As you know, Slayer members Tom Araya and Jeff Hanneman are both long-time ESP players. You can see Tom's signature basses here, and Jeff's signature ESP and LTD guitars here. The ESP Team was out in full force at last night's Slayer show at Universal, here in Los Angeles. Our intrepid reporter, ESP marketing assistant Mario Rubio, wrote up a full report from his viewpoint on the show. Here it is!
Last night, I went to go see Slayer at the Gibson Amphitheatre. I've seen Slayer many times, but this was not like any other Slayer show I've ever been to. Tonight, they played Seasons in the Abyss in its entirety, celebrating the album's 20th year anniversary. Standing in line waiting to go into the venue, you could hear the rabid fans screaming "SLAYER!!" at the top of their lungs, which is typical at every Slayer concert you go to. I hung out and met up with some friends as we all patiently waited for the band to go on.
So, the time finally came, and Slayer started out with the intro and title track of their new album, "World Painted Blood". As soon as Tom, Jeff, Kerry, and Dave went onstage and started playing, the crowd went insane! The pits broke out, with fans rushing down the aisles, literally shoving the security guards aside in their attempts to get into the pit. It was total havok, like most Slayer concerts!
After "World Painted Blood", they went into "Hate Worldwide", another track from their latest album (and one that was nominated for a Grammy award this year). But then came the moment we'd all been waiting for: Slayer playing Seasons in the Abyss from start to finish. As Tom greeted the crowd, he let them know that tonight was the last night of the tour. He then asked the crowd, "Are you ready for war?!?!?!", and then screamed "WAR ENSEMBLE!". The whole crowd went nuts, and I started headbanging like no tomorrow, singing along to the song; "War Ensemble" is one of my favorite Slayer songs ever. It brought back memories, as my first concert ever was seeing Slayer at the very same venue in 2003.
As the night continued, the set was just completely awesome. Fast forwarding to the last song of the album ("Seasons in the Abyss"), it was a complete treat to see Slayer play this album live as it is a really important album to Slayer's career. Seasons in the Abyss had so much groove in it, but it's also very thrashy. Even then, the night was far from over. Slayer came back and played "South of Heaven", then went into "Raining Blood". Then, to my surprise, they played "Aggressive Perfector", which they very rarely perform live. Watching them play this song was a huge highlight of the night for me.
Slayer ended the night with one of their all time classic hits: "Angel Of Death". The whole crowd was headbanging and singing along. As Slayer left the stage, you could hear the crowd do the "Slayer Chant". I have to say it was one of the best Slayer shows I've ever been to.
October 21, 2010 Set List:
World Painted blood
Hate Worldwide
War Ensemble
Blood Red
Spirit In Black
Expendable Youth
Dead Skin Mask
Hallowed Point
Skeletons Of Society
Temptation
Born Of Fire
Seasons In the Abyss
South of Heaven
Raining Blood
Aggressive Perfector
Angel Of Death
