Slipknot at the Hollywood Palladium

It would have been divine intervention to make this my 666th post but unfortunately, Slipknot barely missed the mark. The nine man outfit of Slipknot destroyed when I saw them at the Key Club many years ago prior to their slot on Ozzfest,which propelled them to top of the Heavy Metal chain. I previously caught the madness of Slipknot in March at Citizens Bank Arena in Ontario.

Vision of Disorder





It is really difficult to open for Slipknot. I don't care how fast or how hard you play. The biggest cheers you are going to get is by saying "Are you ready for Slipknot?" and "We have one more song left". Vision of Disorder definitely tried their best with metallic brand of New York hardcore. I don't remember seeing these guys back in the mid-nineties but apparently they had a decent sized cult following.

Slipknot







A 3 song limit to photograph a band with 9 members just isn't fair. So much chaos is unfolding on the stage that it is difficult not to get some sort of crazy Slipknot shot. Slipknot doesn't pull an punches by opening with some older material to get the crowd going by gouging out "Eyeless" and the bruising riffs of "Wait and Bleed".

Slipknot dives into thrash punk territory with the brutally repetitive "Get This" with the Clown jumping off his drum riser and making his way through the crowd to incite some more chaos. "Before I Forget" was another unrelenting attack on the senses as Jim Root (Guitars) was crushing riff after riff on his custom artist signature Fender Telecaster. Mick Thompson was keeping up the accelerated riffing pace with his own custom artist signature Ibanez guitar.

Slipknot would finally visit their new material by uncorking the odorous "Sulfur" from their latest album All Hope is Gone. The new material kept coming with "Dead Memories" which somehow reminded me of old Metallica. A return to thrash occurred with the raucous "Psychosocial". The main set came to a crushing end with "Duality and "People=Shit".

A churning rendition of "Snuff" kicked off their encore. "Spit It Out" had the tried and true request for all members of the crowd to sit down on the ground and jump up simultaneously on Corey's vocal cue. I have seen this throughout out the years and admit it looks cool from the sidelines but I think they would have let this go by now.

One other notable event was that long time Heavy Metal concert photographer Neil Zlozower was shooting the show in the photo pit and Shawn Crahan took the camera from him and snapped some pictures of Neil which was pretty hilarious. I don't think I would have given my camera to any member of Slipknot, so I commend Neil on his bravery.

Slipknot setlist at the Hollywood Palladium (10/29/09)
"(Sic)"
"Eyeless"
"Wait and Bleed"
"Get This"
"Before I Forget"
"Sulfur"
"The Blister Exists"
"Dead Memories"
"Disasterpiece"
"Vermillion"
"Psychosocial"
"Duality"
"People=Shit"
"Snuff"
"Surfacing"
"Spit It Out"

Slipknot at the Citizens Bank Arena in Ontario

One of the more polarizing tours in the metal world descended on Ontario at the Citizens Bank Arena. Slipknot, Coheed & Cambria and Trivium brought metal to the Inland Empire on a Tuesday evening.

It was quite the trek out towards Ontario and Trivium hit the stage at a non-rocking time of 7:00pm precisely. This cancelled out the bonus of the free parking at the arena. I heard a small bit of Trivium and will have to refer you to the time I saw them at the Grove of Anaheim back in March of 2007.

Coheed & Cambria





When I referred to this tour as polarizing, you either love or despise the bands on the bill. Coheed & Cambria caused quite the stir on the Slipknot web forums as many folks didn't think Coheed was "metal" enough. Claudio Sanchez (Vocals/Guitars) looked and sounded metal enough to me with his white Gibson explorer and his stack of Mesa Boogie Amplifiers.

Coheed wisely chose their fastest and heaviest songs by opening with "Welcome Home" from the album Good Apollo, I'm Burning Star IV, Vol.1: From Fear Through the Eyes of Madness. Claudio and his mop of hair whipped around for the unbridled guitar fury of "The Velourium Camper III: Al the Killer".

Regardless of whether you can take Claudio's high pitched vocal delivery, he definitely knows how to shred. Travis Stever (Guitars) was no slouch either working overtime on his Gibson Les Paul. Whether or not you like the songs, the musicianship of Coheed & Cambria is top notch. I am sure some of the Slipknot fans were pleased to see the giant tarp with the quote "God Will Not Save You".

Coheed & Cambria setlist for the Citizens Bank Arena in Ontario
"Intro"
"Welcome Home"
"The Velourium Camper III: Al the Killer"
"No World for Tomorrow"
"The End Complete III: The End Complete"
"In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3"


Slipknot



Do you remember being handed cassettes when you exited various concerts back in the day? I don't remember which specific show I was at, but I do recall being intrigued by a cassette tape from a new band called Slipknot on Roadrunner records. The recording was also helmed by Ross Robinson who had helped Korn capture the earth rumbling sound of their seven string guitars.




I was floored by the cassette. Could they reproduce this madness live? I highly doubted it. Slipknot was the first band on stage for Ozzfest 1999 and I was blown away. I was lucky enough to see Slipknot at the Key Club in Hollywood in 1999 and it was absolute chaos. I would later see Slipknot at the Glass House in Pomona which was an equally disturbing show. Slipknot was a nine headed fire spitting hydra of heavy metal.



Fast forward ten years later, Slipknot is still filling the arenas and many of those who cast the band as a gimmick will have to answer to the legions of their fans who are endearingly titled "maggots". The crowd started to churn and grow restless. "Runnin' With The Devil" by Van Halen made a fitting choice for the warm up music to the band's entrance on the stage.



The red velvet curtain would eventually raise and I found myself in front of a menacing looking Jim Root (Guitars) with his custom Fender Telecaster. The sampled screams foreshadowed the blitzkrieg assault of "(Sic)". I was immediately transported back to the days of the Key Club/Glass House as I was inches away from the chaos on stage. I made it a point to try and capture all nine members of the band.



"Eyeless" stirred the crowd into a frenzy. The amount of crowd surfers started to outnumber the amount of security as I ended up getting kicked out of the photo pit during the pummeling riff of "Wait and Bleed". It was a visual and aural spectacle watching Shawn "Clown" Crahan rise into the air on his hydraulic drum riser.

Corey Taylor (Vocals)still has one of the more distinguishable voices in the world of metal and ripped through "Get This". Slipknot know how to give the fans their money's worth with a full on rock show. After a fourteen years in the game, it doesn't appear that Slipknot is slowing down anytime soon.

Slipknot setlist for the Citizens Bank Arena in Ontario
"(Sic)"
"Eyeless"
"Wait and Bleed"
"Get This"
"Before I Forget"
"The Blister Exists"
"Dead Memories"
"Left Behind"
"Disaterpiece"
"Frail Limb Nursery"
"Purity"
"Everything Ends"
"Psychosocial"
"Duality"
"People=Shit"
"Surfacing"
"Spit It Out"