People = Shit, Slipknot's Music = Shit, Slipknot's Performance = Good
And now it's time for a disclaimer. If had my way, this review would just be the word 'Shit', or any other negative word, in bold, red, flashing, capital letters. [Thankfully, you don’t have your way! –Ed] However, this may be seen as unfair, and slightly biased, since I can't stand Slipknot at all. Saying that – even if I’m not a fan of Slipknot this was a particularly good set.
Over the past hour, the stage had slowly been adorned with silver objects - silver oil drums at the front, a silver drumkit at the back, and with the odd glimpse of a silver guitar being tuned and tested by a guitar tech. Finally, around 5pm, the various tuning noises died down, as did the music that provided an intermission between bands (Rage Against the Machine! 5/5!), and the crowd were treated to a heck load of samples, which form Slipknot's intro. As the intro played on and on, the crowd went wild. Beer missiles were launched, a friend creamed himself, and a short burst of guitar distortion hinted at the metal that was to come.
After what seemed to be an extremely long intro, guys in funny masks came on stage, the notorious members of the band that is recognised all over the world, from Des Moines, Iowa, to Glasgow, Scotland; Slipknot.
The one good thing Slipknot seriously has, whether you hate their music or not, is the sheer power and intensity of their drumming. Then again, how can you not provide powerful drumming when you have three drummers: Joey Jordison, the main drummer and legend, and two other guys who beat up silver oil drums, bass drums and beer kegs. Joey's speedy double bass drum work was surely dictating the pace of the hearts of fans present at the show.
So, as they came onto the stage, Slipknot burst into their first song, 'The Blister Exists', and it was pretty obvious what Slipknot do when they're on stage: rhythmic moshing in unison with each other and the crowd; much wind milling of hair, particularly from Mick Thomson (guitar) and Joey Jordison (drums); and, in general, much wandering around the stage as they play their instruments. It was kind of like a mellow cocktail party, albeit one where the ambience is extreme metal music, and the people break into uncontrolled headbanging every few seconds.
Undoubtedly (and pretty much obviously), Corey Taylor (vocals) was the star of the show, controlling the crowd with ease, and skillfully slinking between near-rapping, heavy screaming, and your traditional tuneful singing - much like what InMe attempted a few years ago and failed so badly on. Of course, getting practically the whole crowd to sit down on the grass before a song went completely crazy shows just how much power he had over the crowd today – even if it’s a student that is now many years old.
Slipknot managed to really shine through with "Duality" – infact, this is the only song I can stand as a devout Slipknot hater, and do you know why? With Slipknot's newer material they seem to have discovered everyone's favourite friends, Mr Melody and Mr Harmony. Now that some Slipknot songs actually have a sense of key and harmony, they aren't completely impossible to listen to for non-metal fans. As the song went on, flyers went, well, flying through the air in celebration, and Corey was practically drowned out during the chorus.
Finally, I saw a granny going for it during the last song, 'People = Shit'. No comment.