That’s right folks, you read correctly. My sister and I went and saw Slipknot this past Friday. It’s a once in a five or so year opportunity, so my sister made sure we jumped on those tickets as soon as we could!
We left relatively early, but that didn’t stop us from idling in our car for an hour trying to get in the venue and parked. With all that, we ended up missing openers Behemoth and Gojira, although I have seen the later a couple of times before. We got to our seats by the time the final opener, Volbeat, took the stage, and the venue itself was already pretty packed for this stacked lineup, so the crowd naturally went nuts. Rock and metal have the distinctive quality of actually sounding good live, so of course they sounded just like every song you hear them play on Octane. They ended their set with favorites, “Seal the Deal” and “Still Waiting.”
Set up time meant that even more people flocked to their seats and packed into the lawn, and every time a light changed behind the Slipknot banner the crowd would cheer. So when the band finally took the stage, all hell broke loose. Literal non-stop cheering for the entire first song, fairly synchronized head banging, and lots and lots of booze. Having seen the new masks a few months back, nothing was really surprising in that regard, except for the keyboardist….his gave me the willies. Whether you like Slipknot or not, there is no denying that Corey Taylor has some kick-ass vocals and he sounded pretty much perfect.
My sister was having the time of her life along with the rest of the crowd. Each new song scored an “oh my gosh, yesssss” from her and then immediate head banging. She was especially thrilled when they pulled out for the first time on this tour, “Wait and Bleed.” And for a fairly new song, the crowd absolutely lost their minds for the single, “Unsainted.” With a stellar combination of lights and pyrotechnics, along with nine band members dancing and running around, it was certainly an entertaining set. If you love a little metal, and Slipknot is coming your way, I recommend going to their show. You won’t be disappointed.