Metallica in Phoenix, USA. October 2008

I saw Metallica in the opening show of their Death Magnetic tour last night at Jobbing.com Arena in Phoenix (actually Glendale). Let me say right up that I am not that familliar with their music. I like some older stuff but for the most part I'm not really a big fan. I went because my sister wanted company and she bought the ticket and I was curious. That said, all in all it was an entertaining show. The band was tight, they played lots of older stuff - Master of Puppets was the high point for me. They had fire and laser beams and coffin shaped lighting fixtures (hooray for coffin shaped lighting fixtures). I think that fans of the band will be very pleased but for one MAJOR problem. The sound was horrible. Utterly atrocious. I don't know what w**ker they hired to mix that show, but they need to sack him now! Whenever Lars played double-kick all you could hear was a distorted rumble. Same for the guitars. You could not distinguish sixteenth notes, it was just a distorted mess. Lyrics were indecipherable as well. They were not terribly loud, they were just terribly engineered. I have seen other shows at that arena and they sounded fine. At the last show I saw there I could hear every note and make out every word and harmony. It's not the venue, it's not the playing, it's the mix. I sure hope it improves before the next gig.