Slaughter Return to Buffalo at the Historic Showplace Theater

Slaughter at Buffalo's Showplace Theater

In my high school and college years, I want to several shows at the Showplace Theater. It was always a pretty dirty, run-down kind of venue and at that age, I loved it all the more for those reasons. Having packed in there for bands like GWAR and Seven Mary Three back in the day, there was somewhat of a void when it finally closed down, though it came as no surprise.

After re-opening last year under new management, this was the first show that I got a chance to head back there and check out the venue in probably close to 20 years. Needless to say, it was impressive. Let's not kid ourselves, the Showplace is never going to pretend it's something that it's not, but it's looking the best I've ever seen it and it's a promising venue for future acts. The venue was clean, the floor was level and the stage was lit surprisingly well.

Last summer, I caught Slaughter pretty close to town here when they performed outdoors on the infield at Batavia Downs racetrack about 30 minutes away. Their show was a blast and I immediately committed to covering this date when they came through again. If you were there, you already know it was time well-spent!

Hair Nation's Jim Crean

The show opened up with an hour-long set from local cover band favorites Hair Nation. While the set does include a ton of music from that era, they performed a ton of metal and classic rock as well. Hits included covers of tunes from Motley Crue, Metallica, Poison, Aerosmith and tons more. Hair Nation will be back at Showplace Theater on April 29th opening up for Ratt's Stephen Pearcy.

Following a brief intermission, Slaughter took the stage and poured on a solid 75 minutes of non-stop hits! They kicked off the set with one of my favorites, "Mad About You." Next, they ripped through "Burning Bridges" and "Spend My Life" before heading into a really fun cover of Led Zeppelin's "Immigrant Song."

The crowd on the floor was packed in up by the stage singing along to every song. What's evident after covering this band twice in the last year is that their fans are absolutely die-hard. It's no wonder they're still out touring all over the US, as they know they've got a warm welcome at every venue they book.

The mid-section of their set consisted of hits "Eye to Eye" and another of my favorites, "Desperately" before heading into "Wild Life" and "Days Go By." The evening was rounded out by "Real Love," "Fly to the Angels" and "Up All Night" before finishing things off with covers of The Who's "Won't Get Fooled Again" and Van Halen's "Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love."

As a teenager of the mid-90's, I got into Slaughter around 1995 or '96, so I'd selfishly love to hear a few songs from the 'Revolution' album down the road. Maybe a little "Stuck On You" or Tongue N' Groove?" I can tell you that "Hard to Say Good-Bye" was a big one for me in high school, but hey, that's just me.

In the meantime, go catch a date on this tour if they're coming through your town. It's a really fun night out!

Slaughter's Setlist: