So yesterday I headed to Accorhotels Arena to queue up for Metallicas second gig in Paris. I was toute seule, but had podcasts to listen to and leftover fried rice to eat. After a few hours, a bit of rain and a lot of waiting I got inside and as close to the stage as I could. Duncan then calls me and starts going on about how he wants me to wave, I at this point thought he was just trying to get me to look silly - but all of a sudden who pops up right behind me?! Shocker of the day!! His friend Adam is one of Metallicas roadies and had gotten him in :D On a frikkin VIP ticket...!! This included the "Metallica Museum" which has stage clothes, instruments, food, drinks etc. Adam also escorted us right up to the stage, for the best possible view!  That white bit right behind me? That's the stage. :D Adam checking the stage before take-off. Hi Adam! Opening were a Norwegian band called Kvelertak (translates to chokehold, hehe), I hadn't listened to them much but enjoyed it! Sadly the sound was pretty bad at this point, made me a bit nervous about things to come.  Started to realise just how close to the stage we were.... :D  And then we were OFF!!! :D   This was my third time seeing them, the other two have been at huge venues (Stade de France & a festival), this felt so much more intimate. Not only is it a smaller place, but they had built the stage in the middle of the hall! I don't know why it's not always like that, so much better for the audience??? Love the fact that I haven't even zoomed in here, this is exactly how close we were! A bit over exposed, but might still be my favourite pic of the night - just look at that happy face!!  Or this!!! The joy of playing just vibrated throughout the whole gig. <3 Because the stage was sort of a diamond shape in the middle of the room the show became very much in motion, and alive. The band rotated around the stage, Lars' drums spun around and at one point it felt like being in a heavy metal production of Stomp >< Loved the use of the cubes, they moved around and showed different images & videos. Very cool.  James took a moment to address "The Metallica Family" <3 And then - I was about to write "after what felt like 5 minutes", but it didn't feel like 5 minutes at all; it felt like 2 hours of being pushed and shoved around by thousands of stinky boys, but SO WORTH IT - it was over!  Thank you Duncan for this amazing early birthday present, thank you Adam for making sure Duncan could be there too - THANK YOU JAMES, LARS, KIRK & ROB!! METALLICA FOR EVER!