Concert Review - Slayer/Suicidal Tendencies/Exodus

The very idea that Slayer, Suicidal Tendencies and Exodus were hitting the road together was enough to make fans check their calendar – had time somehow reverted to 1987 and nobody noticed?  The night to come was certain to be a gleeful revival of Cold War vitriol…with the exception of the fact that Slayer would be watched with eagle-eyed sharpness by all in attendance.

Reunited with Steve ‘Zetro’ Souza, Exodus approached with energy and a chip on their shoulder, set to prove not only that they may have always had the most fun of any of the Bay Area thrash bands, but also that they are still every bit as viable and proven as their contemporaries.  Zetro makes a fine account of himself, prowling around the stage with palpable kinetic excitement – the crowd starts to love Exodus because no one loves Exodus more than Zetro himself.  It’s a stable cycle of support fed back and forth as the band storms through new favorites like “Blood in, Blood Out” and old standbys like “Bonded by Blood.”  Gary Holt, playing his set of the night in double duty, isn’t sparing his energy for the headline set.  Fans are getting every ounce of his playing no matter what the banner above his head says.  No Exodus evening would be complete without “The Toxic Waltz” and this evening was no exception, sending the crowd into the intermission with power and virility.

The sands underneath Suicidal Tendencies have never stopped shifting, but that doesn’t mean that Mike Muir and this most recent incarnation of ST (minus Tim ‘Rawbiz’ Williams,) can’t provide a great experience.  Muir approaches every song like it needs a running start; he is the human battery that has powered this titanic band since 1981.  His jumping and gyrating and whole-body headbanging are iconic at this point, but over and above all that, the man simply doesn’t stand still.  So taken by the music is Muir that he never stops moving, constantly finding the energy to engage a feedback loop of movement with the assembled masses.

The rest of the band are no slouches, either.  They too bound in all directions with reckless abandon, creating a stage show that captivates without the use of gimmickry or fanciful props.  Suicidal Tendencies began their set with “You Can’t Bring Me Down” and each selection was more powerful after that.  It was only about halfway through when the band busted out the much anticipated “War Inside My Head,” which was perhaps the best song anyone played all night.  The crowd, vocal in their evening-long support of Slayer, was easily swept into a fervor by “Cyco Vision” as band members crashed around the stage like washes cascading onto a rocky shore.  Slayer’s reputation is such that it seems impossible to think of their show being stolen out from under them, but this slap-bassed, groove-infused set had the thought crossing everyone’s mind.

Slayer.  The word itself rings with thirty years of history and tradition, a metal legacy unto itself.  Fans were leery as this tour commenced, though.  While everyone had gotten used to Gary Holt on stage in place of Jeff Hanneman, would the transition back to Paul Bostaph be so smooth?

Behind the white curtain, the thrash legends came to the stage and so began the opening strains of “World Painted Blood” as the billowy white cloth revealed a stage flanked by four mobile southern crosses.  Tom Araya came to the mic as Kerry King and Holt guided his famously strained vocals into the song.

Right away, something seemed off.  This is sacrilege to even suggest, but could Slayer be having a bad night?  Closing one’s eyes, the music seemed as pulverizing as ever, the transition from the opening selection to “Postmortem” not losing an ounce of momentum.  Watching the band on stage though, there was a certain something missing, as though the rhythm section were preoccupied with their thoughts elsewhere.  “War Ensemble” was record-perfect, but the performance of it seemed automatic, and while the injection of seldom-used “Jesus Saves” was a pleasant distraction, Slayer failed to sell it to their audience.

In filling the gargantuan shoes of Dave Lombardo, Paul Bostaph does his best and performs capably well.  His attempts to add some personal touches, like drum fills that never existed before in “Seasons in the Abyss” are well intentioned and some work better than others.  While his double bass was tight and flawlessly on time, there was something about the additional accents that could be interpreted as a ‘look at me’ moment, as though the band were trying to prove they didn’t need Lombardo.  When was the last time Slayer had something to prove?

It wasn’t all bad notes for the most evil band in American metal.  “At Dawn They Sleep” roused the band out of their shells, giving their best performance of the night to a song that appeases long-time Slayer fans, while “Psychopathy Red” was played with particular fervor.

Somewhat frustratingly to fans heard around the venue, there was no glimpse of Slayer’s upcoming material, either the much talked about Hanneman material or otherwise.  Fans here and there could be heard talking about hoping to hear something new, but their wishes went unheeded as the band plowed ahead with “World Painted Blood” and the early classics on their shield. 

Then something incredible happened, something that no Slayer fan could fathom, but there it was.  Somewhere along the line during Slayer’s ninety minute performance, the most pit….stopped.  We’ve seen this phenomenon before, where the Slayer faithful will take a couple of tunes off to catch their breath, but there is always, always a resumption of bodily violence before too long.  Not on this night.  By the time Slayer got to “Snuff,” about two thirds of the way home, the fans were observing the spectacle politely and without any sense of kinetic motion.  It was staggering to watch a Slayer crowd not erupt and start throwing each other around for “Raining Blood,” but that’s what happened.  It was like someone had pulled the plug on band and crowd alike.

One hesitates to say that someone of the lofty position and reputation of Slayer is done.  It seems impossible to contemplate even as it’s typed.  So let’s chalk it up to a bad night and hope for better days ahead.  That said, the consensus of fans after the show was that Suicidal Tendencies was the reason to see this tour, and their performance seemed even more energetic when weighed against the actions of the headline band.  Go to enjoy Exodus and revel in Suicidal Tendencies, then hope for the best.