Marcus D'Angelo , from Claustrofobia , recalled the experience of opening for Slayer in São Paulo in 2019, during his appearance on The Wikimetal Happy Hour .
The farewell tour of the thrash metal giants passed through Brazil in October of that year, with the farewell show in São Paulo, at Espaço das Américas, just before their goodbye performance on the Sunset stage at Rock In Rio . Claustrofobia was already confirmed to play on the same stage as Slayer at the festival, but the experience of being the opening act was completely different.
In a conversation with Nando Machado , the vocalist acknowledged that this unique opportunity was the result of "the hard work of a group of people who were honest and successful" in meeting the requirements for the position, with strong support from the fans.
“I’ll tell you, we’ve played with several bands, and this whole opening act thing for big bands always causes problems. Not just because the guys are jerks, but also because a lot of things happen, it’s their show,” D’Angelo said. “But it was the most peaceful thing I’ve ever seen in my life, they had a soundboard just for us, the roadies said ‘I’m going to pull the drums back a little to help you guys’, we didn’t even ask.”.
With this collaborative and star-free atmosphere, the result of the show could only be incredible. "Man, I was so nervous, this show was amazing," he continued. "[Slayer] has an incredible career, congratulations, they never let it fall and finished on top, beautiful. Inspiring. I thought I would never achieve this dream in my life."
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