Slayer’s second reunion gig at the Louder Than Life festival in Louisville, Kentucky was cancelled due to bad weather.
The metal legends got back together after a break of nearly five years to headline a number of festival dates – Riot Fest in Chicago, Illinois on September 22 and Louder Than Life on September 27 – the Chicago show went ahead as planned by the performance in Kentucky was called off as the area was battered by high winds and heavy rain in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene.
A statement posted on Instagram by organisers explained: “Louder Family, we’re heartbroken to share this, but the weather just isn’t in our favour today.
“We’ve been working closely with our meteorologists and local authorities, holding on to the hope that we can open doors, but the continuous wind gusts simply make it impossible for us to proceed safely.
“We know how disappointing this is – it’s gut-wrenching for us too. But your safety, along with the safety of our artists and crew, will always be our number one priority.
“The support and patience you have showed us today has been nothing short of incredible.”
After calling off the first day of the festival, the following two days of live music were able to go ahead as planned.
Slayer are due back on stage on October 10 to perform at the Aftershock Festival in California alongside Iron Maiden, Slipknot and Motley Crue.
When announcing the reunion shows, frontman Tom Araya said in a statement: “Nothing compares to the 90 minutes when we’re on stage playing live, sharing that intense energy with our fans. And to be honest, we have missed that.”
Guitarist Kerry King added: “Have I missed playing live? Absolutely. Slayer means a lot to our fans; they mean a lot to us. It will be five years since we have seen them.”