Kerry King sat down with Heavy to compare his solo performances to Slayer shows.
When asked about the costs and production differences between the two, King explained, “Very raw because everything we do in Slayer costs a lot of money and fire being the most expensive, the biggest difference [is] we certainly can’t afford to be rolling with Pyro, although we have Pyro today ironically. So yeah, a much bigger show, interchangeable backdrops, and sh*t burning on stage. We got a backdrop or two and like I said, today we have fire, but for the other two, we don’t. We’re just up there raging.”
While production and fire can be expensive, King shared his love for fire in live shows. “I enjoy seeing everything in a live show production — not necessarily in my own show. But video screens are very effective. I think that’s a very common go-to. And I don’t think that every time you see video screens, the video content’s that great. Sometimes it looks like they mailed it in, so I didn’t want that,” he told Full Metal Jackie.
King added: “Fire, it is what it is, and you know what you’re gonna get. There is no mailing in fire — it’s there, it’s awesome, it is what it is. It heats the place up. It goes hand in hand with this kind of music. When I think fire, I think of bands like [Black] Sabbath, I think of Venom, I think of Slayer. And that being part of my pedigree, that’s where my love of fire comes from, I’m sure.”
After this past summer’s tour with Mastodon and Lamb of God, King and his solo band will start their first headlining North American tour next year. Municipal Waste and Alien Weaponry will join as support. The tour begins on January 15 in San Francisco and will run until the end of February, finishing in King’s hometown of Los Angeles.
