SLAYER
Commodore Ballroom (Capacity 990)
BC, Canada. Saturday Feb 16th
Review By D. Pope
The Commodore Ballroom is perhaps the finest place in Vancouver to
see a live band.. especially if that band is Slayer! The band played 2
general admission sold out shows, the second show occuring on Sunday.
The band had actually recorded their latest album God
Hates Us All last year at Warehouse studios in Vancouver.
The band were tight, brutal, and fast as hell. The concert started
with the Darkness of Christ album track and launched into Disciple. The
remainder of the set list included in no particular order....Chemical
Warfare, Die by the Sword, Captor of Sin, Hell Awaits, Angel of Death,
Post Mortem, Reigning Blood, South of Heaven, Mandatory Suicide, War
Ensemble, Born of Fire, Dead Skin Mask, Seasons in the Abyss, Stain of
Mind, Disciple, Bloodline, Payback and a few others from the new album.
The album Divine Intervention
was curiously not represented tonight. During the show, Tom Araya
thanked the audience for "taking the time to come out and have some
fun". He then yelled "do you want to die?". The crowd
roared "yeah" and the band played "Post Mortem".
The band appeared to be very into the show and seemed to get off on
the crowd.
As per tradition Jeff Hanneman wore his shin guards and Kerry King
wore his spiked arm band. Some things never change and thank satan! Tom
Araya looked positively sick with his out of control mane fanning the
crowd. One chick standing next to me said that Tom looked to be "in
hard shape" considering his father's death last week from a heart
attack. I thought that Tom just looked more deathly which was fine by
me. It certainly did not affect his playing. "It's about the
music-ya bitch" !
The fans were nuts and it was clear they were there to see their
maker. I was even inspired to buy a t-shirt. There were some very sick
shirt designs including a pic of Jesus with several nails in his skull.
Another shirt design had the American Flag covered in blood with the
caption "payback is a bitch". I have been to see several metal
bands in recent years and no other band can sell t-shirts like Slayer.
Even the chicks were wearing special baby-doll shirts made for the
event.
I don't recall the last time I got punched in the head at a concert
but that's just what happened "accidentally". I guess I'm too
old for the mosh pit though I'm still young enough to enjoy picking
dried blood out of my ears.
Dave Lombardo is god! Actually I wondering throughout the concert if
it was in fact god behind the drums. The drummer had been inconspicuous
behind the kit, wearing a ball cap and keeping his head low. The band
made no mention of his presence and I spoke to several people in the
audience who were not even aware of his temporary return. He did come up
from the drums at the end of the show and it was then that I was able
too see "Lord Lombardo". I guess Dave learned his lesson from
the South of Heaven tour when Rick Rubin told him to alter his posture
to be seen by the audience. This in effect drastically affected his
chops resulting in pro-tools being used on much of the Abyss album. His
playing was phenomenal tonight and live the band never sounded better.
Please stop the auditions!
One of the most enjoyable concerts in recent memory (a combination of
the bands performance, the venue and Smirnoff Ice). Despite the bands inability
to sell out larger venues, the fans win in the end by having the
opportunity to see a band as close as they dare to get.