On September 10, 2022, Slander began their Thrive Tour at the Phoenix Raceway in Phoenix, Arizona. The supporting artists were Svdden Death, Hol!, A Hundred Drums, and Redline.
We arrived to the stadium as Redline was finishing up. His music is catchy, but being the first opener, I could tell he was still learning to produce. His rhythms and most of his music lack vocals. Although colorful music, it soon became dull.
A Hundred Drums performed next, and her production skills are similar to Redline but much better. Her primary music theme resides in drum and bass music, hence her name. As a rising bass producer, she blends indigenous percussion with psychedelic bass to create powerful sounds.
Svdden Death is the DJ that took us to hell before Slander brought us to heaven. His music is heavily influenced by death metal blended with dubstep. His visual color palette is unique and sticks to the hell theme with reds and blacks.
His headbanging music is very aggressive and full of energy. He was a great DJ to have performed before Slander, giving the crowd a drastic different experience than what was about to come.
The main stage lit up and the extra lights and lasers shined bright. The pacing of Slanders performance was incredible as they controlled the tone and energy of the crowd. Headbangers would play followed by a starry, emotional track, giving our feet a break from dancing while our eyes and ears remained engaged.
Near the beginning of their performance during our chance to capture photos in the media pit, we witnessed one of the security guards headbanging with a crowd member over the rail. It was a spectacular sight, showing that you can have fun even while working.
By the end of their performance time had passed so fast you wouldn't think it would be over already. I am happy I am able to check Slander off my DJ concert bucket list. I'm glad I had the opportunity to finally see them live and their performance blew my expectations out of the water.