Classical Music Listened To On Way To Slayer

this was the second piece to my triptych of shows I am seeing over the course of these last two weeks. Slayer is currently headlining the Jagermeister music tour with Megadeth and Anthrax.

the show started promptly at 7, but there was the issue of commuting during rush hour traffic, from northern VA to Baltimore. we left around 5:15, made a pit stop at McDonald’s, and arrived at the venue roughly two hours later. by the time we entered the building, Anthrax was about halfway thru their set. I got down to the floor when Joey Belladonna went into his “cry for the, cry for the…” chant before Indians. they also played A.I.R. which Joey dedicated to Dave Mustaine (shame on me for not regularly checking setlist.fm) and then they closed with Metal Thrashing Mad and I Am The Law.

Jim Florentine (Crank Yankers, Howard Stern) was the evening’s emcee. he had one good line “fellas, don’t let your gal crowd surf at a Slayer show, she’ll have more fingers in her than Paris Hilton on a drunken Friday nite.” ZING!

I saw Megadeth in March on the R.I.P. 20 tour. it’s already been well-documented on this here blog. Rust In Peace, played all the way thru. there was a Vic Rattlehead sighting during Dawn Patrol. Trust, Head Crusher, A Tout Le Monde, Symphony of Destruction, and Peace Sells. Dave Mustaine regaled the audience with the story of the last time Megadeth played Baltimore. he referred to Rams Head as some shithole, and said some asshole decided “our soundboard was thirsty” someone poured a drink on the PA. they cared enough about Baltimore to stick around on their off-day and play the show again. prior to Head Crusher, Dave pointed out some fan, who was a poster child for inbreeding. he said 60,000 sperm and you turned out to be the big winner, and then he called him an asshole. on the ride home, I wondered aloud, if Dave used fan insults as a segue into Head Crusher at each show. it’s really quite brilliant, if you see it done only once.

Slayer was the feature attraction. much like R.I.P., this is the 20th anniversary of Seasons In The Abyss. they opened with two songs off their newest album, World Painted Blood, including the title track and Hate Worldwide. that was followed by Seasons In The Abyss, in it’s entirety. this is a helluva album, and I especially loved hearing War Ensemble, Blood Red, and the title track. they finished with South Of Heaven, Raining Blood, Aggressive Perfector, and Angel Of Death. I don’t know if there’s a more metal four-song sequence than that!

Kerry King once said Slayer is a lot like AC/DC, in that you know exactly what you’re going to get when you see Slayer. they are no-frills, straight ahead thrash metal, with a fuck you attitude, that hasn’t changed since they began in the early 80s. they spent very little time interacting with the crowd other than to ask how’s everyone doing, thanks for coming, and oh yeah, Slayer doesn’t condone drinking and driving.

Slayer mosh pits are too intense for me, and I am always paranoid of having my glasses broken. I was able to stake out a great spot off to the side of all the mayhem, in front of where Jeff Hanneman was positioned. he, King, and Tom Araya rotated to different points of the stage during solos. occasionally, they would climb on top of what looked like giant amps, to survey the audience. it was times like these, that made me wish I had brought my camera. Dave Lombardo may just be the best drummer in the world! the sound was fucking tight, the entire night.

there were a few injuries to report:
some dude took a running forearm right upside his head during the Megadeth set, and was off getting medical treatment, for what could’ve been a concussion. after the show, my friend pointed out someone backstage, who was receiving medical treatment for what appeared to be a broken leg.

we ran into a guy wearing a GG Allin shirt, who we recognised from the Atari Teeage Riot show. I also met the one and only, DC Metal Chris! you can read his review of the show here. outside the venue, we got flyers for the Triptykon show, which we will be attending tomorrow nite. we also picked up some bootleg merch from a guy whose catchphrase was “get this shirt, before the cops get me!”

Slayer is the biggest of the big four, and seeing them play a classic album like Seasons in The Abyss, was worth the price of the ticket, alone.