In 1999, Slipknot released their debut, self-titled album, and found huge success while on their first tour, as part of Ozzfest ’99. On June 16 & 18, 1999, the tour came through the Great Woods Center for the Performing Arts. On that day, I don’t think anybody, including the band themselves, expected that 20 years later, Slipknot would be headlining their own Knotfest, at the exact same location.

But here we are, two decades later, and Slipknot has just released their sixth album, We Are Not Your Kind. Between the death of bassist Paul Gray, as well as other members leaving the band, they’ve certainly been through changes. But through lineup, costume, and sound changes, they are still undeniably Slipknot, bringing a chaos to the stage that no other band can.

As the curtain dropped, the band kicked into the first track of 2002’s Iowa, “People = Shit.” Having seen them on prior album cycles, I fully expected them to open with “Unsainted,” the first single off their new album, but that was held until the fourth song in the set. Opening with “People = Shit” was a great move, and the crowd erupted. Any fans who may classify themselves as “old school” Slipknot fans were not disappointed, as this was the first of many songs off the first two albums that were in the set. With six albums and nearly two dozen singles, Slipknot has a lot of material to choose from, but they did a nice job of balancing the old with the new.

After their previous album cycle, bassist Alessandro Venturella and drummer Jay Weinberg have earned their spots in the band, no longer just unnamed members on stage. Meanwhile, replacing departed percussionist Chris Fehn, “Tortilla Face” has yet to have his identity revealed. The chemistry and the power of the 9 musicians on stage is unstoppable, and every track, from “Wait and Bleed” and “The Heretic Anthem” to “Psychosocial” and “All Out Life” was on fire.

There was a time about ten years ago where Slipknot had lost me, and I skipped out on a few tours. The last four or five years, however, they’ve really won me back. I never would have expected an album as good as We Are Not Your Kind from them in 2019, and their performance backs it up. They tend to take their time between album cycles, so if you have a chance to see them on this tour, don’t pass it up!

SETLIST People = Shit

(sic)

Get This

Unsainted

Before I Forget

Solway Firth

The Heretic Anthem

Psychosocial

The Devil in I

Prosthetics

Vermilion

Wait and Bleed

Sulfur

All Out Life

Duality

—-

Spit It Out

Surfacing

































