Aussie In Seoul

Well here is the deal. I am Australian and just moved to Seoul with my wife to work in a 5 star hotel. I hope to share some of my thoughts and comments over the Years I am here!

Sunday, August 27, 2006

Metallica in Korea

Ok, I will say it from the start. I was not a huge fan of Metallica, and never have been. After meeting them, watching them, and learning about them a bit more .... has it changed? Yes! Now I have a greater respect for the group, their professionalism, and some of their music which I actually always liked, but really never knew it was Metallica.

So let me start from the beginning, and hope I do not get in trouble for metioning what I say!! Two weeks before their arrival in Korea I got an email saying they were going to stay with us. Cool, this should be fun. As a hotelier I of course start thinking of all the logistics, potential problems, etc.. To cut a long long story short a few days before their arrival I met with the tour manager, and band manager who went through all the requirements, and that was that. Very easy, and really really nice people.

Day of arrival for the group, all went very well. The group arrived from Japan throughout the day and the main band members arrived early evening. I was there to meet them and take care of them. All went well. (Lots happened in between, but best keep that out of the blog. All I can say is that over the next two days I got to talk to the band and they were a really fantastic bunch of guys, so humble, and nice to work with. I really wish I could tell you more!!)

Concert day the tour manager called me and said all is great and if I need tickets for myself and friends just let him know how many. So I rounded up a few of the boys plus a couple of others and had tickets waiting at the door. He also told me he would take extra special care of me!! I wonder what he meant??

We took a taxi to the stadium and found the ticket area. Gave our names and got our tickets. There was an envelope for me also, and to my joy inside were three backstage all access passes! Fantastic!! So we joined the thousands trying to get in, flashed the All Access passes and we were escorted right through.

From then on we enjoyed the concert, the crowd, the heat!!! and of course most of all getting right next to the stage. I have put some photos into the blog, but they really really suck. I have a cheap rubbish camera that let me down on the night. Actually in the spirit of Metallica the shots kind of represent their music. We were so close to the band that at time James Hatfield was standing right above us. For a while we stood between the crowd barrier and the stage. I am sure if this concert was in Europe, US, or even Aussie we could never have gotten this close.

So concert all done, we went home very exhausted, but very happy. Next day I caught up with the group on their departure, thanked them, and in turn they actually thanked me and the staff for a really good stay.

See, there are some benefits for working in this hotel industry!!!

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