slaughter
fish head cantina | 10/19/19
By Jay Oakley
Some went to work, others watched the kids, a couple may have even slept in preparation but no matter how you spent the day…EVERYONE was up all night!!! A precursor to Halloween for everyone to get Slaughtered!!
Outside of the M3 Festival it had been quite a while since Slaughter had treated Baltimore to their driving rock show and this show did not disappoint. The house was packed, the drinks were flowing, skin was showing and the girls were screaming.
A heavy dose of the early record made up the majority of the set with a mid-bridge made out of covers. But, when those lights dimmed it got LOUD. Considering there was a lot of local buzz about this show, I really wasn’t sure what to expect. Especially, at a time now where it seems everyone always has something better to do then support live music. I hear a lot of bitching from fans that no good shows come to town, yet when I good show does come through they won’t support it and there’s always some excuse. Tonight was not that night; the fans came out in force!!
The set opened with “The Wild Life,” “Burning Bridges” and “Spend My Life.” Slaughter then branched into a serious of Led Zeppelin covers. It was very cool because Mark still has the pipes for the delivery but weird because they have so much great material that four lengthy Zeppelin covers seemed a bit excessive. Slaughter followed the cover jam up with an abbreviated version of “Mad About You” and Mark then performed an acoustic version of “Days Gone By.” It was a very rad break and the plugged –in set and allowed for a bit of a breather while still making you feel like you were witnessing something special.
Following “Days Gone By,” Mark hopped into the crowd to perform “Eye To Eye.” I’ve seen Mark take to the crowd a bunch when seeing him perform and I’ve always loved it especially when it feels, at times, like artists are shying more and more away from crowd interaction. “Real Love” and “Fly To The Angels” set the night up to draw to a close with the performing of “Up All Night.” Ten songs later the night was a wrap with no shortage and sweat, hugs, kisses and I’m sure a few numbers exchanged.
All-in-all, it was a terrific set and a killer performance. It started a little rocky with some technical difficulties that made Mark’s voice sound subpar but considering I’ve seen Slaughter a bunch I knew that wasn’t the case and everything was sorted out to show that he had lost little to nothing in his range. Besides that, I would have loved to hear more Slaughter songs, like previously mention, due to the amount of covers but regardless the show killed and I can’t wait to see Slaughter again as soon as possible. I’ll just have to sleep my days away and stay up all night until they return.
merriweather post pavilion | 5/5/18
