A Trip to the Sarasota Slaughterhouse

No Animals Were Harmed in Nathan Benderson Park

Slaughter

By Brent Michael, Rock At Night Tampa Correspondent

Venue: Nathan Benderson Park, Sarasota, Florida–February 28th, 2020

 

So a friend called me up and said, “Got any plans for Friday night?” Turns out I didn’t, and had even taken the day off because I was getting dental work done – timing was perfect! So I agreed to drift on down to Sarasota with her and her girlfriend who lives there to stop into the De Soto Food & Music Festival to see Slaughter, a band who I knew of but had never seen live. Slaughter currently has 2 original members: Mark Slaughter – lead vocals, rhythm guitar, keyboards, piano, tambourine, Dana Strum – bass guitar, backing vocals, Blas Elias– drums, percussion (who played with them in 1988-2003, then returned in 2019), and Jeff “Blando” Bland – lead guitar, backing vocals, who joined in 1998.

We arrived in time to hear the opening act, Maiden Cane, do several cover songs and a surprisingly effective mash-up of Metallica’s “Enter Sandman” and Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believing.” A band worth checking out!

Slaughter

Then Slaughter took the stage, and performed their hits, “Fly to the Angels,” “Up All Night,” and more but surprisingly did several covers of bands ranging from Led Zeppelin to Whitesnake – of course, putting their own spin on them! A great way to start the weekend!

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Brent Michael

Forest Live Festival – UK

Forest Live Festival – UK