Slayer Live in Philly
By
Tokemaster General,
Contributor
Monday, October 27, 2003 @ 8:51 PM
| Slayer, With Hatebreed, Live a
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REVIEW BY: Mr. Slayer
I don't know where to start -- I've been waiting for this for so fucking long.
I thought Slayer would hit the stage around 10 o'clock so my brother and I arrived about 9:45 only to find out that Hatebreed was just going on. After enduring a set that seemed to feature the same song played 10 times, I was ready for the gods. Let me say that Hatebreed did have quite a few fans there, mostly steroid-pumped, skinhead, jock types with no clue about how momentous this occasion was.
Slayer took a while to make their appearance, it wasn't until nearly 11:30 that the lights dimmed and the by now familiar opening chords of “Darkness of Christ” stopped the Slayer chants and announced that the show of a lifetime was beginning. They erupted into “Disciple,” which is a killer opening tune and the crowd lustily screamed "God Hates Us All!" Next up was “War Ensemble” and they blistered through it. I swear they just keep getting tighter and tighter live. Musically, I'd say this is the best I've ever seen them.
“At Dawn They Sleep” was third and Tom encouraged the "KILL, KILL" chant to go on for a while before finishing it up -- brilliant. Next was a huge, pleasant surprise for me when they broke out “Necrophiliac.” I wasn't surprised to see that many of the younger folk who came out for Hatebreed were just standing around in bewilderment during this classic while we were going berserk. Again -- excellent.
After a short pause to speak to the crowd, Tom announced “Stain of Mind.” Dave was in excellent form and nailed the intricate footwork. Next up was “Mandatory Suicide” followed by “God Send Death” and “Dead Skin Mask,” all great. Tom's voice was really strong tonight, didn't struggle or sound strapped at all as sometimes happens after being on the road for awhile. Next up was another blast from the past when the opening notes of “Fight ‘Til Death” blared out of the PA. This was another great thrill for me, as I haven't heard it live since 1985. Again, a good portion of the crowd didn't know the song but you can see all the old heads with looks of ecstasy on their faces as they barked out the lyrics.
Next up was “Payback,” which goes off nicely in a live setting, lots of energy. Two more giants followed in “Hell Awaits” and “South of Heaven,” which were great. “Hell Awaits” is such a fucking intense tune live, I don't have to mention how fucking sore my neck is at this point, as it should be a given.
Now, the moment I've been waiting for since I was 16 years old was upon us. “Angel of Death” started and the crowd went wild, Tom got off a good opening scream and Dave's solo part was like a machine gun. Jeff and Kerry's solos were spot on. There was a short pause and many of the people thought the show was over since they normally close with “Angel.” How wrong they were… “Piece by Piece” was next, of course, and I really couldn't have been happier -- I could at last check off the only song from the first three albums that I've never heard live. Pure exultation is the only way I could describe the rest of the set. “Necrophobic” was blinding, “Altar” went off spectacularly with everyone screaming the Satan parts in unison. One thing I've noticed at all the concerts I've been to is that the mention of Satan always brings an extra cheer from people. Whether it's Slayer or Sabbath or Maiden or whomever, people respond well to Satan. It's funny. “Jesus Saves” came right in on cue as they do it on the album and it went off tremendously. Another short pause before Dave kicked off the famous drum opening to “Criminally Insane.” They went right through “Reborn” and “Epidemic” before the final pause to speak to the crowd. Then to round it off, the greatest one-two punch in Metal music history began with “Postmortem” leading into the ever-classic, ever-brilliant “Raining Blood.” All the superlatives in the world aren't enough to describe my feelings at this show. It is without a doubt the greatest musical experience of my life and one of the greatest experiences of any kind. As strange as it may sound I rank this right up there with the birth of my children as one of the greatest things I'll ever see. I don't care who you have to rob or kill to do it, you MUST see this show.
Setlist
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Disciple
War Ensemble
At Dawn They Sleep
Necrophiliac
Stain of Mind
Mandatory Suicide
God Send Death
Dead Skin Mask
Fight Til Death
Payback
Hell Awaits
South of Heaven
Angel of Death
Piece by Piece
Necrophobic
Altar of Sacrifice
Jesus Saves
Criminally Insane
Reborn
Epidemic
Postmortem
Raining Blood
T-shirts were $25 and they have several RIB designs on sale with the old logo and album cover. They have a classic Slayer Eagle shirt on sale too. There were 3 new designs as well -- a demon, a severed head on a pike and some abstract church design. All are cool. The long sleeve RIB shirt is wicked as well. Has the album cover on the front, "Do You Want To Die?!" on the back with the dates and Reign in Blood down the sleeve. $40 for that one. They also had jerseys, panties, hats and other goodies. Very cool. Again, this is a MUST see show.
For those that don't have tickets there were plenty of scalpers out there and a few have been traveling up the coast. They say they've been getting $60 a ticket in most places so it's not really all that costly. Whatever you have to sacrifice to get to this show is worth it.
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