December 17th, 2004
@ The Universal Amphitheatre
Speaking of vantage points, our seats were waaaaaay in the back (thats what happens when you wait to buy tickets) but we managed to find some vacant spots more than 12 rows down. The plan was to get as close as possible for Mastodon, then as the real ticket holders started showing up later in the night, scramble to find any available seats until eventually, we would have to go back to the nosebleeds. Thankfully it never came to that and we saw all three bands from great seats we didnt pay for.
Mastodon came out and laid waste to the unsuspecting crowd. This was my first time seeing them live and they DIFINITELY lived up to the hype. They opend up with "Iron Tusk" and went straight into "March of The Fire Ants." They didnt sound as precise/tight as they do on their records but the songs sounded even better with the extra energy and swing Mastodon showcase live. It seemed like nobody said a word during Mastodon's set. I looked around the seats near by trying to gauge people's reactions and nearly every person I saw sat in their chairs with a look of total awe and disbelief. After ripping through "Where Strides the Behemoth" "I Am Ahab" and "Megalodon" they ended the night with "Blood and Thunder."
There were tons of Killswitch Engage fans at this show which shouldnt have surprised me, seeing as how the band is all over MTV and metal magazines every month. Still, it was weird hearing so many people singing along to a band that was pretty much "underground" just over a year ago. They opened with "A Bid Farewell" off their latest record and they sounded great, almost like listening to their CD. The only problem was that Mastodon had just played their superb, next level style of jaw dropping metal and Killswitch Engage's recycled hardcore breakdowns and swedish riffs just seemed flat in comparison. They played lots of new songs like "Rose of Sharyn" "The End of Heartache" and older ones like "Life to Lifeless" and the audience loved them (at least the youngers folks did) but even songs I really dig like "Fixation on the Darkness" couldnt save the day for me.
A few people were chanting "Slayer" the whole night but once Killswitch walked offstage the chants got louder and turned into hundreds yelling "SLAAAAYER!" The lights went out and fog machines engulfed the stage. The intro to "Darkness of Christ" played in the background as the band came out and blasted into "God Send Death." I dont really care for that song but the great thing about Slayer is that even their bad tunes sound good live. "WAAAAAR Ensemble" was next and thats when the general seating area below exploded into a huge pit. Kerry and Jeff are a legendary guitar duo and they played the best I've ever seen them on this night. Standing side by side headbanging and sounding better than ever after 20 years. I loved seeing Dave Lombardo drumming to "Stain of Mind," a song they wrote while he was out of the band. He added his own touches to the song and kept sticking his head out from behind the cymbals goofing off. After the band played "Bloodline" they went into oldschool mode for the rest of the night.
I'm talking rare gems like "At Dawn They Sleep (double bass solo...kill Kill KILL)" "Necrophiliac," "Fight Till Death," "Captor of Sin," and thrash metal classics "Hell Awaits" and "Chemical Warfare." Tom's vocals sounded perfect and there was no trace of him losing his voice from earlier on the tour. Infact he did an amazing job spitting out the rapid fire lyrics from their old songs with such clarity. "Mandatory Suicide" was dedicated to all the people in the military overseas/abroad and "Hallowed Point" was played the fastest I've ever heard in my life. Everyone sang along with "Seasons in the Abyss" and "Dead Skin Mask" then came the one-two punch of the bands big hits, "South of Heaven" and "Angel of Death." Jeff looked like his head was going to roll off, Kerry sounded like he was stabbing his guitar during the chaotic solo right before Dave nailed the double bass at the end. Seriously, watching Slayer play "Angel of Death" is worth the price of admission alone.
The band took a short break before returning to the stage whereTom made a vague but touching tribute to the recently murdered Dimebag Darrell. The crowd went nuts chanting "DIMEBAG" over and over until the band went into the unholy encore of "Postmortem" and "Raining Blood." I think my voice went out during the "What I want...I'm only after DEATH" part of "Postmortem." Then, everyone in attendance was humbled upon hearing the opening notes of "Raining Blood." The song is perfect...end of story. I'm saddened to say the fabled Wall of Blood wasn't all that it was cracked up to be. There was WAY more blood falling on the dvd than in a live setting but other than that the night was perfect. Mastodon set the bar insanely high and Slayer came out and ripped the the bar to shreds. Killswitch was cool but just got lost in the mix between 2 AMAZING bands.