Slayer rules at metal mecca
Metal music veterans pay visit to Penticton on farewell tour
There is nothing quite like a metal show. You wouldn’t know it to look at me on the street, but I harbour a love for the thrashing and bashing genre.
It’s scary from the outside looking in — I get that — but at Thursday night’s Slayer show on their farewell tour at the South Okanagan Events Centre, there was nothing but good times, cheer, the odd accidental elbow and only one guy carried out on a stretcher.
In all seriousness, metal fans are my favourite and are always friendly, if a little over-enthusiastic. If you’re at the show and banging your head, you’re pretty much part of the gang.
The Okanagan has proven its metal, pardon the pun, as a fan base for these shows. Bringing Slayer and Lamb of God to Penticton twice in less than two years is awesome, and I hope the trend continues.
Slayer, Anthrax, Lamb of God, Behemoth and Testament were a cavalcade of thrash, and the venue turned into a metal mecca for the night.
Slayer ruled — there’s really no other way to say it — and I would expect nothing less from the guys who put metal on the map with more than 30 years in the game.
Technical guitar riffs, pounding double kick drums and enough pyrotechnics to singe your eyebrows turned the night into a send-off fit for the kings of metal.
Lamb of God proved last year they are big enough to headline their own night, so having them open for Slayer was an added bonus.
It’s hard to say goodbye, so I’ll just say see you later, Slayer.
Dale Boyd is a reporter with the Penticton Herald.