Slayer at the KFC Yum! Center in Louisville, KY 11-NOV-19

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Slayer says goodbye to enthusiastic Louisville/Kentucky fans with raging final performance along with friends Primus, Ministry and Phil Anselmo and the Illegals.

T minus 12 and counting! 12 is the number of shows the legendary thrash metallers, Slayer have remaining on their final world tour leg, appropriately named the Last Campaign. This final tour will see Slayer cover more than 7,000 road miles and 16 states over the month of November, ultimately ending on November 30^th in Los Angeles with their final show at the Fabulous Forum. In a recent video interview, Tom (Araya) and Kerry (King) discussed the importance of ending their final tour in LA at the Forum and how special it will be for them. You can find the link to the interview at the bottom of the review.

In January 2018, Slayer announced they would be retiring from touring, doing one final huge world tour to thank its fans for their support over their 40+ years as a band. The Last Campaign Tour was launched on May 10, 2018, in San Diego, California and by the time the 18-month tour wraps, Slayer will have said goodbye to fans in 30 countries around the world and in 40 U.S. states To have the longevity that Slayer has experienced over the past 40+ years is noteworthy by itself but to have stayed true to themselves and continue delivering tried and true “Slayer” music and performances to a rock-solid fan base is something on a completely different plane. Slayer will leave a void that will be impossible to fill once the final chords of their final song on this final tour have been played.

Pulling out all the stops on this final tour run, Slayer presented the finest stage production of their career, with an electrified demonic backdrop that seemed to come to life with the troughs of fire and fire cannons going off throughout the show. The whole production was accentuated with a lighting production that felt like you were in the bowels of Hell with copious amounts of smoke and deep, fiery reds and stone-cold blues hues.

As the house lights dropped the infamous Slayer pentagram, displayed through the stage-length screens while the intro tape rolled “Delusions of Saviour.” In an instant, the screen dropped, and Slayer launched into their opening song, “Repentless”, the title track from their latest album, followed by “Mandatory Suicide,” and “World Painted Blood” and the night was off to a fiery start

For ninety-plus minutes Slayer’s offerings touched on every period of the band’s career, from their early Show No Mercy, Hell Awaits and Reign In Blood albums of the early/mid-80’s all the way through their 2015 album Repentless with an awe-inspiring degree of precision and energy. With Gary Holt and Kerry King each slashing their way through their fierce guitar chords and Tom Araya guiding the way with deep and furious bass lines and bloodthirsty vocals, Slayer left everything they had on stage. Slayer ended their evening by unleashing a welcomed dose of Hell on everyone with an intense blitz of “Raining Blood,” “Dead Skin Mask” before closing the evening with “Angel of Death” with a never-ending barrage of stage fire.

The house lights came up very shortly after the final chords of “Angel of Death” were played with the entire band front and center, taking in their last moments on stage in Louisville while interacting with fans all across the venue, tossing out sticks and picks to many rabid fans. Tom, visibly moved by the whole interaction, took one last moment to address the crowd “Thanks for hanging out and thank you for being a part of my life! I’m gonna miss you guys. Good night, Adios”.

Thank You, Tom, Kerry, Gary, and Paul for being part of our lives! There will only be one Slayer and those fortunate enough to share the last evening with you tonight in Louisville will remember this evening for a long time to come. Fu**ing Slayer!!!!!

Providing the main support on this tour is Les Claypool and Primus. Despite the show being indoors, the air is heavy with the smell of weed as the house lights drop and Primus opens with “Those Damn Blue-Collar Tweakers” accentuated with trippy salad fingers inspired video in the background and everyone is immediately up, on their feet dancing.

For the next hour, Primus has the Yum! Center tripping as the deep, thick rhythms of Les’ bass along with the equally stimulating videos and scenes roll on the stage length screens. It’s a sea of head-bobbing fans, all solidly focused toward the stage as “Too Many Puppies” leads directly into “Sgt. Barker” and fan-favorite “Wynona’s Big Brown Beaver” drawing the loudest cheers of the night from the mesmerized fans.

With Les standing at his electric upright bass, bow in hand and wearing a piggy mask, a looming, creeping rendition of “Mr. Krinkle” comes rolling from the stage followed by huge Primus hits (and fan favorites) “My Name is Mudd’ with entire arena bobbing their heads to the groove of this classic and ending their set with “Jerry Was a Racecar Driver.”

Industrial metal pioneers, Ministry performed second this evening. On a dimly lit stage with an illuminated cross serving as a podium/mic stand, frontman Al Jourgensen held service for all those in attendance. Beginning with a powerful rendition of “The Missing” from The Land of Milk and Honey album, Ministry wasted no time setting the table for what was to soon follow. “Stigmata,” a Black Sabbath cover “Supernaut” along with a mesmerizing rendition of “N.W.O.” kept the mosh pit rolling and the crowd engaged. Ministry ended their time on stage with a scorching performance of “Jesus Built My Hotrod” drawing a nice ovation as the house lights came up

Starting the evening off shortly after the doors opened was Phil Anselmo and The Illegals. With today being Veterans Day, Phil and the guys changed the set to recognize those who have served our country. With their all too short set, Phil Anselmo and The Illegals rolled through several Pantera songs including “Becoming,” “This Love,” “Fucking Hostile,” and the mega Pantera anthem “Walk”. Phil Anselmo was In strong form this evening, his voice and stage energy were tenacious as he tore through the familiar Pantera material.