“You're beautiful, Bangalore,” said James Hetfield, minutes after getting the 25,000-strong crowd to sing along to The Memory Remains.
It was definitely an evening to remember for all the metal heads who converged on Palace Grounds here on Sunday; the first ones in India to listen to Metallica live.
And the gods of metal certainly did not disappoint. An incredible pace was set with the opening number, Creeping Death, and it did not slow down even once in their over two-hour set, much to the excitement of all the headbangers. To add to the frenzy, there were also some pyrotechnics; huge flames that leapt up behind the band as they performed.
Hetfield, Lars Ulrich (drums), Kirk Hammett (guitar) and Robert Trujillo (bass) were at the top of their game, giving the crowd exactly what they wanted.
(Hammett's guitar even said, ‘It comes to life', which was certainly true as his fingers flew over the fret board.)
“We heard you like your music heavy. Is that true? Then lets give you some heavy,” said Hetfield.
And that's what they gave performing hits such as Fuel, For Whom The Bell Tolls, Welcome Home (Sanitarium), Master of Puppets, One, Nothing Else Matters and Cyanide (from the Death Magnetic album).
They closed the set with a blistering rendition of Enter Sandman and as it came to the end, fireworks lit up the night sky.
Of course, it wasn't actually the end as they came back for an encore, singing a cover of Am I Evil? and their own Seek and Destroy.
Hetfield even had a little fun toying with the crowd as they waited impatiently to see if the band would sing a few more songs.
The band then thanked the city saying “Metallica loves Bangalore”. Ulrich added, “Metallica should come to India more often.”
