The Memorial Celebration will be free and open to the public on a first-come, first-in basis (subject to venue capacity). All ages are welcome, and paid parking will be available around the venue.

Jeff Hanneman helped shape Slayer‘s uncompromising thrash-metal sound as well as an entire genre of music. His riffs of fury and punk-rock attitude were heard in the songs he wrote, including Slayer classics “Angel of Death,” “Raining Blood,” “South of Heaven” and “War Ensemble.” Hanneman co-founded Slayer with fellow-guitarist Kerry King, bassist Tom Araya and drummer Dave Lombardo in Huntington Park, CA in 1981. For more than 30 years, Hanneman was the band member who stayed out of the spotlight, rarely did interviews, amassed an impressive collection of World War II memorabilia, was with his wife Kathy for nearly three decades, shut off his phone and went incommunicado when he was home from tour, did not want to be on the road too late into any December as Christmas was his favorite holiday, and, from the time he was about 12 years old, woke up every, single day with one thing on his mind: playing the guitar.

It was once suggested to Slayer that if they would write “just one mainstream song that could get on the radio,” they would likely sell millions of records and change the commercial course of their career, similar to what had happened to Metallica with 1993′s “Enter Sandman.” Jeff was the first to draw a line of integrity in the sand, replying, “We’re going to make a Slayer record. If you can get it on the radio, fine, if not, then fuck it.”

Review and Photos  by Marcy J Royce

BANG! Right out of a canon. PAPA ROACH stormed the stage with a vengeance. The electricity was high in Rams Head Live this night. Otherwise started the fever, Escape The Fate started the frothing, then PAPA ROACH grabbed the horns and took off. With every word of the chorus, “Burn… Burn… Burn!” the crowd chanted and fist pumped along with every word. Jacoby Shaddix had taken a early command of the crowd. And rightfully so with his intense energy and belted lyrics. He brought you straight to the top. But not to worry, the entire band was on fire right with him. It was like the entire stage was on fire, they couldn’t stay in one place for more than a few seconds. The entire venue was in full force rock out mode. Wow, time for me to hang on for the ride in the pit as the energy was thrown back and forth like kettle bells. The only problem that confronted me was the difficulty capturing each member in one place for even a second. I was on my toes keeping up!

As Burn ended, To Be Loved took off. Same feverish crowd growing more hungry for every line of the song. Singing along as loudly as they could. Man, the fans were stoked for PAPA ROACH to be in Baltimore! As To Be Loved ended, Jacoby shouted at the crowd in the back about just standing there. He said, “Let’s F*#$in’ Do This!” And the crowd went wild. I smiled from ear to ear knowing that this lead singer was serious about each person in attendance being in the palm of his hand, firmly gripped to ride the rock out. I LOVE a frontman like that. Command a crowd early on and never wanting to let them go. And the crowd willingly followed. Halfway through the song Jacoby knew he had them. What a rush to see it all go down.

As I exited the pit the bass started and caught me at the beginning of Alive. I usually head for higher ground but this time I found a spot right away o n the floor and turned to watch the song and the crowd. Found myself bopping along. Really digging this tune. Then halfway through the song Jacoby jumped into the crowd just at the barrier. Girls squealed with delight. And he never broke stride with the lyrics. Arms and camera were everywhere.

Silence Is The Enemy from their new release, The Connection, was next. Jacoby had the crowd jumping and clapping. I really enjoyed hearing this song live for the first time. Great riffs, few hooks, great bass, pounding drums. This was my first time seeing PAPA ROACH live. I’ve viewed them many times online. I have many of their cds. And my first live exposure to them lived up to my expectations. And them some. These guys are high energy every step of the way. From beginning to end. They are tight and dead on with every song.

And as I look back on this hot & heavy rock n roll night, I can honestly say it was hit after hit, even the new songs, and the crowd was fantastic and they never fatigued. They were roused the entire set. PAPA ROACH gives a great performance. One that I would assuredly want to see again and again.

Set list for PAPA ROACH: Burn, To Be Loved, Getting Away With Murder, Alive, Silence Is The Enemy, Forever, Before I Die, Blood Brothers, Give Me Back My Life, Angels & Insects, Angels Go, Still Swingin, Scars, Lifeline, Dead Cell, Last Resort

For more info on PAPA ROACH including tour dates, tickets, media, merchandise, and bios, visit http://paparoach.com/

I want to give a big shout out to Carise for making this opportunity happen for me and the Away-Team. Thanks!

JEFF HANNEMAN UPDATE – 5-9-13

While the details are being worked out now, Slayer wants its fans to know that there will be a celebration of Jeff Hanneman‘s life sometime later this month, along with Jeff‘s family and friends, the public will be invited to attend. More information will be posted here soon.

We’ve just learned that the official cause of Jeff‘s death was alcohol related cirrhosis. While he had his health struggles over the years, including the recent Necrotizing fasciitis infection that devastated his well-being, Jeff and those close to him were not aware of the true extent of his liver condition until the last days of his life. Contrary to some reports, Jeff was not on a transplant list at the time of his passing, or at any time prior to that. In fact, by all accounts, it appeared that he had been improving – he was excited and looking forward to working on a new record.

Kerry King and Tom Araya are trying to deal with the loss of their brother by remembering some the good times they shared.

KERRY: “I had so many great times with Jeff… in the early days when we were out on the road, he and I were the night owls, we would stay up all night on the bus, just hanging out, talking, watching movies… World War II movies, horror movies, we watched “Full Metal Jacket” so many times, we could practically recite all of the dialogue.”

TOM: “When we first formed Slayer, we used to rehearse all the time, religiously, 24/7. Jeff and I spent a lot of time hanging out together, he lived in my father’s garage which was also our rehearsal space. When he got his own apartment, he had an 8-track and I would go there to record songs I’d written, not Slayer songs, other stuff I’d written. At a certain point, you still have the band but you start your own lives outside of the band, so that 24/7 falls to the side, you don’t spend as much time together as you once did. I miss those early days.”

KERRY: “He was a gigantic World War II buff, his father served in that war, so when Slayer played Russia for the first time – I think it was 1998 – Jeff and I went to one of Moscow’s military museums. I’ll never forget him walking around that place, looking at all of the tanks, weapons and other exhibits. He was like a kid on Christmas morning. But that was Jeff‘s thing, he knew so much about WW II history, he could have taught it in school.”

TOM: “We were in New York recording South of Heaven. Jeff and I were at the hotel and we had to get to the studio – I think it was called Chung King, a real rundown place. So we left the hotel and decided to walk, but then it started raining. We walked maybe five blocks, and it was raining so hard, we were totally soaked, so we decided to get a cab. Here we are, two dudes with long hair and leather jackets, absolutely soaked, thumbing to the studio. No one would stop. We had to walk the entire way.”

TOM: “Jeff was a lifeline of Slayer, he wrote so many of the songs that the band will always be known for. He had a good heart, he was a good guy.”