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

There’s a particular band that System of a Down opened for early in their career that Serj Tankian said was like going through “rock ‘n’ roll boot camp.”

System’s eponymous debut album came out in 1998, and a particular metal band who had also just released a record invited them out on tour. Tankian recalled the trek in his 2024 autobiography Down With the System [via Metal Hammer].

“We were opening for Slayer, which was a massive opportunity for a band who hadn’t yet released their first album,” the frontman wrote.

Slayer’s Diabolus in Musica came out the same month as System’s debut — but it was their eighth record, so they already had an incredibly loyal fanbase by that point. And according to Tankian, much of Slayer’s fanbase didn’t care for the fledgling band.

“That tour was like going to rock ’n’ roll boot camp. Slayer fans famously love Slayer and hate just about everything and everyone else. As their opening act, the crowd saw us as the one thing standing between them and Slayer,” Tankian explained, noting that their tribal makeup and flashy outfits didn’t make the situation better.

“In fact, when we’d take the stage, we’d often be facing a wall of crossed arms and extended middle fingers,” he added.

Nevertheless, System of a Down held their heads high and eventually earned the respect of some Slayer fans. That’s not to say there weren’t moments where they found it incredibly hard to do so though, especially when concertgoers brought controversy into the mix — Nazi symbolism, for example.

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The vocalist remembered, “…We were onstage in Poland being pelted with coins by fans who were also raising Nazi salutes in our direction. At one point, I was hit in the face with a bagel and lost my shit. I told our lighting guy to point the lights into the audience and target the bagel-thrower. Then I launched into an angry tirade and threatened to start kicking people’s asses. When I finished, the venue went dead silent.”

System walked off the stage at that show due to the behavior of the crowd.

Within a few years, System garnered a devoted fanbase of their own and went on their own headlining tours. As they say, you have to pay your dues.