Review: Metallica proves it still matters

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The Napster lawsuits, the alterna-haircuts, the mid-tempo dad rock years, even the questionable orchestral foray was palatable. Filming themselves listening to that heavy-metal Eugene Landy (performance enhancement coach Phil Towle) spit out fortune cookie platitudes that were intended to heal their broken metalheads was not. Either way, Wednesday night's Metallica performance makes them all moot issues.

A veteran band in fine form, Metallica gave a 21/2-hour show with a set list that helped make amends for a six-year absence.

After a film clip of Eli Wallach from "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly," the band ran through the audience to mount the revolving stage for the opener, "Blackened." After that came "Fuel," which featured new bassist Robert Trujillo facing off with James Hetfield in Sumo wrestler poses. "Wherever I May Roam" got a great crowd response and was followed by a short bass solo. Trujillo plays great bass, and his onstage style of spider-crab action poses has great presence and variance from former bassist Jason Newsted's crowd-ingratiating fanboy.

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