I saw Slayer at the Aragon Ballroom yesterday, for sentimental reasons more than anything. It would have been more accurate if it were billed "Kerry King’s guitar w/ special guests Slayer”. The mix from the soundboard was weird. It sometimes sounded as if even Araya’s vox was getting drowned out by King's playing, and whoever that was filling in for Jeff Hanneman while he’s dead may as well have played an unplugged ukulele- it was all but inaudible. King’s leads have always been less inspiring than Jeff Hanneman’s, so that’s a shame. I thought at first that it was just my location, but as the show went on and I wandered around, it didn’t really change much.
It was really weird to see this band sans Jeff Hanneman and Dave Lombardo (who took the Bill Ward route and held out for a bigger cut financially than he was getting)- Lombardo is probably one of the better drummers around today regardless of what genre you’re looking at. Luckily for the band, option B was Paul Bostaph, who also replaced Lombardo the first time he departed from the band in 1992 through 2001, and did a pretty good job himself.
The setlist was prime. I haven’t actively follow this genre of music for a long time, so while
God Hates Us All,
Christ Illusion, and
World Painted Blood are on my iPod, I've never really listened to any of them. Kindly enough, they didn't include a single song in the set that came after 1990’s
Seasons in the Abyss. Araya’s bass on Seasons in the Abyss (the song) shook my insides like no bass has before at a show. I have no idea how he can even talk at this point, let alone do justice to the vocals after over 30 years after the band's formation- there are a lot of voices in the music world that wind up shot performing less strenuous material in a much shorter span of time, so it's impressive.
I saw some violence as I gravitated closer to the front of the room, but that was to be expected- because some of the people in attendance would have been mistaken for a shored whale if they were at a beach, so even if they tried to delicately maneuver through the crowd to get a beer or go to the bathroom, they’d inevitably collide with someone, and everyone in the vicinity would be treated to a first-rate demonstration of Newton’s First Law of Physics.
Quote:
Hell Awaits
The Antichrist
Necrophiliac
Mandatory Suicide
Captor of Sin
War Ensemble
Postmortem
Altar of Sacrifice
Jesus Saves
At Dawn They Sleep
Die by the Sword
Spirit in Black
Hallowed Point
Seasons in the Abyss
Strike of the Beast (Exodus cover)
Dead Skin Mask
Raining Blood
Black Magic
South of Heaven
Angel of Death
I left as they were starting Raining Blood, because that song is about as overplayed relative to the band’s catalog as Welcome to the Jungle is with Guns ‘n Roses' catalog. It was impressive to see them plow through the entire set with little or no rest between songs. I’ve never heard of either opening act (4Arm and Gojira), so I didn’t arrive until just before Slayer hit the stage. I love the Aragon Ballroom.
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. The atmosphere overall was very different than other Slayer shows I have been to. It was very subdued in my opinion. The "pit" wasn't very big at all and most people were just chilling and listening. I thought Gary Holt (Exodus guitarist) did a tremendous job filling in for Jeff. I agree that the vocals got drowned out a bit by King but I was able to hear Holt and he had a few showcase moments throughout. And Bostaph did excellent as well - it is is second tour with the band and he fits in perfect. I wish they would have picked a different Exodus cover though, I don't think Strike of the Beast is the best song live and you can tell most of the crowd had no idea what it even was.
