Undisputed Attitude Tour 
  1. Slayer was in top form on Thursday night, August 22, at SaltAir Pavilion in Salt Lake City. From beginning with
  2. "South of Heaven" to a traditional ending with "Angel of Death," they kept up the pounding energy and furious
  3. head-banging for which they are known. Slayer's set included five songs from the album "Undisputed Attitude," as well
  4. as many of their best songs from earlier albums.
  5. All four band members seemed very practiced and fine-tuned, and every song was tight as a virgin's honey pot.
  6. Tom Araya's voice remained strong throughout the rather demanding songs in their set, and the sound man even made
  7. his bass audible once in a while. New drummer Jon Dette, originally from Testament, was very solid; his double bass
  8. footwork went "tick tock, tick tock" like a stopwatch on speed (and he nailed the solo part near the end of "Angel of
  9. Death," along with the solo part before the bridge of "War Ensemble"). Jeff Hanneman's lead playing has assumed its
  10. original energetic frenzy like that of the early days, yet kept the accuracy of his studio solos. Kerry was Kerry--looking
  11. cool, playing his ass off, thrashing about with his tattooed bald head; he too displayed some very accurate, not to mention
  12. creative and cool, lead playing. Their light show seemed a bit scaled-down in comparison to the lightning-strike pulses of
  13. the Divine Intervention tour; but it was chilling nonetheless. Instead of the usual leather, Slayer wore summer
  14. clothing--surfer shorts and tank-tops--which was smart considering Salt Lake's recent 100-degree weather and how like a
  15. sauna it can be inside SaltAir Pavilion during a metal show.
  16. The set was comprised of the following (though I'm not absolutely sure about the order):
  19. South of Heaven
  20. War Ensemble
  21. Abolish Government/Superficial Love--T.S.O.L.
  22. Captor of Sin
  23. Richard Hung Himself--D.I.
  24. Gemini
  25. Dittohead
  26. Mr. Freeze--Dr. Know
  27. Sex. Murder. Art.
  28. Chemical Warfare
  29. Hell Awaits
  30. The Antichrist
  31. Necrophiliac
  32. Dead Skin Mask
  33. Seasons in the Abyss
  34. Filler/I don't Want to Hear It--Minor Threat
  35. I Hate You--Verbal Abuse
  36. Raining Blood
  37. Killing Fields
  38. Mandatory Suicide
  39. Angel of Death
  41. The only thing that was strange about the show itself were the two bands that opened--Unsane, a band who seemed
  42. to be the answer to the question, "If Nirvana were from New York instead of Seattle, what would they look/sound like?";
  43. and d.f.l. (I don't have any particular comments about these guys). Both bands seemed apologetic and gracious toward
  44. the audience for putting up with them while waiting for Slayer to take the stage; Unsane's lead singer was like "OK, we're
  45. just going to do our set and then SLAYER!! is up next"..."OK, we just have a couple more songs and then SLAYER!! is
  46. up next"..."OK, this is our last song, and then..." [pause for crowd to scream SLAYER!!]... Since it must be hard to play
  47. for a crowd who keeps chanting another band's name, normally I would feel sympathy for any good band opening up for
  48. Slayer; unfortunately, however, these two bands just weren't.
  49. As for the scene in general, SaltAir Pavilion is a great place to see shows. There are no seats, so mosh pits tend to
  50. start wherever people feel like having them; and there is a nice balcony along three sides of the building, for those of the
  51. spectatorial mindset. The building has windows all along the same three sides on which the balcony is built, which is nice
  52. for those who get too hot, or just need a break from the tobacco and marijuana smoke-filled air inside. SaltAir is built on
  53. the beach of the Great Salt Lake, which can be a good thing or a bad thing, depending on how fragrant the lake is that
  54. day; but people are allowed between sets to go outside and enjoy the scenic beauty of the site.
  55. One thing that threatened to ruin my fun that night was the few assholes there who decided to start a fight--right
  56. where I was standing at the time, in fact. I saw an ambulance and about ten patrolmen from the County Sheriff's and the
  57. UHP doing 10-80 toward SaltAir while I was going home--later I found out that after the show five people there had been
  58. stabbed and were in serious condition. What a fucking drag.
  59. However, nothing can ruin the fact that after all these years, I can still rely on Slayer to keep kicking ass. No other
  60. band I know of has stayed so true to themselves for such a long time. This was my fourth time seeing Slayer live, and
  61. I'm happy to say that it was a pleasure once again. Tom Araya thanked all of us for our loyalty; but I want to thank Tom
  62. personally for his. I think that's the reason that Slayer fans are so loyal: because Slayer are so loyal to their fans, and
  63. because Slayer clearly takes the loyalty of their fans seriously. It's called integrity.  
  64. E-mail me at: [email protected]
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