By Gus Samarco, Rock At Night Raleigh, North Carolina
Venue: PNC Arena, Raleigh, North Carolina–November 3, 2019–Slayer with Primus and Ministry
During my youth in Brazil, I remember visiting a high school friend-of-a-friend’s house, and as we entered his room, I was hypnotized by the music coming from this VHS on TV where this dude was yelling “Chemical Warfaraaaaeeeeeeerrrrr…..”. I was like, “Hot Damn! That’s some heavy shit!!!” The fact I was in my mid-to-late teens, it didn’t do much to help with anger issues–but that’s a different story. Fast forward 30 plus years, and here I am, about to photograph the greatest Thrash Metal Band of all times on their final tour as they say goodbye to Raleigh, North Carolina.
A lot has passed since I walked into Ricardo’s room, and yes, we’re still great friends to this date. As a matter of fact, we have a group of high school friends that have been bonded together by our love of Heavy Metal. Trust me, Metal DOES bring people together!
Slayer brings (words that my editor will probably redact) an awesome and powerful show, every single time they get on stage! That’s over 30 years of consistency for you kids! Heavy, fast, and hard–consistency for your metal pleasure. Slayer did not disappoint this time, and as a matter of fact, I’d say they brought it even &#%ing extra hard on this final tour! It’s like they had to pour their hearts out, one more time for the fans.
Like my buddy, Kyng’s drummer Pepe Magaña, likes to remind me, “Nobody headbangs harder than Gary Holt”, but in the midst of all this hardcore, loud, aggressive music, I witnessed something I wasn’t expecting to see last night, was the love story between Sandra and Tom Araya. Being that close I was able to see their expressions looking at each other throughout the show, and it was pretty darn incredible to see a couple that has been together for so long showing so much admiration for each other.
In other words, Slayer is Love.
Thank you to Slayer for all those years, and to Sandra, for always being such a nice person, and a special thanks to HERFitz PR for the opportunity to photograph Slayer one last time.
SET LIST:
Repentless, Mandatory Suicide, World Painted Blood, Postmortem, Hate Worldwide, War Ensemble, Stain of Mind, Disciple, When the Stillness Comes, Born of Fire, Payback, Seasons in the Abyss, Jesus Saves, Chemical Warfare, Hell Awaits, South of Heaven, Show No Mercy, Raining Blood, Dead Skin Mask, Angel of Death
PHOTO GALLERY
Gus was Born and raised in Brasilia, Brazil but have been living in Raleigh, NC since 2000.
Headshot Photographer under Peter Hurley, Gus started shooting concerts in mid 2014 and felt in love with it and hasn’t stopped since.
Gus is a very active fiction book reader and when he’s not working, taking pictures or sleeping, Gus loves riding his Mountain Bike and can also be found shooting (guns and cameras) USPS and 3Gun matches.
His favorite bands are Metallica, Pearl Jam, Whitesnake, Led Zeppelin, Iron Maiden, Black Sabbath, Pantera, RATM, Beastie Boys and it goes from there. Gus also enjoy listening to EDM, Jazz, Classic and pretty much anything that has good music quality, not to mention his favorite Local Band, Jack the Radio
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