In an interview with Billboard, Scott Sokol, Slayer’s longtime booking agent, spoke about the band’s upcoming tour headlining with Gojira, the first full tour after losing founding guitarist Jeff Hanneman. The lede is totally buried though, as at the end of the interview, Sokol says that the band is “definitely” working on new music, saying “more things will be revealed in the coming weeks.” The band hasn’t made any official statements about new music since Hanneman’s death in May.
Sokol says that the band never considered taking a break following Hannemans death, which was due to alcohol-related cirrhosis.
I think if it happened while they were on tour it might’ve been different. But Jeff hadn’t been (touring) with the band for close to three years at this point. So it wasn’t like (Slayer guitarist) Gary Holt was new to the equation. At the time of Jeff’s passing, Gary [Holt] had been in the band for two-and-a-half years. It wasn’t going to help anybody to cancel what they were doing. The band likes to go out there and play. Not that I’m a counselor, or anything, but I think part of the way they deal with things is to do what they love. And they love to go out there and do their thing.
Sokol believes that there will be some sort of tribute to Hanneman during the band’s set, which he describes as their first actual headlining run in 6 or 7 years. He also promises a lot of material played that hasn’t been played in a long time, along with “a couple surprises that will be announced in the coming weeks.”
So are you planning on seeing Slayer on their headlining run, or is the idea of Slayer without Jeff and Dave Lombardo a little too much for you to take? Check the dates below:
10/22: Anchorage, AK @ Sullivan Arena
10/25: Las Vegas NV @ The Joint at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino
10/27-28: Los Angeles CA @ the Hollywood Palladium
10/30: San Jose, CA @ Event Center at San Jose State University
11/01: Seattle WA @ WaMu Theater
11/02-3: Calgary AL @Stampede Corral
11/04: Edmonton AL @ Shaw Conference Centre
11/05: Saskatoon @ Prairieland Park
11/07: Winnipeg @ MTS Centre
11/08: St. Paul MN @ Myth
11/12: Houston TX @ Bayou Music Center
11/13: Dallas TX @ South Side Ballrom
11/15: Chicago IL @ Aragon Ballroom
11/16: Detroit MI @ The Fillmore Detroit
11/17: Columbus OH @ Lifestyle Communities Pavilion
11/19: Silver Spring MD @ The Fillmore Silver Spring
11/20: Pittsburgh @ Stage AE
11/21: Toronto ON @ Ricoh Coliseum
11/23: Montreal QC @ CEPSUM at University of Montreal
11/24: Quebec City QC @ Pavillon de la Jeunesse
11/26: Wallingford CT @ Toyota Presents the Oakdale Theatre
11/27: New York NY @ Theater at Madison Square Garden
11/29: Camden NJ @ Susquehanna Bank Center
11/30: Lowell MA @ Tsongas Center at UMass Lowell
