Rob Zombie). Cyin couldn't make it this year because his wife was very pregnant and he couldn't leave her by herself. So Kaden brought another old friend of his Dustin. I had met him a few times before, he's a good kid, and I'm glad he and Kaden had time to catch up on the three and a half hour car ride there. There were a few things worrying me. I had forgot to buy a parking pass. And there were reports from the first day that there was construction in the area and parking was limited. We lucked out on the parking. Parking passes were $50. As we were headed towards the general parking area, we had noticed some cars parking on a strip of grass along the street. I saw an empty spot, whipped my car around and backed into the spot. None of the other cars had any special permit so I just assumed it was a free for all. It was a little nerve racking all night. Not knowing if the car would get towed. We shall see.  And also, Kristeen was fighting a bit of a respiratory infection and having trouble breathing. She had an inhaler which helped and said she was good to go, and she is thirty and capable of making her own decisions, but looking back now, she probably should have stayed home. I should have been more of a dad at that point and not put her in that situation. She was good standing in one place. It was the long walks that would get her short of breath. And there was a lot of walking just to get in. We had to stop a few times for her to catch her breath. It was at that point where I was getting worried. I hate seeing her like that. But she made it in and all was good.

 I know the kids don't really follow all the same bands I do, so just like last year we split up for the first part of the day and caught up with each other later. I wasn't going to make them miss any bands they wanted to see while i was watching the ones I wanted to see. So I took off. 

 Most of what I wanted to see was on the main stage. So first up... Overkill. I have some Overkill CDs in my collection and have always liked what I heard, but was not ever really a big fan. But I was not going to miss them. And good thing, because they ripped! I really only knew two songs from there set but it definitely made me want to look into them more. When I was about fourteen years old, I had heard that they had an album (it was an EP) called "Fuck You".  And as a Fourteen year old, that sounded like the coolest thing ever! I went into a local record store at the time (Around 1989 or 90) And had to try and have them order it. I had to flip through a catalog that had everything they could order, fill out a slip, and hope for the best. It never came.  I was sad. Then they re released it in the late 90's and I finally got it. And they played the title track from it today. That was one of the two I knew. So here's the setlist and a crappy phone pic. 

Scorched ( I showed up in the middle of this one)

Hello From The Gutter

The Surgeon

Bring Me the Night

Elimination

Fuck You

                                                                                                                                                                            

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 

 

 After Overkill, a lot of people left the main stage area and I was able to move much closer for EXODUS! I've been an Exodus fan for a long time. The whole Bay Area Thrash scene from the 80's just speaks to me. I wish I could have experienced it! I haven't seen them live as many times as I would have liked, this is only the second time, and I've got a great view! It was really good to see Tom Hunting healthy after his Cancer scare. Gary Holt Rules! Jack, Lee, and Rob Dukes back on the mike. This IS Thrash Metal at it's finest!

Bonded By Blood

The Beatings Will Continue (Until Morale Improves)

Blacklist

War Is My Shepherd

A Lesson In Violence (w/David Sanchez from Havok)

The Toxic Waltz

Strike Of The Beast

 

Wall of Death!

 That was heavy! And it's not letting up! I think I will just stay where I am because Testament is next!

This was the only real conflict of interests I had for the day, Armored Saint, whom I have never seen before, was starting on a different stage. And it is in my opinion that John Bush is one of the best metal singers of all time. And I usually don't care much for singers. The thing is, I like Armored Saint, but I know John Bush from his time in Anthrax. And they won't be performing any Anthrax songs today. So it just so happens, Chuck Billy is one of the other few singers that I really like. Plus Alex Skolnick and  Eric Peterson are two of the greatest guitar duos of all time! And on top of everything, they are going to be playing some deep cuts off of the album "Practice What You Preach" So I think I'm going to stay right here.

Practice What You Preach

Sins of Omission

Perilous Nation

Time Is Coming

Envy Life

Nightmare (Coming Back To You)

Return To Serenity

Into The Pit

 Now I was going to cut out early from Testament to head to the other side of the festival to catch Suicidal Tendencies who started at the same time that Testament was scheduled to end. But who can leave early when they are playing "Into The Pit"! So as soon as they played their last note, I high tailed it out of there! At this point in the day, my dogs are barking LOUD! My feet were on fire! But I moved as fast as I could because Suicidal Tendencies were a must see for me! Robert Trujillo played for ST for quite a while, and now his son Tye has taken over Bass duties. And to be honest, I was really looking for a little Father Son jam. That didn't happen, but it didn't need to. ST was amazing on their own. Mike Muir is still Cyco! This is where I caught back up with the kids also. Here's the set list and horrible pics.

You Can't Bring Me Down

Institutionalized

Send Me Your Money

Subliminal

Adrenaline Addict

Cyco Vision

How Will I Laugh Tomorrow

Guitar Player Crowd Surfing  

 

 I miraculously found the kids in the middle of the ST set. I was hoping to make my way back for Alice Cooper when ST finished up, but at this point, my feet were about to murder me if I didn't give them a break. The kids were ready for a little break in the shade too. It wasn't hot out, as a matter of fact, It was a beautiful day, but we found a shady spot on some grass and took a little break. I do regret not going in to watch Alice Cooper though. I have seen him before, and it's a Hell of a show.

                                                        Me and my little girl takin a break

 This was also a good time to grab a little something to eat. And the Blackened Whiskey and Burger Bar was calling my name! I wish I would have took a pic of the menu, but they had Metallica song themed burgers. I think I got the "Master of Burgers"  It came with chips and a drink in a "Metallica Happy Meal" box. even the container for the chips had a Metallica logo on it. Now the Collector in me was wanting to fold the whole thing up and take it home, but it was just to big. I shed a tear when I had to throw it away. I did keep the little plastic cup the drink came in, and at the bottom of the box was a three pack of guitar picks! SCORE!  The Burger was pretty good too. 

   Now rested and fed we can make it to the end of the night. Municipal Waste is one of those bands that have been on my Radar for a while now, but I've yet to pull the trigger on buying any CDs. They were good. I'm sure it would have been even better if I had known the songs. I gotta get some of their music into my collection soon. Here's what I heard

Sadistic Magician

Slime and Punishment

Breathe Grease

You're Cut Off

The Thrashin' of The Christ

Wave Of Death

Unknown Song

Restless and Wicked

The Art of Partying

Born To Party

 So now we head back into the Stadium for Rob Zombie. This is why Kristeen wanted to go. This is why I bought the tickets for her for Christmas. What I always forget to think about is that she is so short, and I bought field tickets! I hope she was able to see more than the video screens, but I doubt it, since I couldn't see very well either. It was a little crowded. I will make it up to her some time some way. Now I never really got into much of his solo material, but I loved White Zombie and was hoping for "Black Sunshine" but alas it was not meant to be. Interestingly though, while checking the setlist.fm site it says that "Creature of the Wheel" was last played September 18 2016 at Riot Fest in Chicago. I was there for that one too. Here's the setlist.

Demon Speeding

Dead City Radio and the new Gods of Supertown

Feel So Numb

Well, Everybody's Fucking In A U.F.O.

Superbeast

The Lords of Salem

The Triumph of King Freak (A Crypt of Preservation and Superstition)

More Human Than Human

Creature of the Wheel

Living Dead Girl (Had some major tech issues here and Rob got pissed! Had to restart the song) 

Thunder Kiss '65

Dragula

                                                                   Me and my squad!

 Up next... METALLICA!!! Now this is the first time I've ever seen them on twice on the same tour. Kristeen, Kaden, and I saw them in Detroit back in November of 2023. They are still doing the "No Repeat Weekend" shows. We are only doing the first night this weekend. And unfortunately for the kids, they also only saw the first night back in Detroit. So they will be hearing most of the same set. I'm hoping for at least a few different songs, but it doesn't really matter. I'll have fun either way, And I hope the kids do too. It's Dustin's first time seeing Metallica so it's all new to him. I'm not sure why, but they were a little late getting on the stage, and to be honest, this was the worst sounding show I have ever heard them do. The mix was not that good. They played great! But the PA system and the mix was bad. It didn't bother me that much though. I still had a blast! Here's the set list with a few personal notes.

Creeping Death

Harvester Of Sorrow (2 of my all time favorites!)

The Shortest Straw (First time for me!)

King Nothing (Another first for me and with it, I have heard at least one song from every album)

72 Seasons 

If Darkness Had a Son (They played these 2 on night 2 in Detroit, so first time for the kids)

Kirk and Rob Doodle ("Devil's Lettuce")

The Day That Never Comes

Shadows Follow

Orion (I love this song!)

Nothing Else Matters 

Sad But True

Battery (They screwed up big in the middle of this song, so we got the extended version! A screw up doesn't really bother me. It makes it unique! And reminds you they are human.)

Fuel

Seek & Destroy

Master Of Puppets

Gig poster

 Another fun Metallica gig in the books. I hope there will be a few more in my future, but you never know. On the walk back to the car, Kristeen started struggling with her breathing again. Luckily there was a guy not to far from the gates with a rikshaw giving rides to your car at a hefty price, but I was willing to pay anything so she didn't have to suffer that long walk again. And she ate it up. Giving her best royal wave to the peasants as we flew past them on our way to the car. And surprise... The car was still there! We made it to the hotel a lot quicker than I thought we would. I would like to say that the rest of our trip was uneventful, but the fire alarm in the hotel went off at around 5:45 in the morning. I guess the guy cooking the bacon for breakfast burnt some. Kristeen was still not feeling good so we cut out of there early and just headed home. She set up a doctor appointment for when we got home. She's doing better now. I really do cherish spending any and all time with my kids and Grandma had a fun overnighter with the Grandson. 

Megadeth September 20 2024

  Not much build up for this show. I bought the tickets while at the venue for the Sammy Hagar show three weeks before. I had been spending a lot of money on concerts the previous year or so, so I wasn't planning on going to this show. It had been thirteen years since I last saw Megadeth. I had tickets to see them in 2019 opening for Ozzy, but that show got canceled due to Ozzy having health problems. And not to long after that, Dave Mustaine was diagnosed with throat cancer. Then 2020 happened and we all know how that went! Being so close to the date, I didn't think there would be any good seats left. I just happened to check, and low and behold there were some really good seats left and priced fairly reasonable. So I couldn't help myself, I pulled the trigger. Mike, who was with me at Sammy Hagar, agreed to go with me, even though this type of music isn't really his thing. 

 I usually try not to look up set lists from previous shows on the tour, but the ad for the show I had seen mentioned how they were mixing up the set list, so it had me a bit curious. I noticed some really cool deep cuts mixed in with the hits and that had me a little pumped. I had no clue who the first opening band was and had heard of the second, but couldn't tell you anything from them. I was there for Megadeth and that is all that mattered! 

 The day of the show had thunderstorms in the forecast. I was hoping it wouldn't interfere. The opening band was All That Remains. I had never heard of them before this and never got a chance to check them out before the show. They were very heavy and did not suck. So that was cool. here's a pic and the set list.

  Now Let Them Tremble

  Chiron

  Six

  Divine

  Let You Go

  This Calling

  Two Weeks

 And then the rain came! More lightning than rain I would say. This caused a forty five minute delay! 

 

 Up next was Mudvayne. The only thing I knew about Mudvayne was The singer and one other member were in Hell Yeah! Other than that, I got nothing, but I liked it! Very heavy! From what I gathered, they cut about four songs from their set list due to the rain. A trend that would continue unfortunately. 

Here's a pic and the set list.

 

  Not Falling

  Silenced

  Death Blooms

  Dull Boy

  Nothing to Gein

  World So Cold

  Happy?

  Dig

  And now, The Mighty Megadeth! We have a new album (last year) The Sick... The Dying... and the Dead! And whole new band since the last time I saw them (except for Dave Mustaine). James Lomenzo is back on bass duties. Dirk Verbeuren on the drums. and recently added Teemu Mäntysaari on guitar. I was pretty sure we were going to get a shorter show than others due to the rain delay, and I was right. Dave had also mentioned during the show that he had been battling bronchitis as well. Goodbye deep cuts. Oh well, after all He had been through in the last five years, I was just happy he was there! I would get four new songs that I had never heard live before so all is good. here's the set list and some pics.

  The Sick, the Dying… and the Dead! 

  Dread and the Fugitive Mind 

  Angry Again

  Hangar 18

  Washington Is Next!

  Sweating Bullets

  Countdown to Extinction

  Skin o' My Teeth

  Trust

  Tornado of Souls

  Symphony of Destruction

  Peace Sells

  Holy Wars... The Punishment Due

 The band sounded great! Dave only puts the best musicians on stage with him! Teemu nailed all the solo's with ease. And Dave sounded great! Kicked throat cancer's ass and battling bronchitis! Most people would have canceled the show! I am so happy I went to this show! I have seen a lot of my favorite bands in the last year and this was a great way to top it off. for now. And I think Mike had a good time too!

Sammy Hagar August 30 2024

  The Best of All Worlds Tour. I never got to see Van Halen before Eddie Van Halen passed away and Sammy was looking for a way to pay tribute to his former bandmate and friend. Sammy promised to pull out some Van Halen deep cuts on this tour so I figured this was as close as I was ever going to get to see Van Halen. The only way it could be closer was if Wolfgang Van Halen decided to do this tour, but he's doing his own thing and rightfully so! I got to see him back in November of 23 opening for Metallica and he was great. Sammy had Joe Satriani filling in for Eddie and Joe is no slouch! There might be other guitar players out there that could also do Eddie justice, but for my money, Joe Satriani is around the top of my short list of people that could do it! And Michael Anthony is here too! So we do have one half of the "Van Hagar" era here and Michael Anthony was there at the beginning. So this is it! this is the one! None of these guys are getting any younger and neither am I so this IS The Only One Way To Rock! 

 Mike was along with me again for this show. We usually argue (jokingly) about whose better with VH. Sam or Dave? Mike is firmly in the Dave camp. I take Sammy's side. I really do think the bands you listen to when you're in high school are the ones that really stick with you your entire life. You might move on from them in your older years. You might grow musically, but the nostalgia will always pull you back. For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge was released when I was 16years old! So that was MY Van Halen. Now to be honest with you, I look at them as two totally different bands. It doesn't matter to me "Who's Better" The Classic line up is legendary. I love those songs too. I was 9 when 1984 came out and I'm pretty sure that the video for Hot For Teacher jump started me into puberty! I also have my own thoughts on the Dave era vs. the Sammy era. I say "If you're listening to Van Halen for the singer, You're doing it wrong!" Mike is about 11 years older than me and grew up with the Dave era, so I get his loyalty. 

 Rounding out the band was supposed to be Jason Bonham on drums and Rai Thistlethwayte on keyboards. This was also (I thought) was going to be the closest I was ever going to get to Led Zeppelin also. Unfortunately, Jason had a family emergency and had to leave the tour. So replacing him on drums was Kenny Aronoff. Kenny has toured with and played on the albums of some of the biggest names in Rock, Pop and Country music. He's been voted one of the best by different Drum magazine polls. Kenny is most known for his time with John Mellencamp. Now, during an interview with Howard Stern when announcing this tour, Sammy invited anyone he knew to come out and jam with them at any show. I think he was mainly pointing at Alex Van Halen with that, but I'm sure he would Jam with anyone that showed up. Now this show being in Indiana and now Kenny Aronoff playing drums, I thought we just might get an appearance from John Mellencamp. And he was at the venue per Sammy's facebook. We'll just have to wait and see.

 Opening up the festivities was Loverboy. Now I know a few of their songs, but I would say they hit their peak in popularity a little bit before I was really into music. Mike on the other hand was really digging their set. They played a set full of their hits and I think something off of a rather new album. They we're really good and solid Rock n Roll. I enjoyed it and Mike Loved it! Here's The Loverboy Setlist.

Notorius

Lucky Ones

Lovin' Every Minute Of It

The Kid Is Hot Tonite

Take Me To The Top

Hot Girls In Love

Turn Me Loose

Working For The Weekend

 It was a very hot day and there were storms rolling in. Loverboy's set started ten minutes early and the changeover between bands was five minuets shorter than usual. I was really hoping they would miss us. On to Sammy! I'll break down the set list a little. Three Van Halen songs to start with.

Good Enough

Poundcake

Runaround

Then the Sammy Staple

There's Only One Way To Rock 

Then back to VH! pulling heavy from the For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge Album. Which is fine by me!

Judgement Day

 At this point, the lightning in the area was getting strong so they had to pause the show to let it pass. They told the people in the lawn to seek shelter. We were under the pavilion so we were fine. It wasn't raining, just a lot of lightning. Sammy didn't really want to stop the show so he just stayed out and was talking to the crowd. Although since he kept talking, nobody sought shelter. The venue finally had to tell him he had to leave the stage. After about forty five minuets the show restarted. The venue has a strict eleven PM curfew. Sammy said they were given permission to finish the show and he would pay the overtime to the crew personally! 

Panama (So glad I got to hear this played live!)

5150

Summer Nights (That one will stick in your head!)

Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love (With Michael Anthony taking over the lead vocals)

Top Of The World

Best Of Both Worlds

Satch Boogie (basically Joe Satriani's guitar solo) Pumped to hear this one too!

The Seventh Seal

Right Now

Why Can't This Be Love

Eagles Fly

 It was at this point that another storm system was starting to move in and a stage hand came out on stage to tell Sammy that he had to cancel the rest of the show. Sammy pulled an audible though. "Give me my Guitar! We're doing this one!" As he flashed his wide open hand at the band twice. And they dove into... 

I Can't Drive 55

 No Sammy Hagar concert can be played without 55! So thankful he jammed it in. The stage crew started tearing the stage apart as soon as they finished. Sammy and Michael tried to keep the party going with an acapella version of  Cabo Wabo as the stage was being dismantled, but it was over. The rain was really coming down and the lawn was emptying out. Although the rain basically stopped ten minuets later! We'll never know if there was going to be a jam with Mellencamp. I looked up setlists from other shows to see what songs we missed. Very unfortunate we missed Mas Tequila, Heavy Metal, Space Station #5, Big Foot, Jump, and When It's Love. Still, it was an excellent show. Here are a few more crappy pics. I hate my phone.

Mike and I

                                                                        All the lightning