Slayer dominated the Uptown last night

Slayer
The Uptown, Kansas City
Tuesday, May 13, 2014

My brother summed up the bands at the Uptown last night pretty much perfectly when he said that you think of these bands in your mind as being in their twenties, so it’s a bit of a shock when you see older guys on stage. The same went for the crowd, as well. You think of yourself as being permanently 18, so when you see a crowd where grey hair and bald spots dominate, you begin to wonder if this is going to be an embarrassment.

Nope. Not a chance. This is Slayer we’re talking about.

The Uptown was packed before Exodus even took the stage. A guy down front was drunkenly yelling, “Slayer!” This audience was rabid. And when Exodus kicked things off with “Murder in the Front Row,” the crowd went off. Granted, not as much as they went off when front man Rob Dukes accidentally mentioned Anthrax when listing off all the bands – blaming it, naturally, on having gotten stoned backstage.

The rest of the band intro’d a bit of “Among the Living” to rib him, then it was back to banging fucking heads. Duke’s enthusiasm kept the crowd into their set, and managed to get an old-school circle pit going a couple times, but the crowd – being pretty old-school itself (literally), or perhaps saving their energy – wasn’t able to sustain it.

The audience, which by this point has gotten packed in down front, was with the Suicidal Tendencies from note one. Mike Muir’s voice has never been exactly what you’d call melodious, but it took a few songs for the Suicidal frontman to warm up his vocal chords.

During “You Can’t Bring Me Down,” Muir sounded rough. “War Inside My Head,” the fourth or fifth song in, was when he started sounding less worn-out. It was in contrast to the band, which was absolutely a crack squad, capable of bringing out the funkier elements always inherent in Suicidal’s songs (especially on cuts like “I Saw Your Mommy” and “Possessed to Skate”), yet never venturing into funk rock territory. Once you got past Muir’s tendency to intro songs a la Paul Stanley, you could ride that groove and rock the hell out.

During Suicidal Tendencies’ set, some beaten-to-shit kid was sitting in the back hallway, with friends trying to make sure he was okay. He sat there, looking dazed, then popped up, saying, “Man, I gotta get back in there,” and positively bolted back into the fray. Hardy folks, these metalheads.

And Slayer, kids – “fucking Slayer,” as everyone in attendance said at least once – they were everything I’d hoped for. It’s been over a decade since I last saw these metal legends. That show was outside, so hearing the quartet in a venue with nowhere for the sound to go was a much more intense experience. Slayer sounded good, too. This was maybe the best sounding show I’ve heard at the Uptown. The guitars were crisp, and Kerry King’s runs were absolutely riveting. I could’ve watched the hands of him and Exodus’ Gary Holt all night long.

Tom Araya’s vocals seemed worn, but no less powerful. If anything, the slight fraying around the edges made songs such as “Antichrist” seem more malevolent than originally recorded. The show was more a display of musical virtuosity than your average pummeling metal performances. Nuance isn’t a word you normally associate with metal, but Slayer works in details and melody that are extant even live. “South of Heaven” was especially intense.

While the band is only half original members after the passing of Jeff Hanneman, you’d never have known it. Every band on stage was far from its original incarnation, but Slayer seems to have weathered the changes best. Even though some may wonder if a Slayer can ever truly be Slayer without such integral members as Hanneman and Dave Lombardo, I didn’t notice any missed steps or lackluster performances. The enthusiastic crowd that responded with raised fists and banged their heads throughout didn’t mind, either.

Walking in the door, you might’ve thought this was some sort of old home week, but by every possible metric, this show was as hard and as heavy as any new band treading the boards, but with a depth and breadth of talent that far outstrips any signs of age.

Slayer’s setlist
Hell Awaits
Antichrist
Necrophiliac
Mandatory Suicide
Captor of Sin
War Ensemble
Postmortem
Altar of Sacrifice
Jesus Saves
At Dawn They Sleep
Die By the Sword
Hallowed Be Thy Name
Season in the Abyss
Chemical Warfare
Dead Skin Mask
Raining Blood
Black Magic
– –
South of Heaven
Angel of Death