-"We are going to play new stuff, old stuff, middle stuff, you name it", said James a few minutes ago here in Brisbane at the Entertainment Centre. Looking at the setlist I think I can agree. Right off the bat we had Fight Fire With Fire blastin

Alright, time for another update from Australia. Today we have our own show coming up in Brisbane at the Entertainment Center. Tonight I belive we will be joined by The Datsuns, a band that some of the guys in Metallica are into. Metallica has played the Entertainment Centre before, they were here 6 years ago. Also, if anyone has checked, we added another video from the last show in Europe, in London on Dec 20th. That one contains a little bit of jammin from the tuning room. The guys are playing Ride The Lightning in there, with lighting effects provided by James. A few more surprises and then we end it with fucking Blitzkrieg from the show. After this video we have every show from the December leg of the European tour. Once again, thanks for all the input for the video, much appreciated, thanks for letting me steal your ideas! :-)Gotta go, bus leaving for Brisbane shortly...Over and out...MOT

The boys just walked off stage here at Gold Coast in Australia. They decided to keep the same setlist as the previous show. Metallica is having fun in Australia.

Another BIG Day Out! We are now on the Gold Coast in Australia. It is a beautiful day and right now, around noon, we have The Darkness playing, pretty much right outside my "office." Tonight's show is at the Parklands. The Big Day Out has a great setup with lots of entertainment with plenty of rides. I would say it is like a big great rock circus. On another surf note (sorry about all the surf shit, but this is a good one), Rob & Kirk invited about 15 Top Fucking Surf Dogs that will be attending the show tonight. I will try to get some shots when they are hanging out.

Late night and early morning, welcome to touring. The band & crew left the venue in Auckland a few hours after midnight, back to the hotel to pack, and then off on an early flight to Brisbane, AUSTRALIA. Upon arrival it was no time for sleep, Kirk & Rob hooked up with Luke & Fozz, some local surfers, to check out the waves. After all, we are staying in SURFERS PARADISE (yes, that is the name of the place, gotta love it!). Tomorrow is another BIG DAY OUT show. We will be joined by, among others, The Strokes, The Datsuns, The Mars Volta and the Flaming Lips. The day after that, on Monday, Metallica will do a headlining show at the Entertainment Center in Brisbane.

MetOnTour note: Met up with this guy SCARDY from Sunshine Coast Australia and he had a good story to tell. I thought it would be cool to let him review tonight's show plus give us a little bit of his story. </P><P>------------- </P><P>REVIEW BY: SCARDY I have been surfing all week with this bloke called Rob, he tells me he plays in some band, Oh yeah...your wave mate, not too much was taken into consideration as the next set rolled in. Having swapped more than a few waves together Rob, suggests that we check out his band. Oh yeah who is that... Metallica. Where do I change my flight? We were going to see out new mate play and he happened to be in one of the biggest bands in the world! Black and white is the best way to describe the experience of surfing and hanging with Rob then watching him onstage. He connects with the other band members in such a way that has to be seen to be believed. Madly in anger with you.....holy shit what a fucken show, can you put anymore energy into it boys, I don't think so! Non stop from start to finish Metallica had the whole of Auckland taking it to pieces. Like Lars said 6 years too long and all the crowd agreed, the boys where so well recepted that the band lifted, and took in all the the energy on offer. Tight and fast from start to finish the show had the atmoshpere of a world cup final on steriods!!!!Nobody left without feeling that they have seen truly one of the best shows in Big Day out History!!! Metallica has relit its fireworks bigtime in Auckland!and this is just the START of the tour. Powerful Shit. Scardy...Sunshine Coast, Australia.</P><P align=center><IMG src="http://www.metallica.com/ivergence/image/scardy_rob.jpg"></P>

Scanning the scene in Auckland tonight....SHOWTIME BABY, or actually, more than half through. I don't know how the crowd, after soo many hours, can still be full on roaring. They are jumping up and down like madmen. Judging on the faces of the band guys, they are having a blast and they feel it is great to be back where they belong, playing shows again! The setlist looks similar to the one the band used on the previus European tour.

First show on a tour is always exciting, but at the same time, it is very hectic and a million things going on at the same time. Another difference is that the Big Day Out is a festival with a lot of other bands, and not a 100% Metallica show. This is of course fucking exciting too as you get a chance to check out some other cool acts, and hang out with tons of cool folks. The boys are doing local press right now, and we should have the Meet & Greet coming up shortly.

Quick useless info for you from your buddy MetOnTour: All four guys went to see the band Mars Volta after their rehearsal/soundcheck at Ericsson stadium. Get ready, tomorrow we got a Metallica SHOW!

Back to the front - back to work (FUN)! Welcome to beautiful New Zealand. The band just finished rehearsals / sound check at the Ericsson stadium, getting ready for the Big Day (Out) tomorrow. More to come...