We are in Nijmegan, Holland at the Fields of Rock. 7 songs into the show. Sad But True is blasting in the background as I am working on getting some pictures up for you, in the backstage area. The guys were pleased to see some old friends here. James was chatting with Phil from Monster Magnet, they did a tour together a few years ago and had a blast.Catch up in a bit...MOT

We are on our way to the Fields Of Rock Festival! Kirk & Rob spent their day off in Paris, and James & Lars spent some time with their families elsewhere. We have a few other bands on the bill today: Autumn, Disturbed, Monster Magnet, Stone Sour and Marilyn Manson. Upon arrival in Nijmegan, Holland I will upload a few pics...MOT

Wow...Back at the hotel again, we sure did FLY out of Italy after the show. Going to the show was an amazing experience. The band were greeted by Italian Police at the airport for an escort to the venue. I have not been that scared in a loong time....I was in the car with Rob and he kept on saying "This is just like a video game, flying down the road, welcome to the Imola video game, ", it was very surreal. We had two police men on motorbikes,waving away cars to the side so we could come through. I did manage to record it on video so maybe I share it with you guys one day...The show was awesome in Imola, the crowd was LOUD. After the show on the plane I sat down with the guys to get their comments. I will be working to get some of that stuff for you soon. Tomorrow, at least for the band guys, is a day off, next gig is on Sunday in Nijmegan, Holland. On a side note, for the past few days here in Paris, our guys have been hanging out with the guys from AUDIOSLAVE. Then when we checked out of our hotel this morning both bands met up in the lobby. As James said to me "we should get a picture of this"...good idea James.

Show has ended, details to come, setlist is up.

The greater HQ Family celebrated the release of St. Anger by having their own little party in the band kitchen. (No one is using it right?) It was a little on the quiet side without the band and crew there, but a good time was had by all. See the pic.

We are in Imola, Italy and the band is on stage, playing BLACKENED. Today, at Heineken Jammin' Festival, the weather is MEGA WARM. I have heard it is somewhere around 40 degrees Celcius, around 110 degrees Fahrenheit. The band had a short press conference and a couple of interviews before the show. It was pretty funny to see the as all the reporters and attendees were drinking (I am not telling you which beer...) :)The band (and I) are doing a runner, so I will have an update & pictures for you in a couple of hours. Also working on bringing you some vids shortly. Gotta run...Catch up within the next few hours...MOTPS: At the press conference the second question was "Tell us about MetOnTour on your website"... :)

The band had a day off yesterday and they decided to stay in Paris. Rob went on a sightseeing trip together with some local friends. Among other things he visited was the Palace Of Versailles and he was mighty impressed. The band should leave in a few hours to fly to the next show. We have the Heineken Jammin' Festival in Imola, Italy coming up...Stay tuned...MOT

Look, it's 1.40am right now, and we've just come back from the THIRD loud, sweaty gig in a day. So details? Ah hell, gimme a break can ya, will ya? I'll get some to you in the morning, but in the meanwhile some thoughts.1) These guys must be fitter than THEY think. It was like three saunas today.2) Lars must have the heart of sixteen horses...the last song of the night at Le Trabendo was 'Motorbreath'...err, how-did-he-do-it?3) And James, Kirk and Rob must have the hearts of sixteen horses also come to think of it!4) They were STILL SMILING AT THE END despite being veeeeery tired.5) If James speaks to anyone tommorrow I'll be shocked, as his voice must be FRIED!6) Metallica's roadcrew are incredible. No, really, think about it. Three gigs, three set-ups and breakdowns, nearly a 24 hour day of solid, HARD VERK!7) The audiences were awesome, super loud, super sweaty and ready to sing up and help out when asked by James.8) I've suddenly realized that 'Enter Sandman' is this band's 'Hells Bells' or Guns'n'Roses' 'Paradise City'. No, I'm NOT STUPID, what I'm saying is that it is a truely immortal classic which never, ever ages. Rare these days.9) Rob is prepared to let his hair fly in the face of, err, his eyes? Seriously, this dude must have the most gnarly knottage post-show, so multiply that by three and give him some extra props!10) When he's tired, a little stubbly, a whole lot sweaty and dialed in live and direct to that deft combination of sarcasm, concentration and delivery, Lars is still wholly endearing. 11) James is enjoying the audiences A LOT!12) In the past week, this band has delivered to all audiences great (Rock Am Ring, 78,000) and small (today's first show, La Boule Noire, 450)...agreed, when it comes to the best of the day, you'd have to say Le Bataclan was the full-on twister-rager, but even when tired and pushing their limits, Metallica still do the job.When you revisit Lars' sponsor section for issue 10.1, you realize just what a huge feat that is.Wow, that's a lot of detail really...maybe I won't NEED to update tommorrow now...there is, after all, a magazine to do, right?Steffan ChiraziSo What! Editor

Tonight was a busy night in Paris for Rock fans. There were three "big" shows tonight, Audioslave, Queens Of The Stone Age and METALLICA. Actually, the Audioslave & Metallica shows were almost next door to eachother. On my way to the 3rd Paris show I was in a cab looking for the gig. My driver spoke no English and I no French. After being lost for a while I saw a sea of black t-shirts and I knew I was in the right place. The venue was Le Trabendo and we had 700 people in the crowd. It was completely packed, but still not as sweaty as gig #2. It was great to hear/see the setlist being changed once again. So will we ever see Metallica do three shows in one day again? Don't count on it...It was a great experience and the guys were extremly stoked afterwards, that they were still alive, and felt mighty fucking good.Tomorrow is a day off, next show is on Friday, June 13th in Imola, Italy. Setlist & pics are up...MOT

OH MY GOD THAT WAS FUCKING WARM! You could not hide from the sweat & the heat anywhere in the building. The band all had to be shirtless (except Robert that tonight sported a basketball/metallica shirt after a few songs. "This is fucking warm, it feels great" said James after a while. The setlist? Metallica is definitely in a groove to mess around with the setlist. They want to make sure that if any crazy 'Tallica fans will go to all three shows, they will get three completely different shows. Plus, making a lot of changes in the setlist, makes the band excited too. We have one more to go before the day is over. Next one we can expect somewhere around 700 people. Pics & setlist coming...MOT