First off, this is my seventh time seeing Slayer, and as usual, they do not disappoint. The evening gets off to an interesting start, as I pick up my cousin for the show and follow the horrific directions given by MapQuest that lead to an interesting tour of Southeast DC. On the positive side, we make it to the show alive & unmolested and miss the opening acts. I usually like catching unknowns opening up for a band I’m seeing in hope of catching the next big thing, like Alice In Chains opening for them in the “Clash of the Titans” Tour back in ’91. Unfortunately, no band should have to open up for Slayer. Ever. It is the most thankless job that a performer in the music industry can have. At any rate, we arrive right as act #2 was finishing. We meet up w/ Cuz’s coworker and move onto the floor. Finally, Slayer arrives…

They make what seems to be becoming their staple entrance… the “Darkness of Christ” intro into “Disciple”. At this point Cuz & I are in the center of the floor of the Nation… pretty good view from where we are standing. After Disciple, they launch into “War Ensemble”, my cue to enter the pit. I leave the pit halfway through the song – I had forgotten to tie my boots before going in & think that I’ve twisted my ankle in the process. I must be getting old doing careless shit like this - this would never have happened ten years ago. Of course, ten years ago I would have consumed enough alcohol to register legally dead on a breathalyzer before entering the pit, so I guess it’s a wash. I jump back into the pit for the last verse… Amazingly, one guy has not moved from the center of the pit – a fireplug of a shirtless dude with a blond flat top wearing camo shorts is whaling on anyone who dares get too close to him. Standing in the center of a Slayer pit isn’t the smartest thing to do, but this guy reminds me of Col. Kilgore from “Apocalypse Now” – you can tell he was going to walk out of here without so much as a scratch on him.

Next up is “Stain of Mind”, so I decide to save my strength on the sidelines. I generally sit out any post-Seasons songs… “Stain” is followed by “Bloodline”, and while I also like the song, I abstain from the pit for this one. I’m cooling off fast on the sidelines & need something good to dive back in with. On the plus side, “Bloodline” would be the last post-Seasons song of the night that gets played. Why can’t more bands do this? Just acknowledge that you jumped the shark a long time ago & give your fans what they paid to see! But I digress.

As the final notes sound & the cheers die down, I raise a few shouts for “Freebird!” The shouts get me glares from the two dudes standing next to me… I’ve noticed you find two extremes among the guys at Slayer shows. Many are really cool, funny people, while the rest are exactly what you’d expect to find at one of these shows. As these guys seem to be the latter, I decide that discretion is the better part of valor.

Araya starts telling us that the next number is a Slayer love song… which can only mean “Necrophiliac”. Not a bad song, but not my favorite song, either. He starts telling a tale that ends with a description of the culinary merits of maggots – you get the idea. A cute blonde standing next to me starts cringing during the story & I point out to her that Arraya’s been telling this story for ten years now. Cute Blonde does not seem reassured, but gives me a smile before cruising. This could have promise…

Even though I’m not feeling it, I don’t want to cool off too much & dive back into the pit halfway through. Kilgore is battering people at one end of the pit, while a massive Rikishi-looking Hawaiian dude is cleaning house at the other end. Slayer decided to follow up with another track from “Hell Awaits”…. “At Dawn They Sleep”! Yeah, now we’re cookin’ with grease! I always love fighting my way through the pit during the bridge while Arraya leads the crowd in a chant of “Kill!…kill!…kill!…” On a side note, I make a point of counting how many times he shouts “Kill!’ at this point in the song. I always thought that he used the same count of twelve for timing (from the limited release of Decade of Aggression), but he went to ten this time. And he only went to eleven (insert Spinal Tap joke here) last time – so much for my theory.

Next up is “Fight ‘Til Death”… it just keeps getting better. Just like the last show, a number of the kiddies disappear when a lesser known track off of “Show No Mercy” is getting played, but that’s fine w/ old timers like me. This is also one of my favorite things about Slayer shows – the fact that they always dust off some obscure tracks from their early albums… no rhyme or reason as to which songs they pick.

Araya cues up the next song by dedicating it to all of our troops fighting overseas. I think that the cheer that comes up from the crowd is as much in support of the troops as it is in realization that we’re about to hear “Mandatory Suicide”. I’m also starting to wonder if we’re not getting exactly the same set as the last tour. Not that I’m complaining, since they closed the show by performing “Reign in Blood” from start to finish, but it still seems odd. The pit fires up again & Kilgore is in all of his glory beating the tobacco juice out of anyone who comes his way. One guy is trying to rally the pit into everyone flying clockwise, but it doesn’t seem to take.

With “Hallowed Point” starting up, I know that we’re not getting the same set as last time. Hell, I don’t think that they’ve done this since 91’s Touring in the Abyss! Not that I remember that particular show too well courtesy of the flask of grain that we snuck into that show.. Nonetheless, this is another excellent curveball. If I have one serious complaint about this as well as Slayer’s last show, it’s their insistence on flashing strobe lights from the stage at various points in the show. When you’re trying to avoid getting stomped in the pit not being able to see who’s coming at you can be fatal. Having a 250 pound skinhead’s shoulder buried in the chest leaves… quite an impression (that’s paraphrasing one of the song’s lines for the lesser versed fans). Still, at this point I’m grateful that if these lights are flashing that I’m only fighting a DC pit – the fans are a lot less crazed than the ones that I’ve battled in Tampa & Philly.

The next number is introduced by Araya as a little story about a guy named Ed… “Dead Skin Mask” is up. Some guys are linking arms & spinning through the crowds, using their momentum to plow people (I don’t know the exact name of this technique). I’ve gotten nailed by these before & usually try to shut them down with a well placed shoulder block. One dude tries to link up with me to do the same ourselves, but we’re both sweating too much & fly in opposite directions before we can get any real momentum.

If there is one part of every Slayer show that leaves me disappointed, it’s the fact that after listening to “Decade of Aggression” several thousand times the live version of “DSM” just doesn’t sound right unless it’s followed by “Seasons in the Abyss”. I know that there are others who agree with this opinion. As the song ends I’m expecting them to start up “South of Heaven” as they did at the last show, but I’ll be damned if they don’t launch into “Seasons”! I excitedly grab a kid standing next to me that I was talking to before the show and shout at him that they haven’t done this live in over ten years. He shares my enthusiasm and starts screaming wildly. Or he’s just tanked.

During the song’s intro, Kilgore is doing a slow “Picking up Change” dance from his spot while the rest of the moshers are slowly circling around him. I stop by one of the edges for a moment as Hanneman is picking the notes right before the song picks up… through the purple lights that are now shining and all of the smoke it’s almost hauntingly beautiful… in a sadistic, Slayer sort of way, or course. As the song kicks in I make a pass through the pit and find myself next to Cute Blonde. We link arms & start spinning through the crowd. She’s not putting much power behind her movement, but she’s laughing & so am I as we pass though the pit. After we slip apart she disappears into the crowd & that would be the last that I see of her. It’s probably for the best though, as she looks a lot like my cousin & it was freaking me out. No, not the dude who I came to the show with… his sister, actually. At least I’m not getting served with a restraining order…

After Cute Blonde disappears I’m getting into my groove. I’m landing some good shots in the pit, haven’t been knocked off of my feet yet, and I haven’t taken any shots to the face. I never really enjoy explaining black eyes from shows at work the following day. But right now I’m passing from end to end of the pit… I feel elbows and fists in my back, I’m leveling shoulder blocks & elbows to my sides while throwing punches and blocks ahead of me. I’m in a zone, and nothing can hurt me right now.

After Seasons comes another surprise – “Chemical Warfare”! The last time they played this at a show I was at was also off of Touring in the Abyss. After countless times of hearing this track on DOA, I’ve been dying to hear this again at a Slayer show. Back to back long buried tracks, and two of my Slayer favorites at that. I almost think that I can die happy at this moment, but realize that it is unwise to have a thought like this while in a Slayer pit.

Next up is “Hell Awaits”. They’re pulling all of their heavyweights now, and more and more people are getting in the pit. I’m starting to feel my years, as the evening’s beating is taking its toll on me. I know that they’re close to the end of the set at this point, and there’s no way I’m getting out now. It still never ceases to amaze me that Araya is actually able to sing as fast as he does in this song without lip-synching.

Now we get “South of Heaven”, and the pit is becoming an angry beehive. At one point I move off to the side to catch my breath, but the edges of the pit are so packed that it’s actually easier to breathe by hanging on the pit’s rim & out of the crowd. Of course, that means staying in the line of fire & running the risk of getting shoved back in, but being able to breathe has to take priority. It’s never truly a Slayer show until I genuinely fear for my personal safety. My streak of staying on my feet also comes to an end as I’m catching my breath. I feel the jackhole behind me fire two hands between my shoulder blades & I tumble across the floor. I’m able to get back to my feet without help, but I get taken off of my feet two more times before the night is over. A shoulder to my jaw during King’s solo ends my other streak.

Like with the last show, they used SOH’s fadeout to segway into “Angel of Death” – another combo I’m not crazy about, as a song with a lighter intro works better, but who’s complaining? The pit is still as intense, and I notice that Kilgore is gone, although Rikishi still seems to be going strong. I had heard rumors that Slayer was planning on playing “Reign in Blood “ from start to finish as with the last tour, but it wasn’t happening tonight. After AOD ended, Slayer left the stage for the end of their set & the roadies were doing some work on stage. I had heard after playing “Raining Blood” Slayer was rigging the stage to rain some red liquid to go with the breaking storm sound effect at the end of the song. As the stagehands carry what looks like folding tables across the stage I nudge the guy next to me and shout “Good God! The Dudleys are bringing out the tables! The Dudleys are bringing out the tables! What are they planning? What are they planning?!?” After hesitating for a moment he responds with “For the love of God! We need to get some officials down here now!” His buddy taps me on the shoulder and in that shrill Jerry Lawler voice adds, “Yeah! Do something about THAT, JR! HA HA!” These are the other type of Slayer fans I was talking about. And if you can’t trust Slayer fans to pick up on a good pro wrestling reference, whom can you trust?

After a few minutes Araya comes out to talk to the crowd, letting us know that the show is almost over. He throws a few wisecracks at a guy in the crowd who he sees lighting up, thanks everyone for coming out, and asks that one question every Slayer fan wants to hear:

“DO YOU WANT TO DIE?!?” A massive cheer goes up as they launch into “Postmortem”, and realizing that the show is almost over everybody is in the pit for last licks. The pit is going wild, and I wind up taking a few shots to the face. I’d be doing a lot better if they would just cut the damned strobe lights, but everyone else down here is in the same boat as me. Of course, they close with “Raining Blood”, and the pit is surprisingly empty. Most of the moshers seem to be tapped out at this point, but a few of us die hards duke it out until the end. It also looks like there is a malfunction with the stage set, as the “raining blood” never comes. It looks like the bouncers are even prepared for it, as they have the poor man’s raincoat of trash bags over their shirts. Still, great show, great close, and I’ll be back next time…