Metallica and Slipknot are touring Australia - The 4 shows you need to see to re-live 2001s cringe

By James Gallagher.

Metallica and Slipknot are touring the world and TOOL just dropped a new album – Welcome to 2000 and f*^kin 1, people. From film to music to little plastic discs, we revisited the glory years to cover all things un-important from the soon to be recognised real era of cringe.

So from Rage Against the Machine to jeans with the fluoro seams, I'm looking back on what's worth rehashing for the meme generation and what we should probably bury in the flip-phone graveyard.

So, where to begin? Limp Bizkit? Korn, Blink 182, Tazos? Even Vanessa Amorosi is back in the rehearsal studio - though I'd imagine her rehearsals must be pretty short affairs - and what about the Chair? Sorry it won't be any of those. Firstly and pretty much the most perfect answer for what we should be revisiting is not coming to a stage or festival here any-time soon.

It's simply one of the best TV shows ever written - The Sopranos. Around the same time Metallica were battling their own fans via the Napster debacle, this show was putting a firecracker up the arses of Hollywood studio networks everywhere. To say The Sopranos influence on pop culture and serial television is still being felt is an understatement.
Following the story of New Jersey mobster Tony Soprano and his more than dysfunctional family life - The Sopranos confused networks at the time - neither a straight-up comedy or standard drama the series was passed on by Fox before HBO picked it up and the landscape of TV series has never been the same.
With stellar performances from top to bottom, this series has aged like a fine wine and if you're looking for a throwback that is guaranteed to not let you down. This is everything you'll ever need.

On the musical side there's quite a few artists heading to our shores in the next few months and while there's plenty of others well worth checking out, here's some that will really get the chain-wallet wearers among us ready to unholster the horns.

1. Metallica

METALLICA are headed to the country next month and fellow Americans Slipknot will join them for the ride - providing everything goes smoothly getting those dildo clown costumes through customs.

The all-American metal-heads will be packing the leather, and these days probably the Skechers as well, to hit Australia and New Zealand on their WorldWired tour this October. It's been a hefty 130+ shows for the ageing metalers and if ticket prices are anything to go by, these concerts just might separate the hardcore fans from the K-Mart collectors editions.

Either way Metallica will be here, headbangers will be going ape-shit over it, and the country's chiropractors and physios will be rubbing their Sorbelene-riddled hands in glee.

2. Good Things Festival

Leave the hair tie at home and let that ponytail run free cause Good Things Festival is coming to a few select cities this December.

Featuring the likes of Bad Religion, Trivium, Coheed & Cambria, Karnivool, Parkway Drive and heavy metal stalwarts Simple Plan and The Veronicas (!??) this is sure to fill the void left in so many emo hearts still torn by the likes of Big Day Out and Soundwave going belly-up.

The huge lineup has plenty for everyone looking to rehash the good old days where phones were judged on what version of Snake you had. Throw in a bunch of newer(ish) bands and a few newcomers no doubt inspired by most of the headline acts, Good Things looks likely to be a doozy for the heavier leaning rock fans.

3. Grinspoon

Gotta give it to Grinners, they've managed to continue to be fan favourites across the country and this October they'll be hitting the road for their Chemical Hearts tour.

Beginning in Lismore a good lifetime ago now, Grinners have been in the Australian music lovers subconscious for yonks.

We all know the hits but these guys are still as sharp as ever and still showing the younger generations of rock n' rollers how it's done. Led by singer Phil Jamieson - a real life son of a preacher man - Grinspoon seem to be ageless and haven't lost their touch at all.

And even though its all heavy riffage and thumping drums Jamieson's voice is one of the most dynamic Australian rock voices in recent decades, instantly recognisable and still universally adored, Grinspoon aren't going anywhere and that's just what the fans want.

4. The Dandy Warhols

While the rest of the music world were donning Korn shirts and wondering what hot dog flavoured water is The Dandy Warhols were crafting some of the most exciting guitar-driven rock of its time.

Sure, they're not heavy metal - hell, they ain't even close to metal - but arriving in the country towards the end of the year, the Dandy Warhols would be one show that I can already assure you will be well worth the ticket entry of their Australian leg 2019.

Stumbling onto the scene alongside fellow guitar-psych dandies Brian Jonestown Massacre, The Dandy Warhols were as big as they came at the time.

The Bohemian Like You rockers have a treasure trove of hits but dive back into their catalogue and you'll find more than enough gems to get your late-90s heartbeat racing. Lush, deliberate and the antidote to the metal/thrash avalanche of acts bobbing around at the time, The Dandy Warhols showed that sometimes power isn't just an overdrive pedal and some double-kick blast beats.

And if you haven't got the cash to splash, go and revisit the cult classic 'documentary' Dig!. The semi-biographical story of the Dandies and mates Brian Jonestown Massacre's rise and supposed fall during the late 90s/2000s is batshit crazy and one hell of a fun ride.

And if none of these do it for you there's a swag of other throwback acts coming to Australia in the next few months with Opeth, Killswitch Engage, The Flaming Lips and The Darkness leading the international bands gracing our shores soon. Hell, even loveable bell-end Liam Gallagher will be in the country later in the year.

And if still your interest-levels are hovering at "who gives a shit" then just fuggetaboutit and dust off the old Sopranos DVD's - you'll be sure to find heavy metal used in a way you've not seen in a while.