Slayer, Lamb of God, Anthrax, Behemoth, & Testament @ The Budweiser Stage, Toronto (May 29, 2018).

   Tonight history was made in Toronto as Slayer played their last show in the city on their final world tour  with Lamb of God, Anthrax, Behemoth, and Testament for support. To celebrate the occasion Mr and Mrs Squatch went down to The Budweiser Stage to witness the end of an age. The night opened up with local beauties Panzerfaust shredding a killer set at the Riverside Bar inside the venue. Right from the time the doors opened the place was packed with Testament delivering a killer set to start off the main event. Testament were on point delivering a short but packed set full of old and new favourites. Behemoth and Anthrax took the stage next over the next hour or so, turning the Budweiser Stage into a complete madhouse with both bands performing dialed sets.

   After lots beers and some causal thrashing with friends, Lamb of God took the stage and cranked the dial to max capacity almost ripping the railings off the lawn sections with moshing metalheads. Lamb of God opened with Omerta and continued to play a mix of all their fan favourites throughout their set. A highlight for me was the crowd contribution during Walk With Me In Hell and Laid to Rest with everyone in the venue screaming along! With the crowd now completely amped, the anticipation was almost palpable leading up to the main event. As the sun went down, Slayer took the stage and began an onslaught of thrash metal fury of which I will not soon forget. The band opened with some tracks off their latest album but soon started to burn the place down with gauntlet of material from their early days with tracks like Black Magic and Chemical Warfare as well as the title tracks and singles from most of their albums. While I was left wanting more at the end of the show with no encore, they ended the show in style with a fantastic tribute to Jeff Hanneman with the band absolutely crushing Angel of Death while flying the Hanneman flag. And with that Slayer took one last bow on the Lakeshore of Toronto under a full moon on a perfect night.

   While I am still hoping for a reunion  tour in a few years, Slayer did a fantastic job with their final show in Toronto. The bill was absolutely stacked and they put on one hell of show. The crowd left he show completely buzzing with echos of "SLLAAYYYEEERRR" being heard from all edges of the venue and surrounding streets. Cheers to all the crazy folks I clashed with in the mosh pit on the hill! Cheers to all the bands for a wicked night and a huge final thank you to SLAYER for all the killer music and shows throughout the years. It doesn't feel right that they have wrapped up. I hope to see a lot more from them as time goes on. Check out some pictures from the night below!

SLAYER

LAMB OF GOD

ANTHRAX

BEHEMOTH

TESTAMENT

PANZERFAUST

-Heavy Metal Sasquatch out!