A few weeks ago Jeff Hanneman guitarist from Slayer died at aged 49 in a hospital in California.
Today is the memorial service
Heavy metal parking lot
Walking to the Palladium in Hollywood with Manute , Rox and Austin
Outside the Palladium was mindblowing . 1000s of Slayer fans lined up to say goodbye to one of the legend guitar riffers in the business. The streets were lined with metal fans from all corners of the world while cops circled the block arresting hundreds of young metal heads. So many people had brought cases of heinikins in Jeff's honor. In the mid day heat the crowd hung together and the feeling was really strange. Felt like we were all going to a concert and not a funeral. The air was alive. You could feel it . The media had spread the news that the West Baptist Church organisation were to show up and protest the gathering , but i think the police squashed it all. I didnt see anyone.
I did see this gem of a vehicle though. Phenominal.
Rattlesnake Nachos and Bret simmer in the midday sun. Both dreaming of ice cold beers.
This dude had balls of steel. Showed up to the scene with a mock religous banner. The banner was actually a Slayer song and album reference , complete with track number and song length - 2 minutes 54 seconds. It was genius. The mob has no brain and he got heckled and fans tried to rip his sign apart. It was hilarious. No one took a second to actually read his sign and realise he was a real fan. People are stupid and awsome at it. He caused quite a stir outside the arena. He was going to get mashed by some drunks. So we took him in to our posse.
Inside the Palladium was absolutely out of this world. Thousands of fans poured in. On stage were all Jeff's guitars lined up in front of a massive wall of marshall amps. Even his shin pads were propped up on the stacks. The atmosphere in the place was like a charge of electricity . Many people spoke on stage. Kerry King, Robert Trujillio from Metallica. It was heavy. Heavy weights Suicidal Tendencies were there too. A lot of the management from the label spoke too and Rick Rubin wrote really epic words .
Then they showed a slide show of Jeff's life while playing Raining Blood. Ive never seen anyhting like it . In the flick of a switch 2 perfectly formed giant pits exploded in the crowd . Two reverse duelling hurricanes . The mass opened up and the scene was pure magical . I teared up as i watched 1000s of fans swirl into the 2 circles , gathering speed. Its one of those things you cant stage. It just happens. Bloody amazing !! Im getting goosebumps just thinking about it.
Today was history.
RIP Jeff Hanneman 1964 -2013