If They Aren't Too Old, I'm Not Too Old

This is what I did this weekend:

They would be James and Lars of Metallica. 2 hours of great metal under warm skies here in Dublin. It was amazing. Being the 20th anniversary of the release of Master of Puppets, and the anniversary of Cliff Burton's death, they played te entire album for us. Hee... it's my favorite so it was a bit like winning the lottery. Also, James's daughters 8th birthday; he brought her out on stage and 20,000 metalheads sang happy birthday to her. She did well. I wouldn't have done nearly as well at that age. That's a lot of people.

Some observations on the concert:

• They like to have crap bands open for them. This time is was Korn; not a big fan. Last time I saw them it was an equally uninspiring group. But, this being Dublin, a town so spoiled for choice when it comes to concerts, they made it into more of a Metal Festival, so about 8 bands in total played, including the un-advertised Alice In Chains, which I would have loved to have seen. But they also didn't publish which stage the bands were playing on, so it was impossible to plan which concerts you got to see.
• Outdoor concerts rock for two reasons: not nearly as loud as other venues and no roof to hold in all the pot smoke, which gives me migranes.
• Women in the US attending Heavy Metal concerts tend to resemble strippers or hookers. And the inventor of the breast implant is heavily represented. Women in Dublin attending Heavy Metal concerts look like normal women. Not a fake boob on display. And only one woman flashed the cameras, not me.
• I haven't seen such a large collection of black t-shirts in a long time. Which was to be expected I suppose but when contrasted the pale white skin of we residents and the bright red of 'the sun is out!' abuse, well... it was interesting. 99% were Metallica t-shirts, some AD/DC, Korn, and one lone soul sporting Radiohead of all things.
• Length of listening history clearly evident by the music cheered for. As one of their 'older' fans (ahem!) I went wild for the Master tracks. Next to me were a group of kids who were clearly new to the game and were happiest with the Load and Reload tracks. sigh...
• Their encore number was, of course, determined the moment they set foot in Irland: Whiskey in the Jar. There would have been a riot had they not played it. It's perhaps better live than recorded.
• Irish concert goers sing, which I like. During the inbetween periods, breaks, etc... they sing with whatever the DJ plays. At Franz Ferdinand last year I heard them do Sweet Child of Mine followed by Ghost Busters, which was really funny, but it tends to produce a happy crowd. What I hadn't realized is that they also sing with the band. To the guitar parts. do-do-do-do-dum... I finally had to move because the guy behind me was singing so loudly I couldn't hear the band. He drown out Metallica. And he didn't know the words.
• After 25 years, they still put on one hell of a concert. Fireworks. Literally. I beamed all the way home, more than a little punch-drunk.

What did you do?