Rage, angst and plenty of love

Rock fans will follow their obsessions to some strange places. For the front rows at Metallica’s Summer Sanitarium concert Saturday at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, that meant witnessing director Quentin Tarantino rolling over the heads of fans before falling into the photo pit, just like any true headbanger.

It also meant hearing Limp Bizkit’s Fred Durst sing the Who’s “Behind Blue Eyes,� a ballad for which his voice just isn’t suited. If nothing else, the man was expressing the blind faith of a true fan, which at least deserved some respect.

This fanaticism is an expression that headliner Metallica has learned to appreciate more and more these last few years, which saw the speed-metal pioneers hobbled by near-fatal band turmoil, the battle against Napster and a resulting fan backlash. Not anymore.

There was nothing but love, angst and volume in Metallica’s two-hour set on Saturday. Singer-guitarist James Hetfield was typically gracious and grateful between songs, thanking fans repeatedly for their support. The venue wasn’t quite full, but it was close enough to mark a powerful statement on Metallica’s continued relevance, more than two decades after forming in Southern California.

On Saturday, new songs of rage and regret fit easily amid Metallica’s classic diamond-hard riffs. Before “St. Anger� this year, the band hadn’t released an album of new material since 1997, marking time with an expanded album of cover songs and a live recording with a symphony orchestra -- normally the moves of a band running out of gas.

The new songs, including “Some Kind of Monster� and “St. Anger,� are almost retro in their obsession with a sound that is as direct, hard-charging and single-minded as 1991’s “Enter Sandman,� a defining moment for Metallica.

Like the rest of the day, support act Limp Bizkit performed its set with clear, balanced sound rarely heard at Bizkit concerts. Which at least meant the band was noticeably improved as a live act. With new guitarist Mike Smith fully integrated, the band shared a stage with comically oversized amps that could have been lifted from Crazy Horse.

Frontman Durst worked hard, mixing old songs with new material that rocked as brutally as the hits. Always a controversial rock figure, Durst seemed to feed on the taunts of some fans, at one point jumping from the stage to challenge a few face to face. More than ever before, Limp Bizkit now seems to be all about Durst.

Aside from the Who cover, Bizkit also performed Metallica’s “Sanitarium� and a rocked-up, cutup version of George Michael’s “Faith,� a brutal rendition Durst dedicated to “the ladies� -- a strange but memorable performance.

Early in the day, Deftones were typically passionate and blissfully incoherent while still strangely moving, with music that was all melody and madness. But it was a midafternoon set by Linkin Park that offered the day’s only true challenge to Metallica, with an intensely musical, muscular sound.

The only thing holding back Linkin Park as a stadium act was a lack of effective visuals. Band members faded into the background in their black T-shirts and olive-colored pants.

But the music connected at the farthest reaches of the Coliseum. Performing its usual tight, too-brief set of hard rock and hip-hop, Linkin Park mixed such bouncing, fast-paced hits with the recent “Numb,� a rock ballad shattered with DJ scratching and a raging vocal hook. Passion, angst, uplift.