Slayer’s lengthy farewell tour and the thrash metal legends’ four-decade touring career came to an end Saturday with what was billed as the band’s final concert ever at the Forum in Inglewood, California.
Following the conclusion of “Angel of Death,” the last song of the final show, Slayer spent 10 more minutes onstage, with band mates hugging each other and taking one last photo of themselves together in front of a crowd. Bassist/singer Tom Araya and guitarist Kerry King then remained onstage as the crowd continued to shower them with applause and chants. An emotional Araya eventually addressed the audience for the last time.
“Thank you. Thank you very much. I want to thank you for sharing your time with us. Time is precious, so I want to thank you for sharing that time with us,” Araya said.
“I’m gonna miss you guys. But the most important thing is I want to thank you for being a part of my life. Goodnight. You guys be safe.”
As with Slayer’s previous Final Campaign gigs, the band delivered a career-spanning 20-song set that featured tracks from 10 of their studio albums, including South of Heaven, Seasons in the Abyss and Reign in Blood, three of Rolling Stone’s 100 Greatest Metal Albums of All Time.
Slayer’s farewell tour, which kicked off in May 2018 and spanned over 150 shows in 30 countries and 40 U.S. states, featured mainstays and founding members singer/bassist Tom Araya and guitarist Kerry King alongside Exodus guitarist Gary Holt, who stepped in for the late Jeff Hanneman in 2011, and drummer Paul Bostaph, who replaced Dave founding drummer Lombardo for a second time when the latter had a contract disagreement with the band.
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King said in a statement when Slayer extended their Final Campaign for the last time, “We’ve heard about fans who have driven five, six hours, or flown in from other cities or countries to see us, so we want to assure our fans that we’ll be on the road through 2019 and will get to as many places around the world as possible to make it easier for everyone to come and see us one last time.”
S’later Slayer 🤘🖤🤘@Slayer pic.twitter.com/w4XwcJDIDv
— Kirk Hammett (@KirkHammett) December 1, 2019