Brazil 2014: my ‘super Saturday’ of hot Chile, Colombian gold and Metallica

From those busy lads at Campo Retro
From those busy lads at Campo Retro


Rob Hutchison, a Sunderland-supporting southern exile, is also a man of music. He found himself torn (but not, Natalie Imbruglia is relieved to hear, trust, ‘lying naked on the floor’) between Uruguay vs Colombia and Glastonbury. It all turned into Rob’s ‘super Saturday’ …


So, Saturday night posed a real dilemma
from the comfort of my Bromley sofa. The Brazil vs Chile game had been absolutely epic. Brazil finally conquered, via penalties, in their own back favela after a mighty scare against a really tidy Chile team.

But come 9pm, what to do? The urge to watch Colombia vs Uruguay was strong, but Glastonbury on BBC2 was about to show Metallica’s full, headlining set.

In days gone by everything has stopped for the World Cup for me. And wall-to-wall football for a month has been order of the day for me every four years. But I‘ve been watching Metallica religiously since their triumphant Donington festival appearance some 29 years ago.

“If you came here to see spandex, eye makeup, and the words ‘Ooh baby’ in every f*ckin’ song, this ain’t the f*ckin’ band. We came to bang some heads.” -James Hetfield, August 17, 1985. So decisions decisions, and not one for the faint-hearted, this one, kiddies.

The joys of multi-media platforms, tablets, phones etc gives one the opportunity to cover both, and fortunately the first half of the game was live before ‘tallica hit the boards.

Rooting for Colombia after Toothy’s moment of madness, I soon saw it settle down to organised defence against concerted attack. Just as I was about to turn over, Boom! Goal of the tournament as Rodriguez danced with the ball before lashing Colombia into the lead. “Do you have to make all that noise?” the missus piped up at my jubilation over the stunning strike, and of course she knew the reply – “absolutely pet, absolutely” – before it left my lips.

This World Cup continues to live up to its name as a veritable smorgasbord of football.

Now, though, it was goodbye BBC1 and hello BBC 2 HD at half time. It was always going to be interesting to see what the urchins of Glasto (copyright Hetfield Sat night) would make of the Bay Area Thrashers. One of the biggest bands on the planet in terms of sales but Dolly Parton and Jay Z they ain’t.

A few clowns started an online petition to get them removed from the bill, and the anti-hunting lobby were up in arms over Hetfield’s (son of Ted Nugent with a gun) big game hunting “heroics”. In days gone by Metallica would kill your grandmother and feed her to their neighbour’s dog. Today they’ll repeat the feat but ask you first, and serve her on a silver platter with cutlery and a napkin. They knew they had to compromise a tad to guarantee a win-win here. Raps were mellowed down, tones at time were conciliatory, but when it needed it the power, speed and aggression were still unleashed in a blur of riffs and growling vocals. “Do you want it HEAVY????”

Meanwhile a flurry of tweets alerted me to the fact that Colombia were now two up GTFI* (ask your dad) and Uruguay were slinking back home. A vine (gotta love ‘em) treated me to their fine second and a delicious looking quarter final beckons against Brazil.

Trying to watch Ulrich & Co, another vine, tweet and message on Facebook with a plate of salami, crisps and a cold drink to wash it down. Christ, life is challenging sometimes folks, it really is.

By this time, the good lady had retreated upstairs and the volume found it was up a few more notches for the umpteenth time. After three or four songs, they knew they’d nailed it, you could tell by their demeanour and delivery. Always 10percenters, by the time Enter Sandman finished the set it was sweets from a baby time and triumph was secured, even with this slightly pedestrian and watered down set.

For the real deal, go the Sonosphere next month and get the uncensored version. There’s always going to be dissenters . . . Lars is a rotten drummer, only the first three albums were any good, they have no place at this hallowed festival. Wake up the lot of you, it’s the 21st Century. Metallica haven’t become the commercial metal powerhouse they are without a smidge of compromise and career developement, and Eavis has pushes the boundaries yet again with the bill to deliver a watershed moment.

Turned out to be the best the best Saturday night since I was at the Bridge and well rolled Chelsea over. ‘Triffic stuff.

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1 thought on “Brazil 2014: my ‘super Saturday’ of hot Chile, Colombian gold and Metallica”

  1. Rob I was at that very same Donington gig in 1985, and that Metallica set alongside their gig at the Newcastle Mayfair in 1986 still rank as two of the best gigs I’ve ever seen . Tragically the Newcastle gig was just a week before Cliff Burton was killed at the tender age of 24. The band still released a couple of classics after that and I’ve saw quite a few tours since then , but, no fault of their own, the magic was gone for me. Still a fan though and the set last night ( via TV) was excellent and brought back some great memories. Pleased to see they’ve still got it and who would have dreamed they’d get so big ? MUYA !

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