Slayer played Wellmont Theatre (review, setlist, videos)

by Andrew Sacher

Slayer @ Wellmont Theatre – 11/29/14 (via BrooklynVegan Instagram)

“Slayer.” Thus have many observers dubbed the [band] for this tour, thanks to the absence of Dave Lombardo and Jeff Hanneman. Paul Bostaph is back on the drum throne, where he spent most of the ’90s. Exodus guitarist Gary Holt retains the live guitar spot he’s held for the past two years and looks poised to keep it.

…And unsurprisingly, Slayer were exactly what I expected. They were not “Slayer.” they were SLAYER.

The above quote is from Doug Moore’s review on Invisible Oranges of Slayer‘s Theater at MSG show last year on their first tour since the death of Hanneman (RIP), and also with original drummer Dave Lombardo once again out of the band.

This past weekend, they returned to the NYC-area with that same lineup on their tour with Exodus and Suicidal Tendencies, hitting Wellmont Theatre on Saturday (11/29). I was never lucky enough to see Slayer with their classic lineup, but leaving Saturday’s show as a first-timer, it was pretty hard not to echo Doug’s sentiment. It’s sad that I’ll never get to see riffmaster Jeff Hanneman, and we can at least hope to see Dave Lombardo behind the kit again one day, but the band that played Wellmont Theatre on Saturday were no washed up phonies pretending to be something they no longer were. Old classics like “Mandatory Suicide,” “War Ensemble,” “Postmortem” and “Jesus Saves” came to life the same way you imagine they would from listening to the records. Metal played at the speed Slayer plays is a very physical thing, and I can’t imagine the endurance needed to do this for over three decades. But not once in the set did it feel like Slayer was slowing down. They just kept inspiring the same kind of fist and teeth-clenching release that makes listening to them a breath of fresh air every time.

Unlike the Theater at MSG show, this time they weren’t only playing from the first five albums. They also included a handful of World Painted Blood and “Disciple” from God Hates Us All (the one song in the set that Paul Bostaph actually recorded with them). Still, not a moment was lacking. And if at any point you did somehow start losing energy, there’s no way you walked out feeling that way. They did the set closer they’ve been doing for years, and experiencing that was a whole other level of whoa than I saw coming. The pure evil of “South of Heaven”‘s riffy doom into the ass-kicking thrash of “Angel of Death” was genuinely the kind of thrill that has you leaving a venue thinking “that’s why I care so much about this stuff.” Maybe that encore has lost its power to longtime fans who have seen it over and over again (then again, I wouldn’t be surprised if it hasn’t), but seeing it for the first time, it didn’t matter that the songs were over 25 years old, or that only two of the members that recorded them were on stage. It was truly intense.

Check out the full setlist and a few videos below…

—

Setlist:
World Painted Blood
Postmortem
Hate Worldwide
Die by the Sword
Chemical Warfare
War Ensemble
Mandatory Suicide
Necrophiliac
Spill the Blood
Hell Awaits
At Dawn They Sleep
Altar of Sacrifice
Jesus Saves
Disciple
Seasons in the Abyss
Snuff
Dead Skin Mask
Raining Blood
Psychopathy Red
South of Heaven
Angel of Death