And Tributes For All… | Day 18

The bummer with falling behind on computer work is that it never goes away and needs to get done. Similar to Budapest I took the morning to sort images, retouch, and type. That went about as fast as it good but when noon rolled around it was time to get out and explore. Someone had posted a drone video on Instagram of the Olympic Stadium and Metallica in Munich so that why not scope it out. It was a lofty goal but worth at least exploring. I knew it was a day off so there wouldn’t be anyone at the stadium and if there was ever a time to do it, it would be then. I only had one drone battery that was charged because sure enough the charger was located in the bag left in Vienna. I gathered the one batter and my camera and set out to see what would happen.

Instead of the bus I took the metro toward the stadium. I rode the rails in reverse from last night but instead of ending at the front side of the stadium I decided to get off on the back side. The goal was to try and find a spot that was off the beaten path and away from anyone. I know there are a lot of people out there that don’t care and will just launch a drone around anyone, but I know how annoying the can be and I don’t want to be that guy. The street leading to the stadium from the train stop dead ends at a ticketed entrance. There is a path that heads up a hill and around to the main entrance. I followed it for a ways and all along the way there are little trails that led to giant rocks that you could stand or sit on. The path was mostly filled with trees and every so often there would be a cut park or playground for kids. It wasn’t crowded of course being a day off. Not to far off in the distance shouts and joyous screams could be hear and when I reached the top of the hill a theme park could be seen. Rollercoasters zoomed by and it really brought back the Rollercoaster Tycoon feels. I walked a little ways longer and came to a road that didn’t have anyone on it. I was on the side of the stadium opposite of where I stood at the concert the previous evening. I unloaded the drone and started down the process. There has always been some discrepancy between DJI’s maps and actual aeronautical charts. The app will tell you that you need authorization when potentially that is particularly true. There are rules stating that you can’t fly drones around live events at stadiums which this was not one of those times. The app let me take off and so decided to do just the quickest flight ever. Once in there air I didn’t exactly have a great feeling about it so brought it back within just a few minutes. I don’t exactly have it in me to break rules and this mindset kicked in so abandoned the idea. I don’t know how people are so confident to just go ahead and fly no matter the condition. The drone stuff on that Instagram was way cool and would love to get shots like that but would rather do it through the legit channels. I landed the drone and packed it up quickly and then walked off. Drones are such a sore spot for many people that didn’t want to draw much attention.

I continued to follow the path down to the main street and walk around back towards the main entrance. As I walked I came across a really cool building that was behind a fence which turned out to be a rose and winter garden. I stopped for a little bit and walked the garden but the symmetry of the gate with the greenhouse building the back was too good of a shot to pass up. A mom and daughter came with their dog and they walked through the gate to enjoy the grass and grounds. It is really cool that they have places like this especially in the midst of a “bland” color city. I continued through the garden and ended up on the hill that overlooked the front of the stadium. The place looks so different without thousands of people lined up and walking around. I snapped a few photos with one in particular being a view of the tower from below. With the tower being white and the sky being a brilliant blue I knew it would become an awesome black and white. I would be able to make the sky basically black and the tower would really pop. I walked through the grounds taking a few photos of the Metallica trucks and then figured it was time for food. I headed toward the familiar train stop that I took the other night and on my way I passed an Indian restaurant. I do like Indian food but anticipated finding something else. Reason then kicked in and I had been down this path many times before I knew where it led so Indian food it was.

I was the only one in the restaurant and the waiter came over guns blazing. He started talking before he was halfway between the bar on the opposite side of the restaurant and my table asking do I want the chicken or the beef. Gotta be honest I can count on probably one hand how many times I had had Indian food. I enjoy it but it isn’t something regularly run out the door for. He got to my table and I know I looked at him with the most blank face on the planet. He must have thought, ohh boy another white guy coming in for Indian food. He asked me if I wanted something but I honestly had no idea what it was so I just said yes and a water please. He returned with a wine type glass with something yellow/orange in it and went back to the bar where he was watching an English football match. I took a moment to look over the menu and he was right haha, I had no idea what any of the dishes were but recognized beef and the chili scale. He returned and I said I would have the Beef Vindaloo. I am a big spice person so I gathered it was spicy (based on the 3 chili peppers) and it would come with rice. I tried the orange drink he had brought and bruh it was next level haha. It was like a Dreamsicle. It was orange flavored with a hint of vanilla. I couldn’t tell if his football team had one because he was like a statue over there behind the bar. He retreated the kitchen and the headed my way with various bowls. The meal came separately and in one bot was white rice and in the other was slow cooked beef and chunks of potatoes in a stew like sauce. I scooped out some rice and then topped it with the beef potato stew. I am a huge fan of spicy food and this was spicy. It wasn’t overwhelming to where you couldn’t eat it thats for sure but it had some zing. I ate all of it haha. The entire time I was there not a single person entered the place. I have to say it was kind of nice just sitting alone for a bit. I stood up and paid the bill then headed toward the metro station. Besides trying to fly the drone I wanted to go check out the tribute band. As I waited for the metro I went to the interactive map Metallica puts out and looked where the tribute band was playing. The first thing that popped up was a Finnish band called Apocalyptica. I had heard of this band before and even some friends had sent me a few of their YouTube videos. They are a group that plays the cello. They are a four piece band featuring 3 cello players and a drummer. They released an album a bunch of years ago doing all Metallica covers. The one that gained the most traction was Nothing Else Matters. It made its way through my messages like 10 times from various people. I had to go see them! Not sure I would ever be in the same place as them again and we are in a Metallica weekend so made sense to go. I will say that the ticket price for them was a bit steep. At 60 Euros that was like going to see a mainstream band. This almost derailed me. Just below Apocalytica was the other Finnish tribute band and their tickets were 15 Euros. I almost talked myself out of it but then figure when will I ever see them so better go. I bought the ticket just as the metro arrived and headed towards home.

By the time I got back to my room it was nearly time to head to the show. You lose track of time when it is light 23hrs a day. I put the few photos I had from the day on the computer and took a brief look. The ticket said doors opened at 6:30pm but it never said what time the show actually started. I have been a enough shows in my life that typically nothing starts until at least 8 but since I paid 60 Euros I wasn’t going to be later. Headed down to the station and headed back the way I just came. The arena that they were playing in was the ice arena attached to the Olympic complex. This also happened to be nicely situated within the Metallica Fan Zone area. Rode the metro back to the familiar stop and hopped off. I clearly wasn’t the only one going to the show. The Fan Zone was full outside of the ice complex and they were playing Metallica trivia. I asked one of the security guards what time the shows started and she said there is no hurry to go inside. I went to one of the beer carts and tried one of their beers. I would have played trivia but it was all in Finnish so I was dead in the water. I sat on one of the steps and listened to the trivia mayhem. I slow sipped my beer and at about 7:15 I decided to head in. Like the Nickleback concert the venue was a whole lot smaller than I thought it was going to be. To be fair it was a cello group playing Metallica and not Nickleback. With a new beer secured I walked down to the floor to find a spot. I have now noticed that in all of these venues if you want to have adult beverages you have to drink them behind the barricade in the back. That prompted me to be a bit swifter than anticipated but I wasn’t as keen on that beer as others so that was fine. I found my standing spot and after half hour or so the band started. They were pretty rad haha. There weren’t any lyrics as those were “sung” by one of the cellos. They played a bit more abbreviated versions of the songs but with the pedals and amps they made them sound like guitars. They had just released a new album the previous day so all of these songs were first time plays which was pretty neat. After about an hour or so I was kind of ready to go. They were great but a bit of a one trick pony. The other tribute band was playing and if I left now then I could make their show and still see them play for 2 hours. I weighed out the decision and after hearing Battery I bailed. If Apocaplytica is ever near you go see them they are unique and really talented.

I raced out of the arena and walked to the regular metro stop. The metro luckily enough arrived as soon as I got there and would take me just about to the front door of On The Rocks. 20 minutes later I was there. It didn’t occur to me that On The Rocks was the same place I was at two days ago for that reindeer burger. The patio seating was full and they had a door guy which I said I would love to come see the show. He started to tell me the ticket price of $22 but then stopped and said “ohh im sorry it sold out 5 minutes ago.” I asked since I was just a single could I squeeze my way in but no budge. A bit disappointed seeing as I left one show for the other and then it wasn’t going to work out but I wasn’t going to be deterred. I walked back to him and said, “I can still come in for a beer at the regular restaurant right?” He said, “of course come on in.” Well I walked strait to the stairs in the back the led down to the venue. Metallica songs could be heard from the outside along with the crowd cheering. There was a father son in front of me and they hit the ticket desk first. The person said unfortunately they were sold out. The dad said anything and everything to get them in but was turned away. They looked really disappointed as they passed me in the stairwell. I got to the desk and asked the same question but got the same answer. At that moment a person came squeezing by me and showed a black circular stamp on his arm and was let it. I then showed the door guy my stamp, from the actual Metallica show the night before, and he looked at it and said “that is a different one.” Then out of nowhere he got confused and asked if I had been down to the venue before. I just said, “yup.” Still confused he told me that there was a $3 fee for re-entry to which I said that is no problem at all. I paid the $3, he gave me the correct stamp, and I ran down the stairs before he could recognize his error. I understand if there are seats and they are all sold out, but when it comes to these small club venues there is leeway. I mean people are coming in and out all the time and not everyone stays till the end so unless there is a group of 20 or 5,000 people trying to get in they should consistently be letter the smaller groups in. I know they are bound to say its a safety issue and they have a capacity limit but when I got down there there was plenty of room. The concert floor was crowded but there was even room there to walk around. Either way I made it in for just $3 and not $22.

The Finnish band Alcoholica was a top tier Metallica tribute band and they were doing a special show where they were playing Kill Em All and Ride the Lightning albums in their entirety. By the time I had got there they were on the last few songs of Kill Em all. They were super good and the crowd was loving them. I grabbed a beer from the bar and found just some standing room on the bar level. After the remaining songs they took about a 20 minute break where the floor and standing spaces cleared out. I was able to find a good standing spot on the bar level rail right next to the stage. I stood there and sipped my beer because I knew if I left then the spot would be gone instantly. The DJ was playing a mix of other metal and songs that Metallica had covered. The band resumed and not 1 song in a lady who had crutches, not because of injury, asked if she could stand on the rail. I’m not a monster haha so I said of course! Well that opened the flood gates and a dude probably 6’1 pushed his way in front of me without hesitation. Was a bit of a drag but what am I going to do be, a dick lol. Watched the rest of the show and they killed it. One thing about tribute bands is that they play a ton of songs that would will probably never hear at a real Metallica show ever again. Likewise, they are trying to sound as much like the real band as possible so you are getting to nearly perfectly played songs. I was going to dip out a little early but then decided against it and just got another beer. As the show was ending I had stood in this lounge seated area. I turned to leave and standing in front of me was the father son duo from earlier! I looked at them and they looked at me and I said, “YOU ALL MADE IT!” They laughed and shouted back, “WE DID!!” We struck up a conversation immediately. They were from London and Sam, the son, was a newer Metallica fan and his dad, Anthony, said he would bring him to a show. We ended up having a few beers and chatting for the next hour or so. Anthony happened to know one of the guitar players for Five Finger Death Punch and he had hooked them up with friends and family tickets for tomorrows show. What a full circle story running in to them! We exchanged some Instagrams and was working on 1:30am so was time to retreat back to the hotel. The metro, being right around the corner, appeared and boarded it headed for home. What a day it turned out to be! Started off thinking there wasn’t much to do but by the end had seen 2 tribute bands, bluffed my way in to one, and made some new friends. Tomorrow is the second show and not really much on the list for tomorrow to do before hand. If tomorrow is like today then it will be busy no doubt.