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We’re on the scene at Heavy MTL 2013. Here’s our post of pics and comments on the Newsted performance and we’ll be updating every few hours from here on out.
Just minutes ago Newsted finished his set. If you don’t know, this is former Metallica bassist Jason Newsted’s band, and the man looks happier than ever running his own ship. Opening his set, he humbly introduced his bandmates and said to the audience, “this is heavy metal music.” An obvious reference to the title of his debut album, Heavy Metal Music, but also a subtle jab to his former band members. That’s how I see it anyway; I mean, it’s no secret that Jason had little to no input in his former band.
Unlike our correspondents at Hellfest, there were no sound hiccups for Newsted at Heavy MTL and his bass tonality was as rich as ever. However, the Rammstein tracks playing before Newsted were annoyingly loud and heavy on the low end.
Honestly, I’m not 100% familiar with the band, but I did reconize “Soldierhead,” which sounded phenomenal, and I’m sure the band ripped through 3/4 of their album. Jason was very appreciative of the love he received from the audience, expressing it by saying something along the lines of, “I know you’re unfamiliar with the music and I’m loving you a million times more than your loving us, I hope.” It is so nice to hear a superstar be so humble and grateful to his fans or soon-to-be fans.
Newsted closed out their set with a rendition of Metallica’s “Whiplash,” and it sounded better than how another band performs it these days. Newsted just has the voice for it. “Whiplash” was followed up with Motorhead’s “We Are the Road Crew,” and I’d be damned it I could differentiate Jason’s vocals from Lemmy’s.
That’s it for now.
Rock Hard \m/
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