Jägermeister Music Tour Fall 2004:
Slayer with Killswitch Engage and Mastodon
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Jägermeister Music Tour Fall 2004: Slayer with Killswitch Engage and Mastodon |
Judgment Committee Reviews | Rating |
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4 | |
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5 | |
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5 | |
| Requiem's Review | 3 |
Abyss' Review (11/13/04, The Palladium, Worcester, MA ):
Drywall of BloodThe Palladium in Worcester is becoming a worse and worse place to see a show. It's one thing to have an indoor smoking ban, but quite another not to have a system to let concert goers out for a cigarette. It doesn't seem to be all that much of a problem in other places in the country . . . but The Palladium seems completely taken aback by the whole concept. On top of that, the bouncers seem to take some sadistic glee in catching people sneaking cigarettes, so much so that they remind me more of hall monitors than anything else. Of course, smoking situation aside, I had just been diagnosed with a stomach condition in which my doctor advised me to avoid alcohol (The cure is worse than the disease!). So if it wasn't for the fact that I was hanging out with some old friends, I would've been in a really bad mood.
Photo by Hel
MastodonSince I generally view my life as a collection of bad decisions, I went straight to the bar as soon as I got in the venue, and me and my friends used our early arrival to our advantage by discussing whether Slayer would again play the entirety of Reign in Blood during their set. You see, I missed the last tour when they decided to do that. Why, you ask? Again, because my life is a collection of bad decisions. You see, I've seen Slayer on just about every tour for the last decade and figured I'd miss that one because I had some conflict with it . . . so I was hoping for redemption at this show. You see, we were already aware that the 'Wall of Blood' was going to be used and it seemed logical that they might go all out again . . . but more on that later . . .
Mastodon was the first act on the bill, and I think it's great that they landed a tour like this. They have such great, and well-deserved, momentum right now, and this tour could be just the thing to get them to the next level. For those of you who have never seen them, the band is really in their element in a live setting, coming across as some twisted, half-formed jam act. They are simply a juggernaut surrounded by their amps and the dank, sweat-filled, oppressive air of a live club. Even the notoriously fickle Slayer fanbase stood up and took notice, especially during "March of the Fire Ants," as infectious a song as there is. I've heard people get upset that everyone's jumping onto the Mastodon bandwagon, but I just don't see it. The band is simply that good. It's not bandwagon jumping but compulsion.
Photo by Hel
Killswitch EngageWhy, why, why, why, why don't I like Killswitch Engage!?! With the exception of me and a few others, everyone at this show seemed utterly thrilled for the chance to see this band. Granted, this is a hometown show for them, but it seems that everyone, everywhere is into these guys. And while I can't say I hate them, I just don't see what the big deal is. They seem like a middle-tier Lamb of God or Shadows Fall to me. Anyway, they sounded pretty good tonight, piecing together yet another set that I had trouble paying attention to.
. . . continuing with my previous Slayer thoughts . . . It was about five songs into the set when I first leaned over to my friends and said "Notice they still haven't played a single song off of Reign in Blood." Of course, I knew that the song "Raining Blood" would definitely have to be last, but the fact that not a single other track had made its way onto the setlist gave me the opportunity to hope. When the first set ended with still no representative of that particular album, I was sure we'd see the whole thing and I'd be vindicated. But alas, the first song of the encore was not "Angel of Death", but "Postmortem." And that was to be it . . . "Postmortem" into "Raining Blood" to close out the show. Even though it was the result of my own unfounded expectations, I must admit I was disappointed. On top of this, the Wall of Blood was nowhere to be found. I spoke to one of the bartenders on the way out and he said that it took them hours to set it up, but it never happened (I stick to this despite the fact that I overhead some people say they did see it). Another disappointment. In fact, the only thing that really saved this show for me was the fact that, in taking out many of the overplayed Reign tracks, we got to hear a really impressive set list. "Chemical Warfare," "Hell Awaits," "At Dawn They Sleep," "The Antichrist" . . . of course we've heard these live before, but usually they're split up and thrown in at different shows. It was great hearing them all at one time. One word review: SLAAAYYYERRR!!!!
Death's Review (12/17/04, Universal Amphitheatre, Universal City, CA ):
Nothing like a Slayer show to put you the holiday spirit. We rolled out to Universal City on a Friday evening, and fought the massive traffic to get there, just in time to wait in line at the will call window and to see one of our friends out front frantically trying to get his passes and telling us that Mastodon was going on stage right that moment. Shit. Thankfully, our envelopes were readily retrieved, and I crusied into the venue to find a seat while Hel ran down front to shoot pictures. I soon found my friends and got positioned well enough to totally focus on Mastodon. It was really cool to watch them play in such a huge venue, and although admittedly at least half the crowd obviously had no idea who they were, I did, and I thrashed out wildly to modern classics like "March of the Fire Ants" and "Blood and Thunder." Best part: noticing how much the applause level increased between each passing pause.
Photo by Hel
SlayerI was psyched to have backstage access, which at this venue means free beer in a cool outdoor environment. Everyone was there, but I guess that was to be expected at the last show of the Slayer tour in their hometown of Los Angeles on a Friday night. It was such a killer party scene backstage with all sort of crazy fun people that I have to admit that I never made it out into the venue to watch Killswitch Engage. I just pounded beers and talked about how we were all going to drop our jaded façade and get liquored up before going out to go ape shit for Slayer. Soon enough it was time. I had good seats, but I never sat down in them the entire set. Slayer were, as always, very cool. I liked the set list a lot, which included some killer old shit like "Fight 'till Death," "Hell Awaits," "At Dawn They Sleep," and "Chemical Warfare," as a toast to Dimebag Darrell prior to a killer "Postmortem." The Wall of Death effect was cool but way overhyped - it was truly "raining blood" like I had expecting (more like "misting blood," I'd say). Still, the show was very cool. Araya was into it, and the Hanneman/King leads seared throughout the venue. Of course, it is always a treat to watch Dave Lombardo play heavy metal double-bass drums. Great show, but at this point, I thinking they should wrap up the touring cycle. I'm ready for the new studio record with Lombardo back on drums.
Hel's Review (12/17/04, Universal Amphitheatre, Universal City, CA ):
It had been quite some time since Death and I had been able to go to a show together, and we were both psyched to be meeting up with a bunch of friends, not to mention seeing Mastodon and Slayer. We tried insanely hard to get an early start, knowing the traffic to the Universal Amphitheatre on a Friday night was going to be beyond insane. And so it was. We actually would have been almost perfectly on time, but we ended up getting caught up once again in the Universal Amphitheatre's usual massive tangle of red tape, and unfortunately missed the first song and a half of Mastodon's set.
Photo by Ember
MastodonThankfully, Mastodon has some lengthy songs, and the one and a half songs I had left provided me with at least some opportunity to try and salvage my photo situation. It was odd to see them on such a gigantic stage, but the guys in Mastodon soldiered on with the same intense stage presence that they have always displayed. Their ferocity managed to win over a number of audience members, and the four (or so) song set was an ideal example of why this band's new album landed in my number one slot for 2004. Think about it - what if this is what you heard when you turned on your radio? How could that possibly be a bad thing? I hope this tour does its part to help them break into the big time - they more than deserve it.
Between bands Death and I were fortunate enough (Thanks, Matt!) to be able to retreat to the VIP area backstage, and it was, of course, the place to be. Everyone came out of the woodwork for this show, and was great fun to hang out and hit the bar for some free bottled water (though, for the curious, they did have other choices in complimentary beverages - I just really like water). As I was looking around, spotting both people I knew and the random celeb, I recalled my early days of concert going, and the excruciating boredom I used to experience, sitting high in the air in the nosebleeds, waiting for the set changes to end and the next band to take the stage. I thanked my lucky stars that I was able to spend that time more pleasantly on this night, then saw the flashing red light that warned those in back that the show was about to resume, and I headed back to the photo pit.
Photo by Ember
Killswitch EngageKillswitch Engage is a band that I acknowledge is very good, and I certainly know a lot of people who love them, yet I have never really been a fan. I continue to be impressed by the energy they summon onstage, and am amused by their antics. This night was not the most outrageous set I have ever seen them play. There were no funny masks, nothing was destroyed (that I saw anyway), and I didn't even see the usual crude remark spelled out on something in masking tape. Maybe I missed it, but I had thought the last night of the tour would generate some sort of zaniness, but if it happened, I guess I didn't see it.
The photo situation was wacky for Slayer. I was careful to ensure I had received photo credentials for every single band on the bill, because I knew the venue would give me problems if I didn't. So I was going to be able to shoot Slayer, and I was going to have to jump through extra hoops to do so. The "rain of blood" was going to happen, and we photographers were going to get to shoot it, and we would be shooting the last 3 songs of the set instead of the first 3 in order to do so. The wild card was where we would get to shoot from. Apparently security was concerned that too many fans would be coming over the barricade and it would be too crazy for the photographers to be in there too. So they wanted to see what it was like before they decided whether to let us down there or not. [What-ever...] The upshot was that I'd have to be at the meeting place at the specified time so that I could be wherever it was I needed to be in order to take my Slayer photos. This venue definitely has a knack for making life difficult.
Photo by Hel
SlayerSo I watched the majority of Slayer's set with Death, checking the time after every song to ensure I'd be in the right place at the right time. The set was amazing, with mostly old-school songs packing the setlist. I've seen Slayer many times, and they can always be counted on for an amazing show, so the setlist is a key component and having nearly every song be a favorite is a real treat. At last the specified time arrived and I met up with the gaggle of photographers to learn that we would indeed get to go down to the photo pit for the final songs. As the set neared its conclusion, Tom took a moment to remember Dimebag with the crowd, who burst into loudly chanting "Dime" - a surreal yet touching moment. Finally, there was only one song left, and the much-anticipated special effect. In truth, the rain of blood really was more of a mist, but really, if you think about it, isn't that exactly how rain really does look? As with true rain, you had to look toward the light at an angle to see it fall, and it only did so for a few minutes at the very end of the show. I was sent a photo taken earlier in the tour, along with a disappointed description of the rain effect, so I already knew that it wouldn't show up for the camera, except on the actual band members. I do wonder how it looked for those up in the rafters, but I can tell you, I was standing as close to the stage as you possibly could, and from there, it was pretty hard to see it. Still, the effect on the band members was dramatic, and that was a cool sight. The set ended, the band bowed, the picks and sticks were thrown, then Kerry returned to the stage with two shots of Jäger and proclaimed a toast to Dime, he hoisted one into the air then set it on the stage, downed the other, and set the empty glass upside down next to the full one.
Altogether, it was a killer metal evening. It was awesome to catch up with people I haven't seen for awhile, and all of the bands delivered the goods. Despite the usual pain getting to, into and out of the venue, it was an excellent time and I have more fond metal memories to add to the vault.
Requiem's Review (11/13/04, The Palladium, Worcester, MA ):
As usual with the Palladium, the evening starts out stressed due to the runaround I'm anticipating at the door. There's always something that goes wrong and tonight was no exception. I was pleased to find that the guest list situation worked out OK, but that was probably due to some inside connections anyway. Turns out I needed to use these powers because there were no photo passes. Thanks to the Killswitch tour manager pulling some strings we got one, but one that would allow us to take pictures of everyone BUT Slayer. Thanks also to Mike D. and the rest of Killswitch for the beers and the Jager shots.
Photo by Hel
SlayerWe figured we'd do ourselves a favor and miss Q, after hearing less than rave reviews. We made it in just in time for Mastodon, so Ember ran down to the photo pit while I grabbed a beer and hung out close by the bar. I must admit that Mastodon seems like a band that should be on a smaller stage, but they made the best of the extra room and looked great in the fancy lights that were provided. They ran through songs both new and old, and of course drummer Brann was up to his usual jaw-dropping drum work. They proved that they've earned their slot on this impressive tour. Killswitch were up next, and proved to the metal world that they've earned their spot in the elite. As relentless touring machines, they've become a flawless act that out-Gothenburgs even the Swedes themselves. The copycat acts will be surfacing by the boatloads.
Now it was time for Slayer. Once we realized that you had to have a special pass to take photos during Slayer, we were rather pissed off at the whole affair. Who are they to pull such rock star shit on us? I guess it was probably for legal reasons with the whole "wall of blood" thing possibly ruining one's camera. Regardless, it was good to see the original line-up hammering out the classics once again. Thankfully, they strayed from the newer garbage and stuck with the golden oldies. We actually thought the "wall of blood" didn't even happen but after seeing some photos, I guess it actually did. Very low key, and invisible to those of us who were hammered at the bar. Oh well. Slightly disappointing, but after the fact I understand why things happened the way they did.
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