search
more stories
 

Show Report: Anthrax, Megadeth, Slayer

print   email   RSS
 October 15 2010 at 03:58:40 PM




Love Slayer fans. Love the rep that precedes them. Uneducated, meat-headed knuckle-draggers, fitted with hair triggers ‘n’ ready to bust mucho ass over anything everything nothing even as they are far too and forever busy screaming SLAYURRRRRRRRR!, headbanging, fist-pumping, frothing at their collective mouth. Theirs is mindset ‘n’ reactive ordinance akin to little else in this ugh ever-shrinking world. Contrasted with unmerciful metastasis of nodding, folded-arms, quiet cool embraced ‘n’ aped by “metal” audiences from Tampa to Trenton, Slayer fans are at best off-putting, at worst convenient “feature” topic for sociologically geared penbangers.

They “ruin” shows for some. They’re reason numero uno for diehards losing charge and finding long labyrinthine ways away from the band’s discography. They’re easy camera fodder. Hard drinkers. Hard smokers. Hard moshers. Hard livers. Harry Crews and Katherine Dunn couldn’t create misfits as marginalized as first 20 rows at any given Slayer show. Love Slayer fans. Love ‘em. Love that they irk the nodding, folded-arms, quiet cool showgoer. Love that they are in essence Metal, not nice, always already a downer, a drawback, a deep motherfucking downside.

No different here at the ATL’s installment of tah-dah American Carnage Tour. Queue openers Anthrax. Queue Belladonna Jersey howls. Queue Scott Ian wardance. Queue beer run. Some dope with mohawk gets up and hellfuckinyeah bros, lookit them Jager babes. Show your tits, we scream. Queue Mustaine in Seinfeld “pirate shirt.” Megadeth does megaset from last February. Mustaine’s anti-immigration, pro-Braves “soliloquy” sadly absent. Rust in Peace sounds like homogenous, ho-hum thrash record it is, even over Gwinnett Arena’s hideous PA. Queue beer run. See meatheads screaming: SLAYURRRRRRRR! See fights. See cops cuffing fighters. See girlfriends crying. See no-necked meathead trying to buy 24oz Yuengling. See vendor pick through wadded singles and change and shake to piece together the $12.

Queue dope with mohawk. Ah, hellfuckingyeah, bros, lookit them Jager babes. Show your tits, we scream. Queue lights. Queue curtain littered with pentagrams. Queue Slayer. Few too many tunes from latest travesty, reminding me they haven’t produced a great studio record since Reign in Blood. Haven’t seen ‘em since late ‘80s. Hanneman still wears Raiders’ jersey, leather jeans. King still wears stupid shit (a gaggle of heaviest chain link), looking still the dwarfin Gimli on steroids. Araya still longhaired, leather jeans, “You guys havin’ a good time tonight?!” Lombardo san, backwards baseball cap, a Hesse Siddhartha: He the river, the river he, a current a pool a riffle a roaring rushing force o’ NRG ‘n’ skin ‘n’ alloy. Yup. They blow through Seasons front to back. Note-fur-Note, ‘cept for solos, which Hanneman goofs big on, blowing out overdriven cosmic blitzkrieg when given the opportunity.

I’ve paid $50 to hear them play three songs: “Reign in Blood,” “Angel of Death,” “Aggressive Perfector.” It’s fucking worth it. Slayer is rusted Panzer rolled out onto stage discharging once thought expired ordinance. Slayer is old. Slayer is ancient. Slayer is Slayer. Araya can’t move his neck. Hanneman headbangs doubly for Araya. Hanneman King still does stupid shit. Lombardo san flows Nile like. Araya, stiff as cadaver, hits “the scream” in “Angel…” When they burst into “Aggressive Perfector” the last three onces of my $12 beer go flying. Thank you. Goodnight. They’re gone. King remains. Can hear his chains jingle. Some dope hands him paper cup of Jager. King downs it. Meatheads cheer. King still does stupid shit.

[Stewart Voegltin]

Related

- The LHP Thrash Metal Primer
- Book Review: The Bloody Reign of Slayer
- Book Review: Reign In Blood

Comments (13)

  • 15 comments
    FF
    3:26 PM on Oct 15, 2010 // reply »
    hah! pirate shirt, well played. I saw this tour with Testament instead of Anthrax couple months ago. I'll go to the mat for "Rust in Peace", but your assessment of Slayer is right on.

  • 1 comment
    Hesse Siddhartha
    4:56 PM on Oct 15, 2010 // reply »
    lol @ "homogenous, ho-hum" RIP
  • 6 comments
    Robert
    7:06 AM on Oct 16, 2010 // reply »
    Figured you'd be there. I was too. Front row, pressed against the bar by the no-necked meatheads and teens in tight pants. Fun was had. I got to hear Mustaine say "cryogenics" live. The best word on "Rust In Peace". The whole album boiled down to 4 syllables. I like that album more than you do, probably. I see it for what it is, but I can't shake the associations of time and place that my brain ties to it.

    Fuck that bro with the mohawk. But he did compliment my Nuclear Assault shirt. Although he probably would have done the same even if it'd been All That Remains or whatever.

    After the show, crazed metal dudes screaming SLAYYYYYURRRRRR made me take photos of them with Killick. I guess because he's got tattoo face. He told them, jokingly, that he wasn't Kerry King. I don't think they got the joke.

    Good times.

    Still want to say "hi" to you one day.
  • 3 comments
    opy
    10:45 AM on Oct 16, 2010 // reply »
    Robert sounds just like Voegltin...are you posing? Anyways, both are amusing and spot on.
  • 35 comments
    -c
    11:26 AM on Oct 16, 2010 // reply »
    I saw this same exact show but the year was '91, Alice in Chains opened and it took place in Philly. Nice review, Stew.
  • 40 comments
    The Right Hand Path
    2:21 AM on Oct 17, 2010 // reply »
    Funny Concert Rev. Though it's sad for me that Slayer & Testament's tour to India got cancelled. It would have been Great to see both of them Live.
  • 23 comments
    trummer
    4:10 AM on Oct 17, 2010 // reply »
    excellent concert review, i wish they were all like this.
  • 386 comments
    VOEGTLIN
    5:37 PM on Oct 20, 2010 // reply »
    Double F: I wrestled all through high school and would be thrilled to throw on the tights again over RIP.

    HS: These things cannot long be hidden: Sun, moon, the truth that RIP is homogenous, ho-hum.

    Robert: Let me know when you're coming in for another show and you can watch me do my "warm-up" routine.

    Opy: Naw. Robert's just got advanced degrees and reads more than he watches television.

    -c: Did Alice in Chains play "Would"?

    The Right Hand Path: I make you laugh a lot, don't I?

    Trummer: Thanks. They COULD all be like that if I typed 'em on my wife's BlackBerry on the way to the beach.
  • 1 comment
    Name
    9:21 PM on Oct 23, 2010 // reply »
    Hey VOEGTLIN, you seem like a really cool, experienced old veteran of the metal scene. Wanna let you know I dig you bro. Wanna have a sit-down, pop some beers, vibe it out and listen to your stories.
  • 386 comments
    VOEGTLIN
    9:20 AM on Oct 25, 2010 // reply »
    My memoir, THANX BUT I CAN SLICE MY OWN BALONEY, will be out in time for Canadian Thanksgiving.
  • 7 comments
    knucklehead
    6:13 PM on Nov 08, 2010 // reply »
    You really haven't seen them since the '80's?! It would have been nice to hear the scream again -- I didn't think that he had it in him.

    "Gimli on steroids." Priceless.
  • 386 comments
    VOEGTLIN
    5:43 AM on Nov 09, 2010 // reply »
    Knuck, what are you doing over here? Yeah, first time since the 80s. They started playing the "carny" circuit and I kept saying, next year --- so long as it's not w/ Marilyn Manson.
  • 7 comments
    knucklehead
    7:59 AM on Nov 09, 2010 // reply »
    Lurking, of course!

    I totally get the "carny circuit." I saw them first in '90, supporting SOH. I wish to god that they would play a smaller venue, like the Masqerade, so we could get *that* experience one last time.
 

Leave Feedback


Name


Email
Email will not be displayed. Gravatars? The LeftHandPath.com uses Gravatars which are the pictures that you see next to each comment. If you haven't already, register your email address and picture with Gravatar.com

Website
( Optional )

Feedback

Post your feedback, HTML will not be rendered, only plain text.


Subscribe
Receive emails when others submit comments

 

Leave this field empty

 
TWITTER RSS FEEDS
categories
138 1970s 33 ac/dc ajna ambient amon another bad idea apocalypse art asia ass cheeks atl atlanta is burning away azagthoth baby warrior drama bazillion points beaver beer ben vierling black metal black metal sublet black sabbath blasphemy blood blue cheer bon scott bone sickness bones books booze boredom brooklyn bros bukkake bullet belts canada canadian mexican food cargo carnivore chains chips & beer chips n beer chuck schuldiner cliches codpiece comics conan cooking corpse paint cowbell cross-chatter crust cry babies cycles d&d d.c. danzig david vincent death death metal deceased dei carnifex demo demos denim desecrate devil devilock dffd metal dicks dio dirty south disgruntled dodgy doom dragons dread drinkin drone drugs drunk again dvd ec comics elvis emotions eschatology euronymous's dildo fake fangoria farts feelings fetish film films filth fire florida death metal folk foodster free publicity fulci georgia german germans germans glen benton goats gore grind groupies gygax halloween hard rock hardcore headbanging heat heathen metal heavy heavy metal hell awaits hollywood homeless looking dudes make good music horror horror punk hotlanta ink interview jazz jerseys judas priest kali kenneth anger kill posers king cobra king diamond kiss label profile latin leather lemmy lhp001 lhp002 lhp003 lhp005 lhp006 lhp007 lhp008 lhp009 lhp010 lhp011 lhp012 lhp013 lhp014 lhp015 lhp016 lhp017 lhp018 lhp019 lhp020 lhp021 lhp022 lhp023 lhp024 lhp025 lhp026 lhp027 lhp028 lhp029 lhp030 lhp031 lhp032 lhp033 lhp034 lhp035 lhp036 lhp037 lhp038 lhp039 lhp040 lhp041 lhp042 lhp043 lhp044 lhp046 lhp047 lhp048 lost lucifer lulz magick manilla road marcus garvey mark reale master mephistopheles mercyful fate metal metal chef meth mgd misfits morbus chron motorhead mutilation nature nazi gaga necronomicon new york no shit noise norway not black metal not good nwobhm nyc oakleys obama 08 oh death one from the grave pain penbangers pentagram philthy pony girl power metal power trio primer problematic production pulp punk pussy putrid real men listen to thin lizzy rednecks repka reunion riffs motherfucker riot ritual robert e howard rock rush salad days samhain satan savage sword scorpions seagrave shit show report sin nanna skanks slayer sleaze sleeveless slim pickens sludge sluts soulless space cadet speed speed metal spikes spooky fingers steel stranger in a strange land street metal studs summer summoning swamp sweatpants sweden swords tanya roberts teethofskull texas thirsty and miserable thrash thrash metal tits tldr tna tombstones tour dates tremelo tuesday you tube vanguard vans varg vhs vinyl vomit weird woods year end blah year-end list you tube tuesday youth zines zinka zombies