Slayer Still Reigns

One of the few gigs worth attending this summer was the Unholy Alliance tour, with Slayer, Lamb of God, Mastodon, and Children of Bodom. Ozzfest? You gotta be kidding. It's all nu-metal this year. The gig just proved, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that Slayer are the greatest heavy band to ever exist. Hands down, nothing can top those guys. And they're in their 40's , too!! As usual the place went ballistic when they began the drum intro to "Reign in Blood". Hahneman looked like his usual drunken self. Lamb of God sucked because the singer had an Anselmo complex, he was just trying too hard to be Phil Anselmo. Mastodon proved that they are the best new band to come along in quite some time....awesome. I recommend everyone to pick up Leviathan. I can't remember his name, but Mastodon's drummer is just a Keith Moon-style madman but plays with complete precision. Of course Dave Lombardo needs no comment....the man is a drum god.

Other than that the summer appears dry, gig wise. A week later we hit Robin Trower at the TLA, of course doing a Jim's Steaks and Lorenzo run pre-gig. Trower's a legend, but compared to the Slayer gig it was like being at a James Taylor show. He's gotten slower and bluesier in his old age. Check out the Robin Trower Strat that Fender custom shop is putting out.