Runnin, run away hidin, you will be dyin, a thousand deaths.



I have very little time to write this update, as I have to take a shower and then get to my tuba practice. In any case, I felt the need to clean up the site from the previous month, and get on track early on in this one so as to potentially finish my last month of updates from Germany strong.

Yesterday I went to Prague to see Metallica for the first time in my life. Metallica is one of those bands that I have always meant to see, but something has always gotten in the way. This time, when Tom and I saw that they would be playing in a town only two hours away, and that the tickets cost only 30$, we jumped on the opportunity with the thought that we needed to see them before they started to suck any more than they already have been in the last few years.

With this attitude, one could see that we weren't expecting a whole lot from the show, and more thinking that it was something we needed to do before we died. As it turns out, we were terribly mistaken. In short, the concert was AWESOME.

Sadly, we had some difficulties with traffic and unexpected delays while trying to get to Prague, so we missed about 30 minutes of the show, but what we did see made it all worthwhile. We got to hear such great tunes as:

Battery
Creeping Death
Enter Sandman
Master of Puppets
Nothing Else Matters
One
Sad but True
Seek and Destroy
Wherever I May Roam
Whiplash

*Note, these are the songs that I remember, although they played one off of S&M, and one off of St. Anger while we were there too. Also note that they closed with Seek and Destroy.

The first two tunes were the two that I didn't bother to list, and then they went and played Creeping Death. The thing is, I had told Tom on the tram ride to the concert that if they played that song, I would leave happy no matter what else was played. Considering that, it's understandable that when I heard the opening riff, I charged through the crowd to get as close as my ticket would allow.

The funny thing is that in running over everyone from fat bikers to aging women, nobody really tried to stop me. After getting all the way to the separator rail, I started looking around for a pit anywhere nearby, and realized a very sad thing about the Czech crowd. Nobody, and I mean NOBODY was moshing. There was seemingly no life to be found anywhere. It's sad, I know. Needless to say, I tried to start my own pit with the help of my French friend Bruno, who was also attending with us, but we received little to no support throughout the rest of the show from our fellow Metallica-minded compatriots. That, however, didn't stop us from continually hitting one another and generally pissing off everyone around us.

Tom made a good point that I hadn't stopped to consider as to a possible explanation for the general lack of beating. Stopping to consider Metallica's catalogue, one can note a distinct change in style between "And Justice for All" and the Black album. Most of "Black", and all albums thereafter don't really necessitate the need on the part of the listener to get crazy and potentially break noses. Even Bruno and myself felt no need to be violent in any of the post "And Justice" numbers. Tom's point was that, seeing as how the Czech Republic was communist for many years, Metallica's music wasn't even allowed to be imported until after the implementation of democracy.

Doing a little research to make sure I had the facts straight, I found that the democratic form of government began in 1992. Furthermore, Metallica's first five albumbs, "Kill Em' All", "Ride the Lightning", "Master of Puppets", "And Justice for All", and "Metallica" (the Black album), were all released between 1983 and 1991. It's entirely possible that the Czech people are post "kick-ass" Metallica music fans.

All things said, I'm chalking it up to another European clutural experience. Who said you can't learn anything educational at a rock concert?




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