SLAYER LOOKS BACK ON 37 YEARS, EPISODE ONE POSTED HERE
On January 23rd, Slayer announced that it would wrap up its 37 years together with one last tour around the globe. Before the band begins that final sojourn on May 10th, Tom Araya, Kerry King, Gary Holt and Paul Bostaph sat down and talked about all things Slayer, watch episode one, below.
Part one of their North American final world tour will feature Lamb of God, Anthrax, Behemoth and Testament and starts May 10. The confirmed dates are below.
May:
10 Valley View Casino Center, San Diego, CA
11 FivePoint Amphitheatre, Irvine, CA
13 Papa Murphy’s Park at Cal Expo, Sacramento, CA
16 PNE forum, Vancouver, BC
17 South Okanagan Events Centre, Penticton, BC
19 Big Four, Calgary, AL
20 Shaw Centre, Edmonton, AB
22 Bell MTS Place, Winnipeg, MB
24 The Armory, Minneapolis, MN
25 Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre, Chicago, IL
27 Michigan Lottery Amphitheatre @ Freedom Hill, Detroit, MI
29 Budweiser Stage, Toronto, ON
30 Place Bell, Montreal, PQ
June:
1 Mohegan Sun, Uncasville, CT
2 PNC Banks Arts Center, Holmdel, NJ
4 Santander Arena, Reading, PA
6 Riverbend Music Center, Cincinnati, OH
7 Blossom Music Center, Cleveland, OH
9 KeyBank Pavilion, Pittsburgh, PA
10 Jiffy Lube Live, Bristow, VA
12 VUHL Amphitheatre, Virginia Beach, VA
14 PNC Music Pavilion, Charlotte, NC
15 Orlando Amphitheatre, Orlando, FL
17 Smart Financial Center, Houston, TX
19 The Bomb Factory, Dallas, TX
20 Austin 360 Amphitheatre, Austin, TX
I remember seeing Slayer flyers in Los Angeles, before their first album was released, when my friends and I would trek there from San Diego to see bands at the Roxy, Country Club, etc…Slayer’s flyers read “LA’s only Black Metal Band”. My first impression was they were trying to be a clone of the NWOBHM band Venom. Image wise, yes, but music wise, no. Slayer had much better song structure.
I first heard Slayer’s music on the Metal Massacre III album, the song Aggressive Perfector. Great neck breaking music! I’ve seen them countless times, including the CA Big 4 show, since the release of their first album, Show No Mercy. And I’ve already got tickets for one of these final tour shows. IMO, they are the most consistent and aggressive of the Big 4, with live shows that are full of rabid fans feeding off each others’ energy.
I hope this tour makes a couple/few runs, as I would love to see it more than once. I think it would be great if they could reunite with Dave Lombardo on this final run, but I don’t know. Dave seemed like he burned some bridges with Kerry King and Tom Araya that may not be mendable.
But with the passing of Jeff Hanneman, a principal song writer and iconic band member, I believe it may be time for Slayer to look back on a great career and recognize their legendary metal status and influence they’ve had on other bands. Kerry has stated previously they had songs left over from their latest album, Repentless, so I wonder if those songs will ever see the light of day as a Slayer release, or will Kerry use them for his next music project?????
On the bright side, with Slayer ending, maybe Gary Holt can soon return to his rightful place in Exodus and release a new Exodus album sooner than later….
Slayer, thank you for a great catalog of music and the memories you’ve created for me. And thank you for staying pretty consistent to your thrash roots when other bands strayed to achieve a little more success. You did it your way and never gave a f*** what others thought…..
Great tribute to Slayer from you, Rattlehead! Slayer has always done things their way. You could never hear a Slayer song and wonder who you were listening to. No one ever sounded like Slayer! I am not a big Slayer fan, but enjoy some songs and admire the longevity of their career. I wonder if they would participate in another round of the BIG 4 shows, if such shows could be arranged? That would be something to see!