Slayer
November 14, 2014
Forum- Los Angeles, CA
On Friday November 14th, the thrash metal Giants Slayer brought heavy metal back to the Fabulous Forum in Los Angeles for the first time since it’s reopening. Did the sold-out crowd destroy the refurbished venue? Not entirely, but we did leave a mark and showed Los Angeles that we love the hell out of Slayer.
The night was perfect for a Slayer show: cold weather, clouds rolling, and the only thing that was left was for it to be raining blood. This was the venue’s first true heavy metal show, and the LA metal scene was quick to buy up tickets to see the last important metal show of the year. This was our first time at this refurbished 
venue, and damn was it impressive. The building is a state of the art beauty, and it was hard to believe a bunch of thrashers were there to mosh on its newly furnished floors. This show marked Slayer’s first time at the Forum, and they actually sold the place out. Rock is dead, Gene Simmons? We think not.
The set started off with World Painted Blood as the white curtains dropped and revealed the new Slayer line-up. The night continued on with many obscure Slayer songs that the die-hard fans would truly appreciate. Drummer Paul Bostaph, who replaced Dave Lombardo, had some catching up to do to fill in Lombardo’s shoes, but he executed every drum fill and high-hat possible. While Slayer fans still mourn for Lombardo’s return, Bostaph is a great replacement to continue with Slayer’s legacy.
We have seen Slayer plenty of times in the past decade, but this probably one of the strongest shows we’ve seen in a good while. We’ve had doubt of Slayer being able to continue without Jeff Hanneman and Dave Lombardo, but this night proved that Slayer is indeed here to stay. With a new record on the horizon, we are excited to see what Slayer has for the future.
Review by: Alex Lucero
