When Download Festival continued it’s expansion into Australia it was no surprise that Adelaide was not part of the festival circuit. Hey, …we made our bed, we lie in it. But with Slayer on their final tour the announcement of a ‘sideshow’ in Adelaide in conjunction with fellow big-4 member Anthrax, and demi-gods of darkness Behemoth… it was music to bloodied ears to the local metal fraternity.
It was soon pretty obvious that the unwritten rule of “don’t wear a shirt of the same band as the gig you’re going to” doesn’t apply to Slayer fans. It’s a badge of honour. Without exaggeration 75% of the marauding black hoardes were wearing a Slayer T, with the other 25% consisting of the random Anthrax, Behemoth or even Slaves shirt (maybe these 2 guys were at the wrong gig?) Even those with battle jackets were probably wearing a Slayer shirt beneath.
The bright light evening outdoors was soon replaced by a smoke filled dark crypt as Polish doom metal band Behemoth took to the stage. I’m sure these are the guys that gave me nightmares as a kid. Prancing around the stage in demon-like possessive state wanting to devour any willing souls, the guys from Behemoth delivered their powerful set starting with a brutal assault via ‘Wolves ov Siberia’. Throughout their opening set they manage to cram in material from throughout their career, even pausing for a moment to recognise that Adelaide was the first city the band played back during their first Aussie tour in 2006, and the ‘symmetry’ that they were now ending the current tour here. Behemoth wound the set up with the massive fan-favourites ‘Conquer All’ and ‘Blow Your Trumpets Gabriel’ before closing with ‘Chant for Eschanton’. Wow! What a brutal start to the evening.
Next up was Pantera… or was it…? The ‘Cowboys From Hell’ intro may have had a few folks fooled, but f**k it was intense. Vicious even! …as the boys from Anthrax launched into their set. Back into more familiar territory with ‘Caught in the Mosh’ the sold out crowd were in full voice. A few songs in and the opening notes of ‘Madhouse’ turned the Adelaide Entertainment Centre into just that. I’ve been to gigs that don’t reach the hype, but tonight both the bands and the audience were bringing everything they had to the table.
As it is being an opening act, the set is rather limited. And being nothing less than ‘thrash royalty’ with a few decades under your belt this has got to make it ever harder. Joey and they guys brought the cream and the crowd lapped it up. ‘I Am The Law’, ‘EvilTwin’ , ‘Antisocial’ and closed with the classic anthem that is ‘Indians’
The break between bands saw the erection of an imposing floor-to-ceiling curtain which would soon form the background to a display of inverted crosses and other Slayer induced symbolism that your mum told you not to get involved in. When then band dived head first into ‘Replentless’ the curtain dropped and the stage was engulfed in a sea of flames. The sheer force, heat and brutal wall of sound just hit the audience straight between the eyes. BAM!… it was ‘game on’.
Being their final tour the guys were not going to leave the crowd wanting, playing anything and everything. ‘Blood Red’ , ‘Mandatory Suicide’, ‘Jihad’…. Even asking any folks that may be offended to leave the arena as they delivered a fiendish, sadistic version of ‘Payback’. They band barely had a moment to stop and take it all in as they churned though the setlist. The haunting opening to ‘Season in the Abyss’ drew close to the largest reaction of the night. As it kicked into gear, heads were banging, hair was flailing about, and the distinctive odour of mary j consumed sections of the audience.
It was a ‘final’ tour and it was only right that Slayer would have close on 2 hours onstage. A touching tribute to Jeff Hanneman preceded the closing track for the evening ‘Angel of Death’. Come the end there was a strange feeling throughout the arena. Was this the last time the black mass was going to see their idols? Could it be finished after close-on 4 decades? Whatever the future holds, the band and the audience can be rest assured the Slayer’s last stand in the City of Churches was one that will be etched in minds and maybe forearms for more than just the immediate future.
PHOTO GALLERY
Photos by Lindsay at Rock Tsar Photography
Slayer
Anthrax
Behemoth
