UNCASVILLE, Conn. – Prepare for Hell… that pretty much sums up Slipknot’s appearance at the Mohegan Sun Arena this past Friday night. Playing in front of a sold-out frenzied crowd, the band lived up to the hype and rawked the Sun with a solid two-hour set.
Touring in support of their sixth full length studio release, .5:The Gray Chapter, Slipknot brought along a new stage show that included some new horrific-looking masks. Known for their high-energy live show and creepy-looking masks, these guys from Iowa have the concert experience down to a science. There are quite a few moving parts to this show including hydraulic drum lifts on each side of the stage, a path of fire leading to the drum riser and a giant demon head laughing in the background.
Slipknot kicked off the show with the brutal Sarcastrophe, which had every maggot (a term for Slipknot fans due to the constant movement at their live shows) in attendance roaring for more. The full live band consisted of a lead singer, bassist, guitarist, drummer, two percussionists, keyboardist/sampler and one more on the turntables. Between the stage show itself and having eight members of the band running around, there wasn’t much room for error.
The Heretic Anthem and My Plague, both off of the 2001 release Iowa, came next and proved to be crowd favorites. The first new song of the night, The Devil in I received a huge response from the crown both vocally and physically. This was followed by a chaotic version and one of my favorites, Psychosocial. Another new one, The Negative One and also the first single off of The Gray Chapter had the maggots bouncing off each other and begging for more.
Slipknot, with their enormous stage production, is one of few arena-playing artists that actually changes up their live set each night. Most artists play the same exact set night after night, because their stage show with the lighting and effects is so extensive. The shows are usually timed to the music and, therefore, choreographed and even the amount of time the artist interacts with the audience between each song is set. I have to give kudos to Slipknot for this as the fans appreciate it – especially the ones that see them multiple times on the same tour.
Disasterpiece, Opium of the People and Dead Memories were machine gun-like in their rapid-fire and relentless assault. The band didn’t slow down with Before I Forget, Duality, The Blister Exists, Spit it Out and ending this great set with Custer.
The band came back for a three-song encore that included (sic), People = Sh** and Surfacing. Great to hear and see Surfacing as the ending song of the night as this was one of the first songs to get the band some recognition and was released back in 1999 off their first release.
Slipknot will hit their 20th year in existence next year and they don’t seem to be slowing down. The Prepare for Hell tour has concerts for the band lined up through the summer of 2015. This night was truly amazing and had it all, great music, great stage show and some of the most diehard fans of any artist out today.
Mike Augusti’s Rawk Report provides live music reviews of local concerts in Massachusetts and Connecticut. Check out the Rawk Report on Facebook for more information. Feel free to reach out at [email protected].
