SLAYER!!! May 16 2019

  This was a really fun show! Lets start at the beginning. I first became aware of this show from a facebook post by the venue. Now the original post listed about 15 different bands for the date of July 23 2019. It looked like an awesome lineup, and I shared the post with my concert going friend, but he never replied that he wanted to go. And I didn't push the issue. Then I was talking to my Son in law,  he had saw the same post and reminded me that that was his birthday. So I started thinking, what a great birthday gift. I always try to give the gift of music in one way or another. usually it's in the form of a cd or album. But this was perfect. So I went on my phone right then and there and bought 4 tickets to what I thought was a festival show on July 23. Lawn "seats" were the only thing I was able to purchase, which I don't really care for standing during an entire show (see my previous post). But, I really wanted to get these tickets so I was willing to stand. Bought the tickets, told my daughter and Son in law we were going to this on his birthday and he could bring a friend it's on me.
   After buying the tickets I started doing a little research, and noticed that Slayer were playing on May 16 . It was not a festival. It was a multi event ticket. I had never bought tickets like this before so I really didn't know about these kind of ticket sales. I ended up buying 4 tickets to 4 different shows. And the lineup of bands listed for his birthday were the bands that none of us really knew of or followed. So this was a little disappointing, but now we have 4 shows to go to. Oh well, we'll just have to go and have fun at all of them! Oh darn.For this show I decided to give my friend the fourth ticket. They had decided to purchase another ticket for a friend of there's to go with us as well. The more the merrier.
   This show was on a Thursday, which is a good thing for me since my weekends are actually Tuesday, Wednesday, & Thursday. I work Friday through Monday. So It works out well. But this particular weekend was the same weekend I had planned on celebrating my 25th wedding anniversary. No big deal, I can do both! (side note, we had a blast! My wife is my everything, and I love her more today than I did 25 years ago!) I live in central Indiana. And this show is in central Indiana (Nobelsville) as well. But I was traveling to St. Louis MO for a few days for my anniversary. So the day of the show, I start out with a 5 hour drive. I got home and had enough time for a quick nap. Which at this point in my life is so welcome! I wake up and then we drive another hour to the show.
   We arrive at the show and some dark clouds are rolling in. We were doing a little tail gating before the show when It started raining. We decided to just hang out in the cars until the storm passed. And It's a good thing we did. It was a short storm, but a nasty one! Also, the venue had sent me an email saying they were going to delay the opening of the gates until after the worst part of the storm had past. The lightning show was pretty cool! Very Metal!!! So stay in the cars and drink em if you got em!
   The storm passed and everyone jumps out of their cars and gets into the mile long line. While in line, we are hearing that the first band on the bill, Cannibal Corpse, had been canceled due to the delay. That sucks. We get inside (finally!) And the next band, Amon Amarth is already on stage. I really wanted to see them because I had heard a lot of good things about them. But, upgrading our tickets from lawn to pavilion was a little more important. So we stood in line to do that while they were on. From what I could see and hear of Amon Amarth makes me want to check them out even more. So the process of upgrading is taking a little longer than I had hoped. Amon Amarth finish their set and the next band, Lamb of God are setting up.We are still in line when Lamb of God starts playing. Now I had seen them 10 years ago, opening for Metallica, and while the music is great, there is something about the vocals that just doesn't do it for me. I'm not saying he is bad. He is a very energetic front man. Just not my cup of tea.We finally get our upgraded tickets and head to the seats. Yes a seat!! They are just off the lawn, barely under the pavilion. but they are better than the lawn! Lamb of God are still up there doing there thing. I look at my daughters arm and she is covered in goosebumps. Not from the excitement of the band, the storm brought in a much cooler temperature. So I decide to make a run to the merch table and get her a Slayer hoodie. Unfortunately  the only Slayer hoodies they had were 3X and she's a little thing. She would be swimming in it. So she got a Lamb of God hoodie instead. And I picked up an event poster for myself. After a quick trip to the bathroom and a stop by the pretzel stand since I had not had anything to eat since lunch and the thick cloud of pot in the air was giving me the munchies! Now back to my SEAT! Lamb of God was finishing up and it was about time for the main event.
   This is the Slayer farewell tour. It's a long farewell but it's getting closer to the end. They had just played here last year and I was kicking myself that I had missed it. So glad they came back for one more round. This is not the first time I have seen them, but It is the first time I've seen them with a full headlining set. And If you have read my first post on this board, you would know that it should have been the third time seeing them, alas it is only the second. And last.
   The cries of "FUCKING SLAAAAAAAAYER" fill the air. You can't go 10 seconds without hearing someone screaming it.  As the intro tape rolls the crowd starts going nuts! They hit the stage in a earsplitting fury!! Here's the setlist with a little breakdown.

  1.Repentless : From their newest album. Still killing it!
  2.Evil Has No Boundaries: Classic
  3.World Painted Blood: Great song. One of my favs from that album
  4.War Ensemble: This is the sound of my teenage years! Love this song!
  5.Gemini: Not one I'm really familiar with,but still thrashtastic!
  6.Disciple: Another on of my favs! Great to hear thousands scream "God Hates Us All"!!
  7.Mandatory Suicide: Another song from my youth that I just love! Beautifully Evil!!
  8.Chemical Warfare: Another classic
  9.Payback: Great song
 10.Temptation: Thrash at it's finest
 11.Born Of Fire: Can't get enough of this album
 12.Seasons In The Abyss: My first and favorite Slayer album
 13.Hell Awaits: I'm going to start sounding repetitive here, but I love this song!!!
 14.South Of Heaven: See above!
 15.Raining Blood: This is it! This is the last time you will get to hear this song live! And let me say the music took over my body! "The Power of Satan Compelled Me" I am 44 years old at this point. Completely out of shape with a bad back, knees, and feet. But when this song hit the old eardrums, I started headbaning like a sixteen year old kid. No pain! Just sheer joy and adrenaline! How could it get any better than this.
 16.Black Magic: This is how! This is the one song I learned most of on guitar that I would play to death! Now I'm not a guitar player. I try, and I mostly just learn parts of or half of a song. No different here. But I absolutely love playing the parts of this song that I know! The headbanging continued during this song!
 17.Dead Skin Mask: Another one of my favorite tracks from my favorite album!
 18. Angel Of Death: Has to be one of the greatest Thrash Metal songs of all time!

   And that's it! One of the best shows I have ever seen! I loved spending the time with my daughter, son in law, and my best friend. That is the only part of this that was better than the show. And thanks to a guy that goes by the handle of Ironchef who recorded the audio of this show, I'll be able to listen to it over and over again.
  I never got the chance to see the original lineup back in the day, so missing the chance to see Jeff Hanneman really sucks. But you could not find a better replacement than Gary Holt. replacing one legend with another without skipping a beat! At the end Tom Arya said "No speech. Just thank you for coming. Thank you very very much. I'm going to miss you guys." And we will miss you too.
   Here are some pics. My camera sucks and we were pretty far back but oh well.