The Stage for TONIGHT

It was on June 20, 1989 at the Five Seasons Center (now the US Cellular Center) in Cedar Rapids, IA, when I saw Metallica for the first time. My how things have changed in the last 10216 days (27 years, 11 months, 2 weeks, 6 days) both for me and for the band.

1. Back then, Jason Newsted was playing bass and now Robert Trujillo plays bass. 
2. Back then, James Hetfield drank a lot of booze on stage and curses and now I don't believe he drinks and I don't believe he curses on stage nearly as much. 
3. Back then, Metallica was not widely accepted in the music industry and now, the estimate for today's concert attendance is 30000!! 

Seeing Metallica for the FIFTH time in my life will be extra special because Alex, my son, will be with me, who saw this image from the Newton Speedway in Newton on Twitter a little while ago.

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By the way, I am SOOOOO lucky that tonight's concert was scheduled because, judging by their tour dates, it would be a hell of a long time until I would be able to see them again:

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Metallica 2017/2018 WorldWired tour dates

2017

Jun 11: Houston NRG Stadium, TX
Jun 14: San Antonio Alamodome, TX
Jun 16: Dallas AT&T Stadium, TX
Jun 18: Chicago Soldier Field, IL
Jul 05: Orlando Camping World Stadium, FL
Jul 07: Miami Hard Rock Stadium, FL
Jul 09: Atlanta SunTrust park, GA
Jul 12: Detroit Comercia Park, MO
Jul 14: Quebec City Festival D'Ete de Quebec, QC
Jul 16: Toronto Rogers Centre, ON
Jul 19: Montreal Parc Jean-Drapeau, QC
Jul 29: Los Angeles Rose Bowl, CA
Aug 04: Phoenix University of Phoenix Stadium, AZ
Aug 06: San Diego Petco Park, CA
Aug 09: Seattle CenturyLink Field , WA
Aug 14: Vancouver BC Place, BC
Aug 16: Edmonton Commonwealth Stadium, AB
Sep 02: Copenhagen Royal Arena, Denmark
Sep 04: Amsterdam Ziggo Dome, Netherlands
Sep 06: Amsterdam Ziggo Dome, Netherlands
Sep 08: Paris AccorHotels Arena, France
Sep 10: Paris AccorHotels Arena, France
Sep 12: Lyon Halle Tony Garnier, France
Sep 14: Cologne Lanxess Arena, Germany
Sep 16: Cologne Lanxess Arena, Germany
Oct 22: London O2 Arena, UK
Oct 24: London O2 Arena, UK
Oct 26: Glasgow SSE Hydro, UK
Oct 28: Manchester Arena, UK
Oct 30: Birmingham Genting Arena, UK
Nov 01: Antwerp Sportpaleism Belgium
Nov 03: Antwerp Sportpaleism Belgium

2018

Feb 01: Lisbon MEO Arena, Portugal
Feb 03: Madrid Wizink Center, Spain
Feb 05: Madrid Wizink Center, Spain
Feb 07: Barcelona Palau Sant Jordi, Spain
Feb 10: Turin Pala Alpitour, Italy
Feb 12: Bologna Unipol Arena, Italy
Feb 14: Bologna Unipol Arena, Italy
Feb 16: Mannheim SAP Arena, Germany
Mar 27: Herning Jyske Bank Boxen, Denmark
Mar 29: Hamburg Barclaycard Arena, Germamny
Mar 31: Vienna Wiener Stadthalle, Austria
Apr 02: Prague O2 Arena, Czech Republic
Apr 05: Budapest Sports Arena, Hungary
Arp 07: Stuttgart Schleyerhalle, Germany
Arp 09: Stuttgart Schleyerhalle, Germany
Apr 11: Geneva Palexpo, Switzerland
Apr 26: Munich Olympiahalle, Germany
Apr 28: Krakow Tauron Arena, Poland
Apr 30: Leipzig Arena, Germany
May 02: Oslo Telenor Arena, Norway
May 05: Stockholm Ericsson Globe, Sweden
May 07: Stockholm Ericsson Globe, Sweden
May 09: Helsinki Hartwall Arena, Finland
May 11: Helsinki Hartwall Arena, Finland

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Good deal!!