Slayer Announces Final World Tour

Alex Solca – Slayer 1980s
Dave Lombardo, Jeff Hanneman, Tom Araya, Kerry King

The world is on the cusp of having to say farewell to one of thrash metal’s Big Four. Slayer broke the news to fans this week that its next tour will be its very last. The band unveiled the routing for the first leg through North America, featuring support from Lamb of God, Anthrax, Behemoth and Testament. 

As all metalheads know, the Big Four refers to Slayer, Anthrax, Metallica and Megadeth. Speaking of which, here’s a quote from Anthrax’s Frank Bello. 

“It’s truly an honor to be on Slayer’s final tour,” Bello said. “Anthrax and Slayer have toured together for decades, we are family, band and crew, so we want to help give Slayer the best send-off possible and to have one last blast with our friends.  But you know, at the end of the day, Slayer will never die.”

 

How can you sum up the impact that Slayer has had on the metal world and music in general?

As the PR rep for the band puts it, Slayer has made “some of the most brutal, breathtakingly aggressive, all-hell’s-a-breaking-loose music ever created, being one of the four bands that defined an entire musical genre and being the band that other heavy acts are measured against and aspire to.” 

Since forming in 1981 in Huntington Park, Calif., the group has played nearly 3,000 concerts across the globe and released 12 studio albums, as well as multiple live recordings, compilations, live video and two box sets.  

The group’s accolades include five Grammy nominations and two Grammy awards, winning for Best Metal Performance in 2007 for “Eyes of the Insane” and in 2008 for “Final Six.” 

 

The lineup still features original guitarist Kerry King and vocalist/bassist Tom Araya, along with drummer Paul Bostaph, who joined the band in 1992, and guitarist Gary Holt, who has been on board since 2013. Founding drummer Dave Lombardo left the lineup in 2013 and founding guitarist Jeff Hanneman died that year. 

Gene Ambo – Slayer 2017
Paul Bostaph, Kerry King, Gary Holt, Tom Araya

The first leg of the final world kicks off May 10 at San Diego’s Valley View Casino Center. 

Stops include Toronto’s Budweiser Stage, Vancouver’s P.N.E. Porum, Orlando Amphitheatre, Dallas’ The Bomb Factory and Virginia Beach’s Veterans United Home Loans Amphitheatre At Virginia Beach. 

A fan club presale began today and runs through Jan. 25 at 5 p.m. Tickets go on sale to the general public Jan. 26. A limited number of meet & greet and exclusive merchandise packages will be available. 

One of the dates on the routing – May 13 at Papa Murphy’s Park in Sacramento, Calif. – has a bit of a story behind it, as Nederlander Concerts CEO Alex Hodges told Pollstar.

“We didn’t know that it was a farewell tour for Slayer,” Hodges said. “They kept that a secret. We just had to make an offer not knowing that there was an additional bonus of interest for fans.”

Hodges says the venue, which he refers to as Cal Expo, hasn’t been utilized much in recent years but has historic relevance and that his company took on management of it last year.

“It’s a soccer field at the site of the amphitheatre that Bill Graham had. He had an amphitheatre and when I was an agent I sold shows to him.

“It’s a soccer field and it has a permanent stage on wheels so it can roll out. So we can do anything from 6,000 to 20,000. So we set it up with a flexible design. As we keep selling tickets we can grow it or cut it down a little. I think this is going to be a big one,” Hodges said, adding that last year’s shows included Odesza, Gloria Trevi and Alejandra Guzman, and Pepe Aguilar. “We just started our presale on the Slayer package.”

Hodges said the Nederlander team feels privileged to have the date.

“We’re totally excited about having the whole package,” Hodges said. “It’s going to be a long show and a lot of fun. It’s going to be great.”

Slayer’s 2017 run with Lamb of God and Behemoth took in theatres and arenas from July to August. Reports submitted to Pollstar included 5,833 tickets sold Aug. 9 at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco, which grossed $301,560, and 7,963 tickets sold to the Forum in Inglewood Aug. 5, which grossed $402,241.  Average ticket price for Slayer is $46.94.