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| Slayer/Machine Head/Frankenbok Thebarton Theatre, September 2nd 2001 Gloon: This is what ever metal fan waits for, the opportunity to see the almighty Slayer live!!!!!!! When I first heard of this tour I almost shit my pants, not only Slayer but Machine Head too. Slayer are wrong 'God Loves Us All'. Lining up outside Thebby I surveyed the crowd; there was a smattering of older fellas a couple of Marduk shirts and a shit tone of little shits. 'The Burning Red' fans I told myself, well they will find out soon enough what REAL metal is all about. After over a half hour delay on opening the doors and having to put up with drunk underages for that fucking long the doors finally opened. After the usual touchy feely from security it was time to go stake out my territory. Now myself and my brother are not small men and soon had our little patch of mosh ground claimed and tented, along with our bogan friend Franga we sat and awaited the mayhem. More delays however further stretched our patience as well as the Slipknot rubbish that was being blasted over the PA. Then the lights went out, the crowd stood and Frankenbok took the stage. Now I wasn't sure what to expect from Aussies Frankenbok all I had heard about them was that they did a cover of Madison Avenues 'Don't call me baby'! So I just stood there with a blank 'Fuck You' face and waited to be impressed. I was greeted with a huge heaving riff and bang, we were away. Frankenbok play a sort of Nu Metal meets Mr Bungle style music with a bit of White Zombie chucked in for good measure, not my total cup of tea but you could mosh to it. The crowd did their best to get into the groove and heave the pit, however because no one really knew the bands material most stood by and the rest were fairly half arsed. That was until the lead singer decided to take a swipe at the crowd calling us pussys, lame and basically calling us out, well we responded. The next song the pit exploded in a flurry of limbs and controlled violence, I don't think any of us remembered the song, or even cared, our honour had been questioned and we replied with chaos. Eventually after a relatively short set (under half hour easy) Frankenbok left having done their job, pissing of the crowd that is and warming them up for the big boys. The last time Machine Head was in Australia was for their 'Burn My Eyes' Tour where they played at Cartoons in Adelaide, I missed them. Though not of the same calibre as they were 4-5 years ago I was still excited to finally see them live and was looking forward to hearing their older material. Machine Head didn't disappoint playing all their classics, which I had come to hear. Davidian, Old, Take My Scars, Ten Tone Hammer, shit I was in heaven and moshing like there was no tomorrow. Even their newer stuff didn't sound too bad live, 'The Blood, the Sweat, the Tears' and even 'From this Day' come across well. MH also aired some tracks from their new release with 'Bulldozer' being the most impressive. Rob Flynn was also in top form enigmatic as ever interacting with the crowd and giving us praise (owww shucks Rob). However there is a gripe, their uncalled for and unappreciated slowing down of the songs. All the songs were played at about two thirds speed, Ok it created a heavier more heaving sound however I want to hear Davidian and Old at full fucking pace man not puttering along at fucking half speed!!!!!!!!! Apart from this the set was a good one and I came out satisfied, even though in my eyes their set was a little too short (just over half and hour) Oh well shit happens! OK the fodder was now out of the way, it was time for the masters, no the GODS, of thrash Slayer!!!!!! The maelstrom kicked off with the unaging classic 'Raining Blood' with 'War Ensemble' hot on its heels, this is what I came to experience. Next off the blocks was the newy 'Disciple' which held its head high after having to follow the might of the previous cuts. The haunting echo of God Hates Us All is bound to be a classic and appear at many more Slayer shows in the future. Most of the near 2-hour extravaganza was taken from their sizable back catalogue with only 'Dittohead' and 'Stain of Mind' being taken from their two previous efforts. The fans approved, after all Slayer don't tour for a new album, the make a new album so they can tour. All the classics were there 'Die by the Sword', 'Hell Awaits' even the old 'Captor of Sin' got a whirl. Interaction was keep to a minimum except for early on where Tom decided to preach and duly got hit by a water bottle. Tom laughed it off, condemned the 'unbeliever' and continued his ranting. Slayer after a mammoth performance left the stage leaving the crowd chanting for more, of course there was more Slayer's trump card had yet to be played........Sure enough after minutes of yelling and pleading the old masters returned and dove straight into a chilling rendition of 'South of Heaven'. Finally Slayer said good night in the best way possible with the twin guitar wailings of the undisputed jewel of Reign in Blood, 'Angel of Death'. As I left Thebby I felt privileged to have seen one of the greatest bands to have ever walked this green earth. Not many bands can boast what Slayer can, almost 2o years of dominance, a cult, fanatical following, a swag of classics and universal respect from the whole metal community. In Australia we aren't as spoiled in regards to metal as Europe and America so when a show like this comes around it is very special. Overall a brilliant night and I pray to the dark gods that Slayer will grace our shores once again. |