“We were being pelted with coins by fans who were also raising Nazi salutes”: System Of A Down’s Serj Tankian reveals the dark side of supporting a legendary thrash band
Serj Tankian of System Of A Down has recalled the hostility the band were met with when touring with Slayer in 1998.
At the time, the band saw the tour as a massive opportunity, as they were yet to release their first album. Despite them now being hugely successful and widely loved by heavy music fans, at the time, Slayer’s fan base did not appreciate their presence at the gigs.
READ MORE: Slayer’s Kerry King calls this player the most “overlooked” guitarist in metal
In his 2024 memoir, Down With The System, Tankian explains (via Metal Hammer): “That tour was like going to rock ’n’ roll boot camp. Slayer fans famously love Slayer and hate just about everything and everyone else. As their opening act, the crowd saw us as the one thing standing between them and Slayer.
“This was a group of fans for whom ‘homemade’ knife-carved tattoos were not unusual, so when we’d turn up – me in tribal makeup, Daron [Malakian, System guitarist] sporting pink hair and a glammy little outfit, they were not necessarily predisposed to welcome us with open arms. In fact, when we’d take the stage, we’d often be facing a wall of crossed arms and extended middle fingers,” he says.
Though they went on to eventually start winning crowds over, Tankian remembers that a small number of fans remained stubborn in their ways, and acted in some rather disgusting ways: “A small subset of Slayer fans had a disturbing practice of showing up to gigs in full Nazi regalia,” he adds. “I distinctly recall watching a team of African-American bouncers at a club in Detroit called Harpos brawling with these Slayer fans outside the club after we’d finished our set.
“Later that year, while we were touring with Slayer through Europe, we were onstage in Poland being pelted with coins by fans who were also raising Nazi salutes in our direction. At one point, I was hit in the face with a bagel and lost my shit. I told our lighting guy to point the lights into the audience and target the bagel-thrower. Then I launched into an angry tirade and threatened to start kicking people’s asses. When I finished, the venue went dead silent. You could literally hear a pin drop in that place. Then we walked off.”
Serj Tankian’s memoir, Down With The System is available to buy now.
The post “We were being pelted with coins by fans who were also raising Nazi salutes”: System Of A Down’s Serj Tankian reveals the dark side of supporting a legendary thrash band appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.
Source: www.guitar-bass.net
