The Final World Tour (also referred to as The Farewell Tour) was the final

concert tour A concert tour (or simply tour) is a series of concerts by an artist or group of artists in different cities, countries or locations. Often, concert tours are named to differentiate different tours by the same artist and to associate a specific ...

by American

thrash metal Thrash metal (or simply thrash) is an Extreme metal, extreme subgenre of heavy metal music characterized by its overall aggression and fast tempo.Kahn-Harris, Keith, ''Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge'', pp. 2–3, 9. Oxford: Berg, ...

band

Slayer Slayer is an American thrash metal band from Huntington Park, California, formed in 1981 by guitarists Jeff Hanneman and Kerry King, drummer Dave Lombardo and bassist/vocalist Tom Araya. Slayer's fast and aggressive musical style made them ...

, which began on May 10, 2018, and ended on November 30, 2019. The tour, consisting of 147 shows worldwide, served as a conclusion of the band's 38-year long career.

Background

The tour was announced on January 22, 2018, through a video featuring a montage of press clippings, early posters and press photos spanning Slayer's entire career. Although the members of the band have never explained the decision to retire from touring, fans believe one of the reasons behind this was due to bassist/vocalist Tom Araya not wanting to tour anymore and a desire to spend more time with his family. The first leg of the North American tour was announced the day after, which took place in May and June 2018 and included support from

Lamb of God Lamb of God (; , ) is a Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, title for Jesus that appears in the Gospel of John. It appears at wikisource:Bible (American Standard)/John#1:29, John 1:29, where John the Baptist sees Jesus and exclaims, " ...

Anthrax Anthrax is an infection caused by the bacterium '' Bacillus anthracis'' or ''Bacillus cereus'' biovar ''anthracis''. Infection typically occurs by contact with the skin, inhalation, or intestinal absorption. Symptom onset occurs between one ...

Behemoth Behemoth (; , ''bəhēmōṯ'') is a beast from the biblical Book of Job, and is a form of the primeval chaos-monster created by God at the beginning of creation. Metaphorically, the name has come to be used for any extremely large or powerful ...

and

Testament A testament is a document that the author has sworn to be true. In law it usually means last will and testament. Testament or The Testament can also refer to: Books * ''Testament'' (comic book), a 2005 comic book * ''Testament'', a thriller no ...

. The second leg of the North American tour was announced on March 5, 2018; this leg took place in July and August, and featured four out of five bands from the first leg (Slayer, Lamb of God, Anthrax and Testament) and

Napalm Death Napalm Death are an English grindcore band formed in Meriden, West Midlands, in 1981. None of the band's original members have been in the group since 1986, but since ''Utopia Banished'' (1992), the lineup of bassist Shane Embury, guitarist Mi ...

as the replacement for Behemoth. On February 20, 2018, Slayer announced the first European date of the farewell tour; it was announced that they would headline the Secret Solstice Festival in

Reykjavík Reykjavík is the Capital city, capital and largest city in Iceland. It is located in southwestern Iceland on the southern shore of Faxaflói, the Faxaflói Bay. With a latitude of 64°08′ N, the city is List of northernmost items, the worl ...

Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...

in June. A European leg of the farewell tour took place in November and December 2018, with support provided by Lamb of God, Anthrax and

Obituary An obituary (wikt:obit#Etymology 2, obit for short) is an Article (publishing), article about a recently death, deceased person. Newspapers often publish obituaries as Article (publishing), news articles. Although obituaries tend to focus on p ...

. Guitarist Gary Holt had to miss the last four dates of this tour so that he could take care of his father who was nearing the end of his life; he was filled in by former

Machine Head A machine head (also referred to as a tuning machine, tuner, or gear head) is a geared apparatus for tuning stringed musical instruments by adjusting string tension. Machine heads are used on mandolins, guitars, double basses, and others, and ...

and Vio-lence guitarist

Phil Demmel Phil Demmel (born April 2, 1967) is an American musician who played lead guitar in the Heavy metal music, heavy metal band Machine Head (band), Machine Head between 2002 and 2018, making him their longest running member in that position. He has a ...

. On June 24, 2018, Slayer was announced as one of the first five bands (alongside Manowar,

Carcass Carcass or Carcase (both pronounced ) may refer to: * Dressed carcass, the body of a livestock animal ready for butchery, after removal of skin, visceral organs, head, feet etc. *Carrion, the decaying dead body of an animal or human being, also c ...

Mass Hysteria Mass psychogenic illness (MPI), also called mass sociogenic illness, mass psychogenic disorder, epidemic hysteria or mass hysteria, involves the spread of illness symptoms through a population where there is no infectious agent responsible for c ...

and

Dropkick Murphys Dropkick Murphys are an American Celtic punk band formed in Quincy, Massachusetts in 1996. The current lineup consists of co-lead vocalist and bassist Ken Casey, drummer Matt Kelly, co-lead vocalist Al Barr (on hiatus from the band since 202 ...

) confirmed to play the 2019 edition of

Hellfest Hellfest (), also known as Hellfest Summer Open Air, is a rock festival focusing on heavy metal music, held annually in June in Clisson, France. Its high attendance makes it the French music festival with the largest turnover. It is also one o ...

. This was the band's first show announced for 2019, and was said to be their last show in France. Slayer also played a one-off show in Mexico at ForceFest in October 2018. Slayer continued touring into 2019; in addition to international festival appearances, they performed in areas that the tour had not yet visited, including South America, Australia and Japan; Anthrax was the supporting act on most of the dates. Slayer toured North America in May 2019, with Lamb of God,

Amon Amarth Amon Amarth () are a Swedish melodic death metal band from Tumba, Sweden, Tumba, formed in 1992. The band take its name from the Sindarin name of Mount Doom, a volcano in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth. Their lyrics mostly deal with Viking myt ...

and

Cannibal Corpse Cannibal Corpse is an American death metal band formed in Buffalo, New York, in 1988, now based in Tampa, Florida. The band has released sixteen studio albums, two box sets, four video albums, and two live albums. The band has had little radio ...

as the opening acts. The final North American leg of the tour took place in November 2019, and included support by Primus, Ministry and Philip H. Anselmo & The Illegals. The band's final appearance in Chile on October 6, 2019, at the Santiago Gets Louder festival marked the first time two of the " Big Four" (Slayer and Anthrax) had shared the stage with one of the members of the "Big Teutonic Four" of thrash,

Kreator Kreator is a German thrash metal band from Essen, formed in 1982. Their current line-up consists of lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Mille Petrozza, Miland "Mille" Petrozza, drummer Jürgen Reil, Jürgen "Ventor" Reil, lead guitarist Sami Yli- ...

Megadeth Megadeth is an American thrash metal band formed in Los Angeles in 1983 by vocalist and guitarist Dave Mustaine. Known for their technically complex guitar work and musicianship, Megadeth is one of the "big four" of American thrash metal—alo ...

– who had not shared the stage with Slayer and Anthrax since the series of "Big Four" shows in 2010-2011 – was initially scheduled to perform at the festival, but cancelled due to

Dave Mustaine David Scott Mustaine (born September 13, 1961) is an American musician. He is best known as the co-founder, frontman, primary songwriter and sole consistent member of the thrash metal band Megadeth and for his time as the lead guitarist of Met ...

's illness and was replaced by Kreator. On how long the farewell tour would last, Exodus vocalist and Holt's bandmate Steve "Zetro" Souza indicated that it would "take a year and a half or two years to do the one final thing, but I believe it's finished. Everybody knows what I know; just because I'm on the outside, I have no insight on that." Kristen Mulderig, who works with Rick Sales Entertainment Group, said that there would still be Slayer-related activities after the tour's conclusion. Despite being referred to as a farewell tour, the band's manager, Rick Sales, said that the tour was not a foreshadowing of their split, but an end of touring. Former Slayer drummer Dave Lombardo did not attend the band's final show. After finishing the set from their final show at The Forum on November 30, 2019, the band and crew members hugged each other and took group photos, followed by Tom Araya bidding farewell to the fans. Guitarist Gary Holt expressed his gratitude towards the band members and then thanked the fans for making him feel welcomed since joining in 2011.

Setlist

#"Repentless" #"Blood Red" #"Disciple" #"Hate Worldwide" #"Mandatory Suicide" #"War Ensemble" #"

Jihad ''Jihad'' (; ) is an Arabic word that means "exerting", "striving", or "struggling", particularly with a praiseworthy aim. In an Islamic context, it encompasses almost any effort to make personal and social life conform with God in Islam, God ...

" #"Postmortem" #"When the Stillness Comes" #"Payback" #"Seasons in the Abyss" #"Black Magic" #"Dittohead" #"Hell Awaits" #"Chemical Warfare" #"Dead Skin Mask" #"South of Heaven" #" Raining Blood" #" Angel of Death"

Tour dates

Personnel

* Tom Araya – vocals, bass *

Kerry King Kerry Ray King (born June 3, 1964) is an American musician, best known for being the co-lead guitarist and songwriter of thrash metal band Slayer. He co-founded the band with Jeff Hanneman in 1981 and is one of two members to stay with the band ...

– guitars * Paul Bostaph – drums * Gary Holt – guitars

Touring musicians

– guitars (December 3, 2018 – December 8, 2018; sub for Holt)

References

{{Slayer 2018 concert tours 2019 concert tours Slayer concert tours Farewell concert tours Concert tours of Austria Concert tours of Germany Concert tours of France Concert tours of Ireland Concert tours of Belgium Concert tours of Norway Concert tours of the Netherlands Concert tours of Australia Concert tours of the United States Concert tours of the United Kingdom Concert tours of Switzerland Concert tours of Denmark Concert tours of Italy Concert tours of Canada Concert tours of New Zealand Concert tours of Finland Concert tours of the Czech Republic Concert tours of Japan Concert tours of the Philippines