As I peed into the port-o-potty, I could hear Mudvayne's guitars thrashing in the arena. The urgency of the frantic beats made me pee quickly. Then I stepped out and joined my friends.

We arrived just as Mudvayne was finishing their set. Not Falling was playing. One of my friends noticed a lot of girls wearing Mudvayne gear; most notably, Mudvayne purses on girls.

They closed with Dig and then it was a nice break while Deftones set up.

The sun was blazing down into the center floor, where a handful of rockers were meandering. Mudvayne only attracted a small crowd, not even enough to make a kick-ass mosh pit. Which is too bad, because I really dig Mudvayne.

The video screens on the stage displayed the album cover of Deftone's latest self-titled release. Soon thereafter, the roadies finished reorganizing the stage. And then Deftones came on.

They launched with Minerva. Vocalist Chino Moreno's family stood on the side of the stage. It was an odd juxtaposition to see young kids and obviously non-rocker ladies standing next to a blaring speaker.

We went down to the floor and watched Deftones up close. The crowd moved with the crunching guitars and wailing vocals.

After closing with Change (In The House Of Flies), Chino introduced his family. His son ran up to him and gave him a big hug. Aww. See, even hard rockers have a soft side.

We weren't sure who was next. But the video screens soon gave us a clue. A technical-inspired stage set was built, along with a similarly themed image on the video screens. And on them, a subtle LP appeared in the corner.

That meant Linkin Park was due next. Unfortunately, we weren't able to get back to the floor until after they started their first number, Somewhere I Belong. We tossed out a tray of nachos just so we could squeeze back towards the stage.

In the thick of the crowd, I could feel the pulsing energy in the air. Heads were banging, hands were pounding, bodies were bouncing. The twin assault of Chester Bennington's howls and Mike Shinoda's raps was driving the crowd wild.

I was pleasantly surprised to hear several songs from the Reanimation album. It seemed to give turntablist Joe Hahn something to do, I first thought. But to be honest, he seemed pretty busy throughout the entire set.

A mosh pit started behind me. Some guy began running into fellow rockers, pushing everyone aside. A few other guys pushed back. And ta da, a mosh pit was born!

Big sweaty guys began smashing into each other like bulls. The people on the edge of ring tried to stand their ground. If a mosher fell into them, they'd push him back into the pit.

They were all smiling. Despite the apparent aggressive acts, they were all having a good time. When one guy fell to the ground, another stopped and helped him back up. Then, smiling, he smashed into him.

During Crawling, the pit became more wild. A tall scrawny kid jumped into the middle and began mock kung fu kicks. He hit a towering ogre of a man in the head. And Mr. Towering Ogre was not happy about that. Neither was the rest of the pit, who deemed this amateur reckless and out of his element.

So they proceeded to knock the living shit out of him. They shoved and thrashed him around. When he tried to jump out of the ring, the edge watchers pushed him back in. He was knocked on his ass more than once. Finally, when the pit figured the kid had had enough, they picked him up and threw him out.

Linkin Park called on the crowd to sing along to Numb. This settled the mosh pit for a bit. People looked back towards the stage and sang along. I myself belted out the words as loud as I could. Everyone all did the same for In The End as well.

The set was closed with One Step Closer. As this song played, another smaller mosh pit broke out to my right. It was short lived, however. A kid with glasses got caught in the middle and someone bumped him in the nose. A spray of nasal blood quickly ended the pit.

The crowd dispersed and I rejoined my friends. We had been separated in the rush towards the stage. We knew Limp Bizkit was up next, and my friends, not being big Limp Bizkit fans, opted to head back up to the bleachers. I went with them.

When Limp Bizkit came on the stage, they were greeted with boos and hisses. I had heard that they left the stage in Chicago when fans threw bottles at them.

But they had their fans. A sizable crowd had formed in front of the stage and with Nookie, a sizable mosh pit started too. Break Stuff also got a huge reaction.

Fred Durst brought out a shotgun and began firing it into the air. Blanks, obviously. This stunt was the issue of much ridicule later on the radio stations.

Perhaps because of the cold reception, Limp Bizkit decided to play a Metallica tune. They started with Master Of Puppets, but stopped halfway through for some reason. The crowd booed and jeered them some more. Then they launched into Welcome Home/Sanitarium, which seemed to appease the masses.

They closed with George Michael's Faith. Why, I have no idea. They left the stage after only playing a handful of songs.

Metallica took the longest to set up. The sky was dark and the arena was filled to capacity by the time they showed up. Metallica, being veterans of live performances, gave a kick-ass show of grinding guitars, growling vocals, forceful drums, and deafening bass lines accompanied by a healthy dose of pyrotechnics.

Replacing Jason Newsted at the bass was Rob Trujillo of Suicidal Tendencies, Infectious Grooves, and Ozzy Osbourne fame. With their new bass player, Metallica jumped into Blackened right away, inciting the crowd and numerous mosh pits.

No other band was able to suddenly calm the crowd down like Metallica and their ballads: Welcome Home/Sanitarium, Nothing Else Matters, and One. And when they played thrasher classics like Master Of Puppets, Creeping Death, and Harvester Of Sorrow, the mosh pits woke back up.

Vocalist James Hetfield paused between songs to thank all of the bands that toured with them. Every band received glorious praise except Limp Bizkit. James' reply was, "Well, it's your choice [to cheer or not]."

Off their new album, they played the title track St. Anger and Frantic. But not to upset their long-time fans, they included the crowd pleaser Search And Destroy as well.

Almost all the songs had the fans singing every word. Then Metallica followed their tradition of pretending to leave the stage, only to return when the fans cheered long and loud enough.

It was my friends' first Metallica concert, and my third. I left the arena with a strained voice and bells in my ears. In the car, I searched endlessly for more Metallica tunes on the radio.

The Summer Sanitarium was one kick-ass show, and I carried my whimpering voice and ringing ears with pride.

. . .

What was the last live concert you've seen?