Slayer‘s second reunion show at Louder Than Life Festival in Kentucky has been cancelled due to extreme weather.
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Slayer’s unlikely return was confirmed earlier this year when it was revealed that they’d be headlining two September festivals – Riot Fest in Chicago (22) and Louder Than Life festival in Louisville, Kentucky (27).
Their show at Riot Fest marked the thrash metal legends’ first live gig in nearly five years since the end of their lengthy farewell world tour. The group played a string of favourites at the Chicago fest including ‘Raining Blood’, ‘Angel Of Death’ and ‘South Of Heaven’ throughout their 20-song headlining set.
However, their second scheduled show headlining Kentucky’s Louder Than Life Festival had to be cancelled due to issues with the weather. The entire second day of the event had to be canned for safety reasons following the after-effects of Hurricane Helene, one of the severe storms to ever hit the United States.
Louder Than Life organisers said in a statement: “Louder Family, we’re heartbroken to share this, but the weather just isn’t in our favour today. We’ve been working closely with our meteorologists and local authorities, holding on to the hope that we can open doors, but the continuous wind gusts simply make it impossible for us to proceed safely.
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“We know how disappointing this is – it’s gut-wrenching for us too. But your safety, along with the safety of our artists and crew, will always be our number one priority.
“The support and patience you have showed us today has been nothing short of incredible.”
The remaining two days of Louder Than Life have gone ahead as planned.
Slayer are also due to perform at Aftershock Festival in California on October 10, alongside the likes of Iron Maiden, Slipknot and Mötley Crüe.
Any chances of a Slayer reunion appeared slim after Kerry King announced a solo album just weeks before revealing their comeback performances. The musician had previously described the new project as “an extension of Slayer”.
“Nothing compares to the 90 minutes when we’re on stage playing live, sharing that intense energy with our fans,” Tom Araya said in a statement about their festival shows (via Revolver). “And to be honest, we have missed that.”
King added: “Have I missed playing live? Absolutely. Slayer means a lot to our fans; they mean a lot to us. It will be five years since we have seen them.”
The guitarist previously expressed regret over the end of Slayer, admitting in 2021 that he thinks they “quit too early”.
In June however, King did insist that Slayer “will never tour again”. Following the reunion shows announcement, he also told Classic Rock History: “Don’t get used to this being a yearly event.”
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