Live Undead

When I was 17, some of us used to go into a guitar shop in Darlington to salivate over guitars we would never be able to afford or play properly. They also sold package deals to various concerts. In 1991, they had tickets to see Slayer at Newcastle City Hall, so myself and Mike Death bought our tickets and began to count down the days.

It was a Saturday in November and we were to be picked up in front of the bus station in Darlington (the bus station has long since been demolished, but for the benefit of those who weren't familiar with it, it was basically a huge bus garage that stank of piss). The bus was picking up in a few other towns before Darlington and it arrived about 15 minutes late. The coach doors burst open as a large group of drunken metallers burst out for the sole purpose of urinating on the front of the bus station. These were metal fans from Hull who had obviously been drinking heavily all day. Once we were on the bus, one of the Hull lot attempted to sell me a 2 litre bottle of "lager" for 50p while his mates laughed loudly. It was obvious what was really in the bottle, so I declined his kind offer. And anyway, why buy cheap recycled beer when you have an illicit half-bottle of whisky in your pocket?
We arrived in Newcastle suitably well-oiled and having participated in a kind of drunken Slayer-karaoke. What was the first thing the Hull guys did when we got off the bus? That's right, they peed on the wall outside the venue (is public urination a matter of honour in Hull or something?). The support band had already started playing and we thought we'd give them a fair chance. After approximately 10 seconds of listening to Mind Funk, we declared them "shit" and made our way down to the bar in the basement. The next hour was spent throwing back £2 cans of Red Stripe and having the obligatory "I hope they play (insert song here)" conversation. Some of the guys from Hull were looking a bit worse for wear and one of their entourage slurred at me in the toilets "got any acid, mate?" Oh dear, they weren't going to remember anything from this concert.
We decided it was time to go to our seats (it was ok to stand, but only in front of your allocated seat) and waited for what seemed like an hour for Slayer to take to the stage. As the introduction to Hell Awaits began a huge cheer went up and when the band came onstage, I thought I was going to die of excitement. Then they started playing. It was the loudest music I'd ever heard. My ears were ringing and every beat of the bass drum made my ribs rattle. Song after song was played with precision: The Antichrist, War Ensemble, South Of Heaven, Mandatory Suicide, Raining Blood, Post Mortem, Expendable Youth, Seasons In The Abyss to name but a few. When they rounded off the night with Angel Of Death, the band had played for about 90 minutes (even though it only felt like 15).
The bus journey back home was significantly quieter as a lot of people at the back who hadn't paced themselves especially well slept. I got home quite late, drunk and with a sore neck from head banging and my ears were ringing for days, but it was still one of the best concerts I've ever been to.