When I heard about Metallica’s No Repeat Weekend tour, I knew I was going to see at least one of their shows. I was lucky enough to see them play Rockville when they did 2 nights. One night they did a set list from all their albums, then the 2nd night they did the entire Black album. Knowing the No Repeat Weekend tour was going to be similar I was excited. When tickets went on sale a friend of mine told me about the I Disappear VIP package which allowed you to attend multiple shows, that’s what I wanted. However, the day they went on sale (pre-sale) by the time I got my chance to buy tickets it said that package was sold out. I was pretty disappointed, so I ended up buying an early entrance VIP package for their Dallas show then I bought the I Disappear VIP package for 2024.
For the Dallas show we flew in the day before. After we landed, I met up with some family to get some weed then it was straight to the Metallica pop up store. When we got there the line wasn’t long. We waited maybe 15 minutes in line. Once we got in Jess and I grabbed a few shirts then headed to our hotel to check in. After that we just went out to eat then hung out at the hotel as we wanted to get an early start on Friday. Our plan was to get up around 6, get ready, get some breakfast and try to get to the stadium by 8. That didn’t happen. Though we had a chill night Thursday we were both still tired from traveling. We ended up getting to the stadium around 9:30. We weren’t sure where we were supposed to line up so when we first got there, we found these gates that we thought were the right ones. However, there was no one there in line so I started wondering if we were in the right place or not. I left Jess there and went to walk around. I found some other people who were lined up in front of the merch trailer. They told me that we were in the wrong spot and directed us to the correct entrance. When we walked up there were already 15 people in front of us. After standing there for a few minutes the friend who had told me about the VIP packages walked up. He had the I Disappear VIP package and had been to every show so far. He asked us to hold his spot while he went and got a cooler with some drinks for all of us which we were happy to do. As we were standing in line someone came out and told us that we were going to create multiple lines for the different VIP packages they had. All the people in front of us had I Disappear packages so when we started breaking up the lines, Jess and I were in front of the Frantic Early Entrance VIP line. While we stood there in line of course we made some new friends, and I helped them strategize so that we all had better odds of picking our spot on the rail. Which worked out well. Though as we were going in, I had trouble finding my tickets so we were held back for a few minutes. People I just made friends with went in before and thankfully let me get back in front of them once we were lined up in the tunnel. As we made our way down, I managed to get a video which was posted on my social media. After they let us through the final check point it was a foot race. We ended up following our friend, the one who told us about the VIP package. We ended up on the other side of the stage. It was a circular stage, so it wasn’t the back side it was just one of the sides. I think they said it was James’s side, but I don’t know for sure. All I know is we had a great spot on the rail.
The first band was Woolly Mammoth, the son of Eddy Van Halen. I only knew the 1 song they play on the radio, I thought him and his band did a good job warming up the crowd. I’m not sure how many people know their other songs but there was a good-sized crowd around us for their entire set. I do think people were more excited to see Pantera and of course Metallica. Pantera did a really good job in my opinion. I know a lot of people call them a tribute or refer to them as the band that calls themselves Pantera because they don’t have all the original members. I personally think that’s dumb. Many bands replace members either because some have died, or they are no longer in that band for another reason. I think of bands like Alice in Chains and Three Days Grace. No one calls them tribute band and neither have the original singers. Anyway, I am getting off topic. As I was saying I think Pantera was good. I had never seen them before this night, but I was glad I got to see them. The only thing I was bummed about their set was they didn’t play all of Cemetery Gates. In between Pantera and Metallica I left to get a drink and go to the restroom. Jess and I had been going in and out all night. People around us were helping to hold our spots. However, on the way back as I was almost back to my spot, I asked this dude if I could get past him and pointed to Jess saying that’s where I’m trying to get back to. He grabs my arm and pushes it back. I was like what the hell, I moved passed him anyway and gave him a dirty look. He then grabs me by my vest and pulls me back. I told him he better get his hands off me or we were going to have a problem. Just then another guy grabs me and pulls me forward back towards Jess. I managed to get back to my spot without any real trouble, thankfully because the last thing I wanted was to get kicked out. After I got back Jess left to go to the restroom and so I was keeping an eye out for her and looking back. I of course was worried she was going to run into that same guy so I kept looking in his direction. After a few minutes went by he leaned forward and told me he was sorry for what he did. I told him I accept your apology as we are all here to have a good time. I think he realized how many people I had around me who had my back. The girl behind us was almost ready to throw hands she was so pissed at him grabbing me. As I said I was just glad it all worked out and we didn’t risk getting kicked out. When Metallica came out the place went crazy, me included! I jumped, danced and sang the entire time. There were only 2 songs I didn’t really know but for every other one I was pumped and living in that moment. At the end of the night, I managed to get one of the huge beach balls that were dropped on us. It just happened to work out that one of the security guys popped one of them in front of me and with the help of Jess and the people next to us I was able to get it. Not to mention all the guitar picks that I was able to get. It was such a great night and Jess and I had a great time. That was at least until we had to walk back to the hotel. It was 95 outside at 1130 pm, but Ubers were $50 just to go 2 miles, so we just walked back.
The 2nd night we ended up lining up around 9 am again but this time there were people with our same VIP package already there, so we were like 5th in line. They were people we hung out with on Friday so again our plan was to work together to get a good spot on the rail. For the 2nd day I ended up bringing more vodka so that I could share with some of the people in line with us. I ended up drinking way too much of it. I did share but not enough. I remember getting past security and in line in the tunnel and I was at the front of the line with Jess and one of the guys who were there before us. I remember getting past that point and getting our spot on the rail. From there I went to get another drink and the bathroom and from there things gets fuzzy. I don’t have any memory of Ice Nine Kills or Five Finger Death Punches set. I have a few memories from Metallica’s set but not all of it. I do remember thinking I had to go to the bathroom and was just going to pee where I was standing on the rail. I think I was too dehydrated because I don’t remember actually going despite trying. Yea I drank way to much. I think it was too much alcohol, being dehydrated and not eating that day is what did me in. Needless to say, I am pretty disappointed about that night. I know I still had a good time just wish I would have remembered it and not acted the way I did. It is what it is and hopefully when I see them next year this won’t happen again. I am thankful that Jess was there to help make sure I got back to the hotel ok. I am a very lucky man to have her!
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NIGHT 1
NIGHT 2
