The boys from Slayer have seen their fair share of crazy concerts over the years—not to mention the trend of fans carving the band’s name into their arm—but for guitarist Kerry King, at least one particular situation takes the cake.
King was recently a guest on the Axe Lords podcast—hosted by Dave Hill, Cindy Hulej, and Tom Beaujour—and was asked how long it took him to notice that Slayer fans were much more fanatical.
“People had to stomach it for a while, so it wasn’t record one, wasn’t record two. I’d say somewhere between record three, four, and five—maybe record three and four,” King said, as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET. “When you start to get a reputation, people know your music; they’re not just coming to say, ‘Hey, let’s check this out.’ They know it and they wanna see it. So, it’s gotta be that time frame—like, ’86, ’88.”
King was also asked if at any point he became impervious to being shocked by Slayer fans’ antics, to which he replied, “I’m kind of used to it, but I really don’t expect it, ’cause when you expect things, then you’re just setting yourself up for failure. So you just go in with a clean slate and see what’s gonna happen when the music hits.”
Finally, when the podcast hosts wondered what was the most outrageous thing King ever saw happen at a Slayer concert, the heavy metal legend recalled a pretty unusual crowdsurfer. “The craziest and funniest thing I ever saw was the first time I saw a wheelchair come over—with somebody in it,” he shared. “I was on Jeff’s [Hanneman, late SLAYER guitarist] side—this was when Jeff was still playing—I was on Jeff’s side, and we both saw it at the same time.”
“We both just put our heads down because we were both just laughing,” he continued. “Because we weren’t prepared to see that, and then once you saw it, you’re, like, ‘Oh, well, that’s kind of cool. At least they get to partake in the fun as well.’ But just not having that picture in your mind before you see it, you’re just, like, ‘What the fuck?’ I cracked up for a few seconds and carried on.”
Slayer was originally formed in 1981 and released 12 studio albums before disbanding in 2019. They reunited in 2024 for some big festive shows, and will also play the 2025 Louder Than Life fest later this year.
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