As soon as the Dehaan banner rose up, with “Metal Up Your Ass” written on it, everyone there knew that something awesome was about to happen. However, even as roadies sound-checked the band’s instruments, the crowd was pretty sparse. An older gentleman came out and introduced the band – that person turned out to be Cliff Burton’s father. Seeing the band’s first album played front to back was a definitive highlight of day 1, which was least heavy of the two days. But now that the Metallica have played their first two albums and the Black album in their entirety over three days of Orion Fests, what else could they pull out the following day? Nothing ground breaking, it turns out, but we’ll get to that.
K: Metallica could have played Kill ‘Em All in its entirety, sent everyone else home, and I still would’ve paid full price for Day 1. I forgot all about wanting to see Death Grips under the Frantic tent after that, even though it was pretty cool to see them play for a couple of minutes while walking away from what felt like a pop-up Metallica show. Tomahawk sounded solid, but I didn’t venture closer; Metallica had already given me the finest sunburn I could ask for, and that didn’t need to be piled onto.
B: Dehaan’s set cut into what would have been my Tomahawk viewing time. I wish I could say more about them, but Mike Patton sounded good, and there was a large crown there for them. Many people were excited about Infectious Grooves, and with good reason. Rob Trujillo and Mike Muir’s Suicidal Tendencies metal/funk side project put out a handful of albums in the ’90s with Jane’s Addiction drummer Stephen Perkins, but for the reunion, seldom-seen Faith No More guitarist Jim Martin popped up to play with them. Your results may vary with Infectious Grooves. I personally thought each album got less essential, and hearing the foursome cover Led Zeppelin’s “The Immigrant Song” reminded me of that. It was moderately interesting to see them onstage, but after hearing “You Lie… And Yo Breath Stank,” I wandered off to see the end of Silversun Pickups’ set, who channeled Smashing Pumpkins’ guitar atmospherics on “Lazy Eye” but upped the ante with the bass-driven “Panic Switch.”
As I’d mentioned before, Saturday seemed catered towards more of an alternative-leaning crowd, notwithstanding Metallica, I mean, Dehaan. The Red Hot Chili Peppers are the alternative ying to Metallica’s yang, with both of them California bands that have been around for over 30 years. Add to that Rise Against, Silversun Pickups, Dropkick Murphys and Foals, and Mike Patton and you’ve pretty much got a solid lineup for any modern rock station’s festival show. But those shows don’t have Metallica dropping in to play their first album.
