The last couple of times Slayer has stopped in Salt Lake City, bad things have happened.
Back in 1996, some unstable fan walked through a sold-out show at Saltair and randomly stabbed four concertgoers. Two were transported to the hospital and needed minor surgery.The most recent mishap occurred a couple of months ago. The band - bassist/vocalist Tom Araya, drummer Paul Bostoph and guitarists Jeff Hannemann and Terry King - were scheduled to play Bricks club. But heavy rains soaked the stage and puddles were everywhere. Because of the possibility of electrocution, the band announced to the audience that the show was canceled.
"If we were to have gone on stage at that time, someone surely would have been electrocuted," Araya said in a phone interview from his home in Los Angeles. "That, or someone from the audience would have jumped onstage and could have been killed."
Slayer will try once more to rock Salt Lake fans. This time the band will play the Wasatch Event Center, 3480 S. Main Street, Friday, Aug. 14. Doors open at 7 p.m.
"Hopefully we'll be able to go in and play, hang out and leave without leaving a trail of bad karma," Araya said.
Canceling shows isn't what the band wants to do, of course. But Araya and his mates don't want anyone getting hurt at their shows, either.
"The only other time we had to cancel a show was because I had laryngitis," Araya remembered. "I hate doing things like that. We feel like we let our fans down. Then, if they blow up and start a riot, it just makes the situation that much worse."
Still, calculated aggression is a part of the band. "We like to get aggressive with the music. It gives our fans a chance to let out their frustrations. I remember what it was like growing up. Even as a kid, I leaned more to the heavier stuff of the times - Bachman Turner Overdrive, Free, Cream.
"Slayer formed during the '80s. We were out playing gigs during the time when all the guys were playing guitar and dressing up in women's makeup. We steered clear of the Hollywood glam scene. That's why we were known as the `evil' band."
Slayer hit a nerve, and things have been brutally satisfying ever since. Even to the point where a major label (Columbia) scooped up its old label (American) and made some administrative adjustments.
"But," Araya said, "the label doesn't interfere with our music. We've got a good thing going. That's why we cringe at mishaps at our shows."