Metallica – The Big Day Out – 1999

July 10th 1999 – Milton Keynes Bowl

Supported by: Lots of great bands!

Creed, Sepultura, Ministry, Ben Harper, Placebo, Marilyn Manson, Mercyful Fate, Queens of the Stone Age, Symposium, Pitchshifter, Monster Magnet, Terrorvision……..oh, and Metallica!

So this was about the biggest rock line up outside of Monster of Rock, in fact certainly the heaviest line up we could remember in this country!! This was going to be epic.

On arrival at Milton Keynes, it was hot and it would stay hot all day long. Not just slightly hot, but flipping red hot, hot. There was no shade in the Bowl, so we had actually come prepared with ample sun tan cream….there were still red raw casualties, but we did pretty well considering! This is my best endeavour to remember what went on, but to begin with, I have no recollection of Merciful Fate (sorry) opening proceedings, so my guess it we weren’t there yet or not ready to pay attention!

It was a fun set up too. For the first time for concerts I had seen at The Bowl, there were two stages side by side, The Main Stage and The Kerrang Stage being the smaller one.

The bands were due to alternate on them, so it would turn out into a real battle of the bands. There were some sound issues with the smaller stage to which delayed bands and shortened sets, which did not go down well with some bands..in fact there were sound issues all day long, but it didn’t ruin the outing!!

Queens of the Stone Age (Kerrang stage)

QOTSA had just released their first album and we knew very little about the American boys. I don’t recall them being anything special, so strange in years to come, they would become a band I would listen to.

Set List

• The Bronze
• Born to Hula
• Infinity
• You Would Know
• Mexicola
• Avon
• Eccentric Man (The Groundhogs cover)
• You Can’t Quit Me Baby
• Regular John

Creed (Main Stage)

They only had one album out at this point, “My Own Prison” and it didn’t really appeal to me. They sounded a bit like Staind, but although I liked Staind, I couldn’t find any tune in the music of Creed and this one just passed me by I’m afraid.

Set List

• Ode
• Sister
• Torn
• Illusion
• My Own Prison
• One
• What’s This Life For?

Symposium (Kerrang stage)

I recall nothing about these guys! They were an english punk band in a sort of Blink 182 mould (I think?) and I’m sure they would have been harmless on the ear, but I recall nothing…..hadn’t been drinking yet either!

• Killing position
• Bury You
• The Answer to Why I Hate You

Sepultura (Main Stage)

Absolutely spectacular! I really enjoy these guys. A Brazilian heavy metal band…uh?….like, is that even going to work?Well, work it did!! and as we approached 30 plus degrees in the blazing sun, it probably felt like Rio to these guys!

Formed in 1984 by brothers Max and Igor Cavalera, they were a big thing in Metal music and you could tell from the atmosphere, the crowd was looking forward to this set.

They were a mix of thrash, death metal, but strangely, I could still hear a tune in there and even a samba beat. This was right on the edge of what my ears could cope with, I was really enjoying it in a sunny field, but what I would think in an indoor stadium, I’m not so sure……a bit of fun in the sun though.

Set List (included)

• Roots Bloody Roots
• Refuse/Resist
• Territory

Pitchshifter (Kerrang stage)

A Nottingham band led by Jon Claydon, who bounced on stage and was really up for making an impression. It wasn’t long before he stage dived into the crowd!!

These guys were more my thing. Not really thrashy, but a good hard rock beat, with tunes, lyrics and a boisterous lead singer.

We would see them at Reading Festival too this year, with a very similar set list…..fun metal 🙂

Set List

• Virus
• Microwaved
• W.Y.S.I.W.Y.G.
• Un-United Kingdom
• Please sir

Ministry (Main Stage)

Oh no, this was too metal for my sensitive ears…hahahaha……this however, didn’t seem to go down well with the majority of the audience either, which surprised me……but then, it wasn’t a great sound and was a bit of loud noise! 😉

Set List

• Reload
• Filth Pig
• Lava
• Crumbs
• N.W.O.
• Just One Fix
• Hero
• Jesus Built My Hotrod
• Psalm 69
• So What
• The Missing
• Deity
• Supernaut (Black Sabbath cover)
• Thieves

Monster Magnet (Kerrang stage)

These were quite good, another good band out of New Jersey (Bon Jovi too). I’m hearing lots of stuff I’d never contemplated before and in most cases, wouldn’t again! but these were ok.

The highlight of this set, was when they tried to set light to everything at the end, apparently, because they were annoyed they only got half an hour (so did all the band before them).

Set List

• Crop Circle
• Powertrip
• Space Lord
• Kick Out the Jams (MC5 cover)

Ben Harper and The Innocent Criminals (Main Stage)

This was a really strange choice for this line up. Definitely not thrash or death metal, more heavyish rock with reggae, blues and soul mixed in. I really enjoyed it and so did our group of friends. Not sure the rest of the crowd was so keen! In fact many drifted to the beer tents after 20 minutes or so.

This worked really well for us, sitting in the sun, listening to a very classy singer and guitarist was a nice break from some of the thrashy stuff before.

Set List

• Ground on Down
• Faded
• Less (Song debut)
• Fight for Your Mind
• Roses From My Friends
• The Will to Live
• Voodoo Child (The Jimi Hendrix Experience cover)

Terrorvision (Kerrang stage)

[Kerrang Stage retired for the evening after this one]

Something wasn’t right with lead singer, Tony Wright. The band were late on, he appeared pretty angry and was trying to over-run his set time at the end, which was running into Placebo’s time…..pretty sure his mike was cut!!!

Turned out, Terrorvison had a scuffle with Queens of the Stone Age over the shared dressing room back stage. Nick Oliveri (QOTSA) was arrested and a spokesperson was famously quoted as saying “

“The dressing rooms were being shared and Terrorvision were getting ready to go onstage. These guys from Queens Of The Stone Age kept coming in, trying to cause aggro, and the whole thing just developed into a bit of a brawl. It takes more than a couple of Queens to stop Terrorvision.”

Terrorvision spokesperson

Terrorvision settled down and produced one of the best sets I’ve seen them do. I was really pleased they ditched the tracks from “Shving Peaches” album, which weren’t inspiring and reverted to pleasing the crowd with all the good dancing tunes. No “Tequila” is always a sensible move in front of a beered up rock crowd!

You can’t beat Terrorvision and this was another great show…short…but great!!

Set List

• Friends and Family
• Discotheque Wreck
• Oblivion
• Perseverance
• Alice What’s The Matter
• Josephine
• Middleman

Placebo (Main Stage)

Another strange choice of support act, but these were the ones that were less Metal and more musical, so appealed to my taste. We had all been looking forward to seeing Placebo. Brian Molko lead singer and guitarist was an enigma in the business.

They had only released one album but were getting rave reviews (named “Placebo”). Great tracks like “Nancy Boy”, “Bionic”, “36 Degrees” and “Brick Shithouse” were played.

Some newer tracks went down well too, which would be on an album later in the year, “Without You I’m Nothing”

Really enjoyed this band, their androgynous look and style was quite different (well, apart from Marilyn Manson – on next) We would see more of them over the years:

• Brian Molko – vocals, guitar
• Stefan Olsdal – bass, guitar, piano
• Steve Hewitt – drums, percussion

I can’t remember what Molko said to the crowd, but I guess he must have been getting a bit of stick at the front as Placebo didn’t fit into the line up…….anyway, towards the end of the set a few bottles started to fly his way! Undeserved for this to happen to any band, but a sad way to finish a great set.

Set List

• Scared of Girls
• Brick Shithouse
• Allergic
• Bionic
• 36 Degrees
• Drowning by Numbers
• Every You Every Me
• Bruise Pristine
• Nancy Boy
• Pure Morning

Marilyn Manson (Main Stage)

Blimey, if Placebo were controversial, what would be the fate of Brian Hugh Warner (Marilyn Manson)?!

Actually, he went down really well. A mix of theatre, metal and rock. This was a powerful and brutal set of songs and yet still quite tuneful! Really enjoyed the set.

The set ended abruptly early when someone in the crowd threw a bottle that hit Manson on the head, drum kit gets smashed up……exit stage left, I expect that fan wasn’t well looked after by the crowd around him as the set had been fantastically received. Some of the band stayed put, so there could have been some back stage mediation going on, but it wasn’t to be and our brief foray into the world of Marilyn Manson was complete.

Set List

• The Reflecting God
• Great Big White World
• Cake and Sodomy
• Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This) (Eurythmics cover)
• Astonishing Panorama of the Endtimes
• Rock Is Dead
• The Dope Show
• Lunchbox
• I Don’t Like the Drugs (But the Drugs Like Me)
• Rock n Roll Nigger (Patti Smith Group cover)

Metallica

So I have a bit of a love/hate thing with Metallica…..I much prefer what would be deemed their commercial music, so from the “Black Album” to”St Anger”. The rest tends to be a bit heavy for me, so this set would be ups and downs of noise and tunes for me…….my mates loved it all, but I suspect favoured the earlier stuff with their low slung air guitars 🙂

Straight in with a cover of Budgie’s “Breadfan” and into “Master of Puppets, a nice heavy start!

It was a great mix of the old (hard stuff) and newer (slighter less hard stuff), so a really well put together set. The crowd were loving it. The sound quality hadn’t been great all day, but we smelt a bit of a rat, as it seemed to be ok now!…hmm…..headliner’s perogative?!?

The suns was going down during “Seek and Destroy” adding an extra edge to the atmosphere, before they head off into classic songs. As they near the end of the main set we are treated to pyros, fireworks and flares during “One” and the very apt “Fight Fire with Fire”

Again the encore mix up”Nothing else Matters” and “Enter Sandman” with thrashier “Creeping Death” and a violent fast version of “Battery” to finish.

This was very much a great Big Day Out, some nice new music surprises and some I’d avoid going forward! Another good day in Milton Keynes!

Set List

• Breadfan
• Master of Puppets
• Of Wolf and Man
• The Thing That Should Not Be
• Fuel
• The Memory Remains
• Bleeding Me
• Seek and Destroy
• For Whom the Bell Tolls
• King Nothing
• Wherever I May Roam
• One
• Fight Fire with Fire
• Encore 1:
• Nothing Else Matters, Sad But True, Creeping Death
• Encore 2: Die, Die My Darling, Enter Sandman
• Encore 3: Battery