SLAYER‘s November 14 show at the Kia Forum in Los Angeles, California, was brought to a halt for several minutes due to safety concerns after some fans reportedly caused damage to sections of the 17,500-capacity venue.
The thrash metal veterans were performing the second of two concerts marking the 40th anniversary of their classic third album, 1986’s “Reign In Blood”. Seven songs into the set, SLAYER abruptly left the stage, with bassist and vocalist Tom Araya returning shortly afterward to address the audience.
“Quiet. You need to know why we stopped the show,” Tom told the audience (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET). “All right? Quiet. I just need your attention, all right? I don’t know how many times I had this conversation when we first started playing in fucking huge places. I kept telling everybody, ‘Man, you gotta fucking maintain yourself. You can’t start destroying shit because they’ll shut this shit down.’ No, I don’t wanna hear, ‘Oh.’ Listen, if you guys wanna have fun, you have fun right here in front of us in the middle of an area where there’s nothing you can destroy — except each other. When you start doing shit on the outside of that line right there, they’re gonna shut the place down. They don’t want anybody to get hurt. There’s a lot of people that wanna come see the show. They don’t understand some of this stuff, and you guys get so fucking crazy, you start hurting each other.
“Look, you guys, I know it’s hard to fucking contain yourself. It’s hard to fucking maintain yourself. I know that. But you gotta fucking be respectful of the people around you, especially if you’re sitting in fucking seats.
“The fire marshal said we’re gonna pause. We’re gonna pause until you guys get your shit and your act together, okay? And there’s no one to blame but you. And you know who I’m talking about. Not these people in the front. Not them. Not them. It’s you motherfuckers behind these people.
“Now we’re in a time where there’s no consequences for the shit you fucking do. And we need consequences. If you guys keep that shit up, we’re gonna go home. And I hope you guys don’t do that next time we come.
“You think I should get away with shit and not get in trouble for it? We end up in trouble for it. We have to pay for that shit.
“I’m not joking, man. I’m not joking.
“Have you ever heard me talk to you like this?
“So you need to fucking get your heads on straight and behave like human fucking beings unless you’re in this fucking area right here in the front.
“Fire marshals are here, and they’re here for your safety. Your fucking safety. Do you hear what I’m saying?
“All right, let’s see how you act. We might come back.”
SLAYER took a brief break before returning to the stage and finishing the show.
The band’s setlist was as follows:
01. Disciple
02. God Send Death (performed lvie for first time since 2016)
03. Bloodline (performed live for first time since 2017)
04. Payback
05. War Ensemble
06. The Antichrist (performed live for first time since 2017)
07. Jihad
08. Seasons In The Abyss (delayed by several minutes due to safety concerns)
09. Born Of Fire
10. Dead Skin Mask
11. Hell Awaits
12. South Of Heaven
13. Angel Of Death
14. Piece By Piece
15. Necrophobic
16. Altar Of Sacrifice
17. Jesus Saves
18. Criminally Insane
19. Reborn
20. Epidemic
21. Postmortem
22. Raining Blood
23. Black Magic
