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Showing posts with label Metallica. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Metallica. Show all posts

Monday, February 12, 2018

Bologna (Italy) - Two turntables and a microphone

BOLOGNA (Italy)
12 February - 13 February 2018

Flying in from opposite sides of Europe, Inga from Riga and me from Belgrade, we converged on our coordinated arrival destination of Milan, and it was the definition of impeccable timing. If you knew both Inga and myself however you’d know that we are both sticklers for time. Assuming no crazy cosmic interruption we will be at a destination to the minute of asking. Now, this introduces my major bugbear, the cause of constant irritation for me, but somehow, the cause of mild amusement to others – how it is, that if people organise a time to meet and it was consensual, then how can it ever be a choice to be late? A choice to be late automatically is a sign of disrespect, and to be late constantly just shows a complete disregard for the other person, and yet, I have great friends that do this constantly. Not you Janelle, not now, you’re much better these days, so this isn’t directed at you JJ!


Milan Malpensa airport - Italy
This is Inga letting me know that she had arrived, and also, letting me know that I'd been 'busted' too. The Air Serbia flight gave it away... No escaping that woman! :)


My wife is never late, I’m never late. That’s an understanding we have and will always maintain. That’s the end of that rant.

Arriving with Winter jackets, luggage aplenty, our lives, our nomadic lives, were confined to a few pieces of luggage 76cms * 48 cms.  Not that I was concerned about that other than the troubles I anticipated for it to cause us on the domestic flights through the US. A discussion we’ll get to later.


Milan Malpensa airport - Italy


It was a 3hr drive from Milan to Bologna where we were booked into the Hotel Maggiore, a reasonable hotel located a little bit outside of the centre. Probably a small fault on my side as we didn’t get to see the centre at all and by all reports Bologna is regarded as one of Italy’s best looking cities, a medieval design, filled with a jumble of red brick, tiled roofs and balconies that radiate out from its central square. With that said, had we have had the internal fortitude we could have gone for a little walk to the centre but both of us had been so beaten by our respective early morning starts that sleep was our primary need that afternoon..

Still, the Hotel Maggiore had a trick up its sleeve and that was found at their bar. The barman, come receptionist, come security guard, come everything else was not however an expert in Negroni making. He was very nice, and trustworthy, allowing us to talk him through how to make them, meaning, that his liberal pours were breathtaking in terms of the final result. He was a Negroni making LEGEND in every manner of speaking from our perspective. His novice hands were just what we needed to support our desired afternoon buzz before heading out to Unipol Arena.


Metallica - Worldwired tour - Unipol Arena - Casalecchio di Reno - Bologna - Italy

Metallica - Worldwired tour - Unipol Arena - Casalecchio di Reno - Bologna - Italy

Metallica - Worldwired tour - Unipol Arena - Casalecchio di Reno - Bologna - Italy


This Metallica Tour, Worldwired, was the same tour that we had seen before in Mexico City, almost a year early, and in fact, will be the same tour that they’ll be bringing to Australia in October 2019, where of course Inga and I will be seeing them again. Tour the World with Metallica, it’s a blast.


Metallica - Worldwired tour - Unipol Arena - Casalecchio di Reno - Bologna - Italy

Metallica - Worldwired tour - Unipol Arena - Casalecchio di Reno - Bologna - Italy

Metallica - Worldwired tour - Unipol Arena - Casalecchio di Reno - Bologna - Italy


Metallica - Worldwired tour - Unipol Arena - Casalecchio di Reno - Bologna - Italy

Metallica - Worldwired tour - Unipol Arena - Casalecchio di Reno - Bologna - Italy

Metallica - Worldwired tour - Unipol Arena - Casalecchio di Reno - Bologna - Italy

Metallica - Worldwired tour - Unipol Arena - Casalecchio di Reno - Bologna - Italy


The Unipol Arena in Casalecchio di Reno, just outside of Bologna, is just an average venue, in the vicinity of 10,000-12,000, nothing like the 60,000 monster in Mexico City. Not that it really makes that much of a difference, other than defining the atmosphere, but once Metallica started we managed to push right up against the stage. This is something I need to thank Inga for, its really her thing to get as close as possible to the band playing, and whilst I enjoy it myself usually I require a bit of impetus to get in amongst it.

A decent night in all and a brilliant way to start the journey back home.

As per previous concerts that I’ve outlined, here’s the set-list for that night.

Performer: Metallica
Tour: Worldwired

Sunday, March 5, 2017

Mexico City (Mexico) - Hardwired to self-destruct



MEXICO CITY (MEXICO)
05 March - 07 March 2017

Planning our trip to Central America happened at around the same time that Christmas was starting to stick its head over the garden fence, meaning that it was close enough for us to feel its presence. Somehow in those weeks of planning and contemplation when I was trying to conjure up a present for Inga, I came across the understanding that Metallica were travelling around the same parts of the world that we were going to be in as they took to their Hardwired to Self-Destruct World Tour. And hey, didn’t I just have the greatest piece of luck, Metallica were going to be performing at Foro Sol, Mexico City on 05 March! All it took for me to lock in these tickets as a Christmas present was a small tweaking of our entry and exit into Havana, and there it was, Metallica in Mexico.


Metallica - World Wired Tour - Foro Sol - Mexico City - Mexico


Metallica - World Wired Tour - Foro Sol - Mexico City - Mexico


Metallica - World Wired Tour - Foro Sol - Mexico City - Mexico


Metallica - World Wired Tour - Foro Sol - Mexico City - Mexico


Years earlier Inga & I had written out a bucket list of bands that we wanted to see together. Looking back now, we’ve seen nearly all of them since the writing of our list but back then, Metallica was an early tick on the ‘completed list’.

Getting into Mexico City worked perfectly, a flight out of Havana to Cancun and then the connecting flight to Mexico City.  This was the key element to getting to the concert on time, and with budget flights you can just never be so sure, delays & cancellations are just part of the game when you’re flying on the cheap. So I breathed a *sigh* of relief when our flight from Cancun took off on ti,e.


Metallica - World Wired Tour - Foro Sol - Mexico City - Mexico


Metallica - World Wired Tour - Foro Sol - Mexico City - Mexico


Metallica - World Wired Tour - Foro Sol - Mexico City - Mexico


Metallica - World Wired Tour - Foro Sol - Mexico City - Mexico


Metallica - World Wired Tour - Foro Sol - Mexico City - Mexico


Metallica - World Wired Tour - Foro Sol - Mexico City - Mexico



In Mexico City we stayed at the Hotel Sport Aristos CDMX, which I have to say was just a stroke of genius. It literally is the closest accommodation that you can get to Foro Sol stadium and it came as a God send both for getting back home after the show but also prior to the event. What I didn’t know when I was picking up tickets  before the concert was their requirement to see my passport as it was the ‘only form of viable ID’ that a foreigner could offer as acceptable identification. So, had we not been located within striking distance of the stadium then the hassles of having to get back into the city and then out the stadium once again would have been completely horrendous.


Mexico City does it right

Concerts in Mexico City. Wow. CDMX, you guys know how to do it right!

Admittedly, the crowd at Foro Sol was not as raucous as an Argentinian crowd but the passion and emotion was still there. But even before the main event, the merchandising available was just on another level. Now both of us have been to many concerts, in many parts of the world, but here at Foro Sol the choice was remarkable. I’m not sure of all of it was entirely legitimate but considering we were actually in the grounds of the stadium then there had to be some associated with legitimacy, right?

Another thing they got right. Queues, or rather, the lack there of. Now there was 65,000 people on the night we were there but we could walk straight up to a bar and order drinks, we could walk straight into a bathroom without having to wait in ridiculous lines. How is it that a venue like this can manage so much better than any Australian event we’d been too…here’s a hint….more staff, more facilities. You can cater for the masses if you have all these elements in place.


Metallica - World Wired Tour - Foro Sol - Mexico City - Mexico


Metallica - World Wired Tour - Foro Sol - Mexico City - Mexico


Metallica - World Wired Tour - Foro Sol - Mexico City - Mexico


Metallica - World Wired Tour - Foro Sol - Mexico City - Mexico

The parade of Molten Black trying to make their way home


How were Metallica? 

They certainly beat all my expectations by an extremely large margin. Personally I was never a major fan of this band in my earlier years, there were occasional songs that I’d come across that I'd enjoy but the ‘black army’ never aligned to my sense of self and neither did their music….but, as the day to their concert approached I gradually got into them more and more so by concert time I was more excited about Inga’s present than she was Of course being such a major global band theirs a universal appeal that exists for a reason. There's a connection they've formed through their music that obviously speaks to a couple of generations of teenagers and angry 20 somethings. From their music, to the show, the spectacle and the crowd, this was one fantastic night and I’m certainly glad that we had the opportunity to see them perform here, the atmosphere, to  throw in a line of absolute cliché, was electric.



Ciudad de Mexico - Mexico


Plaza de la Constitucion - Zocolo - Ciudad de Mexico - Mexico


Ciudad de Mexico - Mexico


Ciudad de Mexico - Mexico


Plaza de la Constitucion - Zocolo - Ciudad de Mexico - Mexico


CPlaza de la Constitucion - Zocolo - Ciudad de Mexico - Mexico


Teotihuacan

The day after the epic show at Foro Sol, I suggested that we head out to Teotihuacan, an ancient Mesoamerican city located very close to Mexico City itself, about 40kms north-east of the city, known as an architectural site of significance because of its fantastic pyramids and one time populous.

An extremely impressive location, I would say easily that this site is far more impactful visually than the more famed Chichen Itza in the Yucatan.


Teotihuacan - Mexico


Teotihuacan - Mexico


Teotihuacan - Mexico


Teotihuacan - Mexico


A fairly vast complex, it's estimated that at its zenith, approximately 1500 CE (Before Common Era), it was the 6th largest city on the planet with a population of 125,000+. From my own perspective its the scale of the complex and the nature of the structures that made this a true highlight, especially when comparing it to equivalent locations that we went to, only surpassed, I believe, by Tikal whose location in the jungles of Guatemala made it feel more mysterious and exotic to me.

Indeed the history of Teotihuacan far more mysterious than that of Tikal, as is the reason for its existence. The origins if its founders are uncertain and it existed as the largest centre of Mesoamerica almost 1000 years prior to the Aztec epoch. All these elements should make this location more popular than it seems to be. Certainly it is known well enough but it has none of the ‘parade’ and circus associated with Chichen Itza.





Teotihuacan - Mexico


Teotihuacan - Mexico


We spent a fantastic few hours walking around, climbing up the Pyramid of the Sun, which is the largest structure of its site in the Western Hemisphere, (standing at 66mtrs). It dominates the central –eastern space at Teotihuacan residing on the Avenue of the Dead and being the main draw card of the site. Certainly climbing to the top of the structure is as challenging as the awe it inspires, standing at 2300mtrs above sea level each step you take feel like three on a stepper in the gym.

A truly great experience and one that I’d be happy to do again when my son gets old enough to understand what he’s looking at.


Ciudad de Mexico - Mexico


Ciudad de Mexico - Mexico


Mexico City
We didn’t allow ourselves a lot of time in Mexico City, so leaving any great observations to the last time I was here and the entry associated with it, what I did find on this occasion was an abundance of culinary options. It’s Mexico of course and the food they’ve given to the world is magnificent, but, perhaps it was the lack of my own  observations on my last visit here in 2011 but it seemed that food offerings were everywhere. Cheap, delicious and in plentiful, this has to be a culinary hot spot that is cruising under the radar at the moment!