Monday 5 November 2018

Slayer's last ever London show

A big 4 band bill on a Saturday night. Yes 1000s came for this one. Probably 10,000 I would guess.

Obituary were up first. Saw them back in April. Big stage gigs don't suit them IMO. A club gig in fron of 4-500 nutters going ape and a crunchy sound is much better. A cavernous echo-ey Arena sound is not really suitable. Having said that the Obies were great. Only 30 minutes but their bouncy grooving riffing was easy to nod along to. John Tardy's roaring lion vocals are always a highlight too. Overall I look forward to the Obies in a small venue in the future.

Redneck Stomp
Sentence Day
A Lesson in Vengeance
Visions In My Head
Turned to Stone
Don't Care
I'm in Pain
Slowly We Rot

Next up were thrash veterans Anthrax. I saw them with Slayer a couple of years ago and that was my first time with the New York Legends. This was the second time and the sound was clearly much better than it was for Obituary. I'll admit I'm just not a big Anthrax fan. They are good and have great riffs but the song writing just doesn't do much for me. They only had 30 odd minutes as well. They were pretty good though. Madhouse was my fave track. Nice little Pantera tribute as well.

Caught in a Mosh
(with Pantera 'Cowboys from Hell' intro)
Got the Time
(Joe Jackson cover)
Madhouse
Be All, End All
Evil Twin
Antisocial
(Trust cover)
Indians
(with Pantera "Cowboys From Hell" outro)

Lamb of God were main support and my least fave of the 4 bands that played. I saw them on this very stage supporting Megadeth a couple of years back. Just not fully into LoG these days. However the sound for them was even louder and crisper than Anthrax. Very blistering 50 minute set. Ruin and Laid To Rest were the most memorable songs. The moshpits were obviously pretty vicious for these guys.

Omerta
Ruin
Walk With Me in Hell
Now You've Got Something to Die For
512
Engage the Fear Machine
Blacken the Cursed Sun
Laid to Rest
Redneck

And then finally for the last time Slayer came on and prepared to lay waste. One thing that's easily noticeable is that there is barely any interaction between the guys whilst on stage. Every one seems to be doing theor own thing. They're probably sick of the sight of each other lol. I know there's been some political beef between Tom and Gary Holt. The sound was a bit off for opener Repentless but personally I like that energy filled starter. mandatory Suicide was the next great tune and the sound was also really good by then. War Enemsble is always an insane track. Jihad and When The Stillness Comes are ot my faves. Postmortem was great as was the following Black Magic. Payback I don't like but then Seasons and Dittohead were a nice juxtapose with slow and insanely fast. I loved Dittohead lol. Incessantly manic!
Dead Skin Mask I find boring but people love it. Hell Awaits is a great end to the main set.

The four encore songs are all brilliant. All classics of the Slayer catalogue. Best was Raining Blood which never seems to get old and same for set closer Angel of Death. And then 10,000 people paid farewell to these thrash Titans much loved member of the big 4. Personally I place them 3rd in the big 4 top to bottom. 1. Meg 2. Met. 3. Slayer 4 Anthrax. They are still legends though. I get the feeling Tom's heart isn't fully in it any more although his performance is still great. The band is still tight and sounds very good and could probably go on for another album but maybe it's really time to hang it up. 1000s paid homage to this legend of the big 4 and I get the feeling that many "non Slayer fan" metalheads and rockers came to pay a final farewell judging by the diverse crowd I saw. So there it is. Who's gonna be a member of the big 4 now or is the big 4 now defunct anyway? To me, Megadeth, Testament, Overkill and Exodus should go on a massive world tour... wishful thinking I know.

Repentless
Blood Red
Disciple
Mandatory Suicide
Hate Worldwide
War Ensemble
Jihad
When the Stillness Comes
Postmortem
Black Magic
Payback
Seasons in the Abyss
Dittohead
Dead Skin Mask
Hell Awaits

Encore:
South of Heaven
Raining Blood
Chemical Warfare
Angel of Death

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