The Band Serj Tankian Says Opening for Was Like ‘Boot Camp’

There is a explicit band that System of a Down opened for early of their profession that Serj Tankian stated was like going by way of “rock ‘n’ roll boot camp.”

System’s eponymous debut album got here out in 1998, and a specific steel band who had additionally simply launched a report invited them out on tour. Tankian recalled the trek in his 2024 autobiography Down With the System [via Metal Hammer].

“We had been opening for Slayer, which was an enormous alternative for a band who hadn’t but launched their first album,” the frontman wrote.

Slayer’s Diabolus in Musica got here out the identical month as System’s debut — but it surely was their eighth report, in order that they already had an extremely loyal fanbase by that time. And in line with Tankian, a lot of Slayer’s fanbase did not take care of the fledgling band.

“That tour was like going to rock ’n’ roll boot camp. Slayer followers famously love Slayer and hate nearly all the pieces and everybody else. As their opening act, the group noticed us because the one factor standing between them and Slayer,” Tankian defined, noting that their tribal make-up and flashy outfits did not make the scenario higher.

“In reality, once we’d take the stage, we’d usually be going through a wall of crossed arms and prolonged center fingers,” he added.

However, System of a Down held their heads excessive and ultimately earned the respect of some Slayer followers. That is to not say there weren’t moments the place they discovered it extremely exhausting to take action although, particularly when concertgoers introduced controversy into the combo — Nazi symbolism, for instance.

READ MORE: 10 Rock + Steel Bands With the Most Diehard Fanbases

The vocalist remembered, “…We had been onstage in Poland being pelted with cash by followers who had been additionally elevating Nazi salutes in our path. At one level, I used to be hit within the face with a bagel and misplaced my shit. I instructed our lighting man to level the lights into the viewers and goal the bagel-thrower. Then I launched into an offended tirade and threatened to begin kicking folks’s asses. Once I completed, the venue went lifeless silent.”

System walked off the stage at that present because of the conduct of the group.

Inside just a few years, System garnered a faithful fanbase of their very own and went on their very own headlining excursions. As they are saying, it’s important to pay your dues.