This was to be my 19th time of experiencing Slayer live,but before the gig we`d heard a few weeks ahead that the band were doing a pre gig signing at a local record store at around 5.30pm. Walking into HMV record store in Oxford street central London at about 5.15pm was a sight to behold- there must have been about 300 metal fans all queueing up patiently awaiting the arrival of the band and the store pumped a few Slayer tunes through the speakers to keep some sort of order within the patient fans.

5.30pm came and went and still no sign of Slayer,and the store pumped out some more tunes like `SEASONS` and `WAR ENSEMBLE` and they put the in store security cameras on them too so they could amuse themselves by giving the one finger salute and the horn sign,a couple of girls got their tits out too,lol! A few minutes shy of 6pm and Slayer appeared to the right of us-Tom/Kerry/Jeff but no Dave,and the crowd just went mad chanting-SLAYER-SLAYER-SLAYER!!!!!!!!!!,a great feeling for sure. They stayed for a good 2 hours but didn`t get to see everyone so there were a few disappointed fans and you had to feel sorry for them having queued up for 3 or more hours,but most of the fans got to see them in person and it was very cool of Slyer to take time out like that.Mind you,they were promoting a new special edition GHUA enhanced cd so there was a method to their madness.

We walked down the road to the Astoria,tickets in pocket and the time was now about 8.30 and the queue was more or less gone by this time so as per last night we strolled in and I made my way upstairs again and my friend headed for the front row downstairs.We missed the support band deliberately as Slayer were the reason for us being here tonight,yes the best band in the world! We are all gathered in the London Astoria tonight to praise SLAYER!!!!!!!!!!!! Nearly 40 minutes later the lights dimmed and it was time for another 90 minutes of pure bliss and wow was it awesome,read on and be pepared to be convinced that I`m not bullshitting you dear reader. `DARKNESS OF CHRIST`could be heard through the speakers as we all cheered `SLAYER` and then just as we were expecting that to be followed by `GHUA` they hit overdrive instead and played `PAYBACK`-wow!!!!!!!!!!!!!this really blasted the evening into action. Slayer are renowned for playing varying sets whilst on tour and tonight they played some older and rarer tunes,such as `POST MORTEM /SPIRIT IN BLACK` and `AT DAWN THEY SLEEP` Now this was like hearing Slayer back in their earlier days and I can promise you they are as intense now as they were back then,in terms of speed and heaviness they have retained it all believe me. During `AT DAWN` a bloke standing next to me asked me to help him roll a joint,lol-but I had to explain to him that I airdrum at Slayer gigs and he accepted my excuse-I simply thrive on the adrenaline rush at their gigs,don`t get me wrong-there is nowt I don`t like about a bit of herbal but not at Slayer gigs,you thrash your nuts off at their shows not chill out. They played `HELL AWAITS/CHEMICAL WARFARE/MANDATORY SUICIDE/DEAD SKIN MASK/GOD SEND DEATH/SOUTH OF HEAVEN/DIE BY THE SWORD`and many others.

Tom took time out to thank us all for turning out again and for our support over the years and I recall very well an interview they did backstage at a gig in NYC April 1985 where the whole band said they are never going to sell out and stay loyal to their roots.They have pretty much done that whereas all the other bands back then have either died or sold out,and we all know who they are don`t we! They did an encore and we were left wanting more but that was our lot,and Dave played another great set on the drums,but again seemed to be `alien` to the rest of the band but he took time out to throw some drumsticks out to the fans,cool thing Dave! I rushed up to the bar to drink some water and was a red hot ball of sweat again,we headed off down the road for some grub from the kebab shop and to talk about how awesome Slayer still are!