Slayer reunited for some festival dates in early May. Municipal Waste’s Tony Foresta supported the band’s decision to come back from retirement for one-off shows in a recent interview with Sense Music Media:
“If they’re healthy enough to play the music, f*cking keep playing. You shouldn’t have to be obligated to go out on a f*cking six-week festival tour every two years. That’s a weird way to live your life, especially when you’re in your… How old are they? Like [their] sixties? I’m old now. Those dudes are older than me. And they shouldn’t have to. They paid their dues. They should go get that festival money, go play a show once every couple of years and have a great time. That’s how I feel about it.”
The ‘War Ensemble’ band ended their touring after a series of concerts with Anthrax, Lamb of God, and Testament in 2018. Foresta recalled:
“When they played that last show in L.A., I’m, like, ‘That’s their last tour show. And in a couple years they’ll come back if they feel good about it.’ And hopefully they do. I hope they’re not obligated to do so. I want them to do it because they love it — for me, as a fan.”
Slayer’s New Set Of Shows
Slayer will perform at Riot Fest on September 20-22. They will also appear at the Louder Than Life and Aftershock 2024 festivals on September 27 and October 10, respectively.
Kerry King says this kind of shows won’t happen often. The guitarist commented on the upcoming dates during a chat with Classic Rock History last week:
“It’s not really much different at all. It’s the same heads, same cabs, same pedals, same guitars. You know, there will be a lot of fire when Slayer plays, and I think, yeah, those shows will just be fun. It’ll be fun to play with Gary Holt for a few gigs; I haven’t seen him in almost five years, so that will be cool. And it’ll be cool to get together with Tom Araya and spit some hate out at people, but don’t get used to this being a yearly event.”
He also noted that there won’t be a new album or tour with the band.
Reactions To The Band’s Return
After Slayer’s reunion announcement, Anthrax’s Scott Ian told Classic Rock that the band’s return made him look like a liar. Ian believed that they would stand by their decision to retire:
“We were on Slayer’s goodbye tour for over a hundred shows. During that year and a half together, I got the sense that if they said they were ending, then that’s what was happening.”
Meanwhile, David Ellefson defended Slayer’s comeback in a chat with Greg Prato of Ultimate Guitar late May:
“They’re my friends, so I’m happy for any successes they have. If they’re worn out and they want to quit, I’m happy for that, too. But if they’re rested up now and getting ready to go play — go play.”
The reunited Slayer lineup is the same from their last tour with Tom Araya, Kerry King, Gary Holt, and Paul Bostaph.