 |
| Slipknot's 1000 members |
There were a lot of people there, but moreso later on about when Lamb of God and Slipknot came on. The lawn was pretty empty until LoG, but the seats were pretty packed, probably sold out for LoG and definitely for Slipknot. I didn't realize that they are THAT big. Say what you will about these bands, but it looked like a money maker to me.
 | |
| How the lawn looked before Lamb of God |
 |
| Merchandise was surprisingly meh |
There was a bunch of merch, but nothing really interesting. Shirts were $35/40 (pretty expensive), but nothing really struck me as I have to have it. The crowd was certainly very interesting too, as you had metalheads, Octane fans, hot topic followers, some tripp pants wearers from 1999 (where do you ever get those these days!?), some girls with trashy outfits, and some "normal" looking parents looking disapprovingly at everyone while hovering behind their kids.
 |
| Bullet for My Valentine |
Bullet For My Valentine was the first band I saw, I really wanted to see them as I had not seen them in ages (2011, at 930 club with Halestorm opening!). Let's say the crowd was pretty dead for these British lads. There were no screens used, just their big backdrop for their new album, Venom. Regardless, I enjoyed their set. They played two tracks off of that new album, which sounded alright. If you liked BFMV you'd probably like their set (but not having seen them in a while, I was a little rabid), but if you weren't you probably wouldn't be impressed. "Scream Aim Fire" was def the best rocker, but the the ballad "Tears..." was good too (tho I would have preferred "Hearts Burst Into Fire" if we are talking about power ballads). All in all I enjoyed their set, but I think I was one of the few on the lawn who cared about them.
 |
| Lamb of God |
 |
| Walking with these guys in hell |
 |
| An enthusiastic fan |
Lamb of God was up next, and there seemed to be twice as many people around (perhaps twice as drunk too?), and things seemed to be more energetic. It was odd seeing LoG further back than a club show (last time, at the end of 2013), so the energy was high but a bit more dispersed. They came on to the excellent "Walk With Me in Hell," and plowed into oldies and some songs off of THEIR new album Sturm und Drang (VII: Storm and Stress). I had only just picked up their new one, so I was only slightly familiar with the two new tracks that they played. I could have used "Contractor," but a different set is nice too. The crowd seemed to be getting kind of rowdy, with pits and the like- but not as insane as I was expecting. LoG used their own screens for some tiny videos instead of the huge ones on the sides of the stage. Frontman Randy Blythe did seem more pumped and refreshed after his whole ordeal in the Czech Republic.
 |
| Slipknot's curtain |
Finally, there was a huge backdrop with that Slipknot 'S' logo, and people started cheering, waiting for the maniacs from Iowa. Slipknot came on after the intro of Van Halen's "Runnin' With the Devil," which many would argue that has more technicality in it than any of Slipknot's songs. They had a pretty big show- light, spinning drum set, a big demon dude, some video, and most importantly FIRE. I enjoyed that aspect of the show- I can only see so many bands that just get up on stage and you don't get any monsters or whatever. But that's an entirely different discussion that degenerates into arguments about "needing a show" because of lack of "talent" etc. etc.
 |
| Surfacing |
Slipknot had too many damn people on the stage- Corey Taylor on vocals, 2 guitars, a bassist, THREE drummers (2 too many), a keyboard/sample guy, AND a turntable guy who kept on running around the stage, jumping and climbing off of stuff, I thought he was going to break his neck. I think they could fire him since he seemed to add nothing to the sound (except for maybe one song). Maybe he helps write the songs? I don't know, some Knothead can answer that one.
 |
| Lil Demon dude |
In any event, Slipknot still didn't use the screens for whatever reason, but they used FIRE. The spinning drums on the sides of the main drum kit were making me wonder how those guys don't get sick in those hot masks, spinning around and going up and down. Whatever the case, it all looked pretty cool, and you'd be hard pressed to not say the fans didn't get their money's worth.
 |
| Fire= Awesome |
Soundwise, they were hella loud. The guitar was a little buried in the mix, and the drummers past #1 were not really audible to me. It was like, you guys can save some more money by firing half your band (not that Corey Taylor is like David Coverdale, but....). Maybe there are more subtleties that you can't make out in that huge open air venue like Jiffy Lube Live. I didn't recognize all the songs, and maybe I should have stayed for the always delightful "People=Shit," but I got the hell out of there after about 50 minutes. Certainly not the most technical band, but they were pretty fun- and certainly over with the crowd. I didn't realize that many people enjoyed Slipknot. I'm more of a casual fan, and I liked the spectacle. To each his own I guess.
 |
| Check out that fire |
Overall, I'd probably see Slipknot again, but I wouldn't go out of my way to do it. BFMV was stagnating a bit, and Lamb of God, while enjoyable, may have been shown up by Slipknot's overall performance. Maybe it was the fire :3
Next show: AC/DC
-
Setlists
Bullet For My Valentine (6:48- 7:28)
- Your Betrayal
- No Way Out
- Raising Hell
- Scream Aim Fire
- Army of Noise
- Tears Don't Fall
- Waking the Demon
Lamb of God (7:53- 8:43)
- Walk with Me in Hell
- Now You've Got Something to Die For
- Still Echoes
- 512
- Ghost Walking
- Ruin
- Hourglass
- -
- Vigil
- Laid to Rest
- Redneck
Slipknot (9:15- (I left at 10:05)
- Sarcastrophe
- The Heretic Anthem
- Psychosocial
- The Devil in I
- AOV
- Frail Limb Nursery
- Purity
- Wait and Bleed
- Killpop
- Before I Forget (I think I left around here)
- The Blister Exists
- Duality
- The Negative One
- Spit It Out
- Custer
- 742617000027
- (sic)
- People = Shit
- Surfacing
No comments:
Post a Comment
Thoughts? Gripes? Additions? Hate? Leave a comment!