Being from the state of Iowa, us Iowans take a lot of pride when something amazing comes out of Iowa. We have President Herbert Hoover, esteemed actor John Wayne, President Ronald Reagan did some announcing for some Iowa Hawkeye football games, and a metal band that is becoming legendary in their own right, Slipknot is proud to say that they are from Des Moines, Iowa. Slipknot with special guests Gojira took the Knotfest Roadshow to the Iowa State Fair in Des Moines, Iowa for his historic concert.

We brag about our state fair all of the time. People come from all over for this fair, I mean where else can you eat a fried stick of butter but at the Iowa State Fair. After indulging into some of Slipknot’s No. 9 Iowa Whiskey, which is made out of a small town outside of Cedar Rapids and being a part of the listening party for their latest release entitled “We Are Not Your Kind”, this got us jacked for Slipknot.

There was a huge meet and greet line for Shawn “Clown” Crahan, who is one of the founders of Slipknot. After getting our tickets, it took us forever to get into the grandstand, so long that we missed Gojira’s set, but from hearing the crowd noise and the response to Gojira’s really heavy set, the band from France did an impeccable job of getting the crowd amped up(as if they needed help getting amped up) for Slipknot.

After the lights went out, the crowd was filled with the moment that they waited a year for at this historic concert. The intro to (515), which is the area code for Des Moines, played was an extremely fitting way to start off the concert. Slipknot treated their maggots to the songs “People=Shit” and “(sic)”, this really showed that Slipknot was staying true to their Iowa roots, and the crowd just erupted during those two songs. The crowd was treated to songs from their earlier years and the crowd erupted when frontman Corey Taylor announced that this night was being filmed for a DVD release.

In terms of the theatrics, there is a lot that goes on with a Slipknot show. You have the masks that all showcase different personalities and theatrics, especially when Clown sets a baseball bat on fire and beats it on to a keg. This also felt like a genuine homecoming as Corey Taylor couldn’t seem to stop acknowledging his maggots and letting his maggots know how good it felt to be home. I can only imagine that this was a dream come true for the boys in Slipknot. The crowd was so engaging(the best Slipknot fans in the world are out of Iowa) during the whole set, especially during “Heretic Anthem”, the crowd erupted when Slipknot sang “If you’re 555”, and the crowd would erupt and proclaim, “then I’m 666”.

Crowd erupted into mainstream rock radio favorites such as “Psychosocial”, “Vermillion”, along with “All Out Life” and one of the favorites of the night “Duality”. The moment of the night came during “Spit It Out” and that was when Corey Taylor demanded everyone to kneel or sit on the ground and instructed the grandstand to not move until the crescendo of the song kicks in and when he yelled “jump the fuck up”, all 17,000 plus jumped and I could almost feel the ground beneath me move like a small earthquake. The night was closed out with “Surfacing”. The touching part of the night was when the band got together in a group huddle and hugged and fireworks shot up in the sky as “Till We Die” blared on the speakers. This will be a night that I will never forget. There will never be another show quite like this at the Iowa State Fair. Here is the setlist:

(515) People = Shit (sic) Get This Unsainted Disasterpiece Before I Forget Heretic Anthem Psychosocial Devil N I Prosthetics Vermillion Custer Sulfur All Out Life Duality Encore: Spit It Out, Surfacing, Till We Die

Slipknot with special guests Volbeat, Gojira, and Behemoth are continuing the Knotfest Roadshow. Check out the tour dates below:

Wed. 8/14- Veterans United Home Loans Amphitheater in Virginia Beach, Virginia

Fri. 8/16- Ruoff Home Mortgage Music Center in Noblesville, Indiana

Sat. 8/17- Providence Medical Center Amphitheater in Bonner Springs, Kansas

Sun. 8/18- Hollywood Casino Amphitheater in Maryland Heights, Missouri

Tue. 8/20- Budweiser Stage in Toronto, Canada

Wed. 8/21- Saratoga Performing Arts Center in Saratoga Springs, New York

Fri. 8/23- KeyBank Pavilion in Burgettstown, Pennsylvania

Sat. 8/24- The Pavilion at Montage Mountain in Scranton, Pennsylvania

Sun. 8/25- Darien Lake Amphitheater in Darien Center, New York

Tue. 8/27- Xfinity Center in Mansfield, Massachusetts

Wed. 8/28- Northwell Health at Jones Beach Theater in Wantagh, New York

Fri. 8/30- PNC Bank Arts Center in Holmdel, New Jersey

Sat. 8/31- BB&T Pavilion in Camden, New Jersey

Sun. 9/1- Jiffy Lube Live in Bristow, Virginia

Tue. 9/3- Ameris Bank Amphitheatre in Alpharetta, Georgia

Wed. 9/4- MidFlorida Credit Union Amphitheatre in Tampa, Florida

Fri. 9/6- Austin360 Amphitheater at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas

Sat. 9/7- Dos Equis Pavilion in Dallas, Texas

Sun. 9/8- The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion presented by Huntsman in The Woodlands, Texas

Check out the music video for “Unsainted”:

Fans can find SLIPKNOT at the following locations:

www.facebook.com/slipknot

www.slipknot1.com

www.twitter.com/slipknot