Its been 13 long years since Slipknot invaded the Peoria Civic Center, in Peoria IL and the wait was well worth it. There’s nothing like watching nine guys give you every ounce of themselves for two hours on one of the biggest stages I’ve ever seen, but more on that later. It was packed at the Civic Center that night and you could feel the energy buzzing around the donning their old and new Slipknot merch. You can feel this night was going to be one to remember.
Opening the show was Wage War out of Ocala, FL. Wage War is a five-piece metalcore band that consists of Briton Bond (lead vocals), Seth Blake (lead guitarist), Chris Gaylord (Bassist), Stephen Kluesenger (drums), and Seth Blake (rhythm guitar and clean vocals) If I had to describe Wage War’s sound it would be a combination of Memphis May Fire and I Prevail. Despite not much of Wage War’s songs Briton and Cody’s vocals were crisp and weren’t drowned out by Seth’s powerful sound on the guitar and Stephens hard-hitting sounds on the drums. By the time the chorus of their first song “Low” was played the mosh pit was in full swing and like the rest of the of Wage War’s set it never slowed down as they played an impressive 11 song set that was full of aggression and in your face metal. The highlight of their set for me was their song “Manic” off of their 2021 album of the same name Manic. Everything about the song just kicks ass and seeing it live was pretty damn awesome.
If you weren’t able to catch Wage War on the Knottfest Roadshow tour in the US you will be out of luck as the Roadshow heads north for Canada and once it returns the lineup changes for the second half of the tour. But if you happen to live in and or around the Central Illinois area you’re in luck as Wage War will be playing at the Castle Theatre in Bloomington Illinois, on May 13. They will be doing a headlining tour with While She Sleeps, Gideon, and Chamber. If you’re in that area make sure to check out that show and if you’re not check out Wage War on their Facebook page to see when they might be coming through your town.
You can pick up their music and merch HERE. Their setlist that night was:
- Relapse
- Low
- Alive
- Teeth
- Godspeed
- Manic
- High Horse
- Gravity
- Death Roll
- Circle the Drain
- Stitch
Next to hit the stage would be In This Moment. Unfortunately, no media was approved that night to photograph them. I’m a big fan of In This Moment, I’ve seen them live about six times and have covered them for three of those six shows. Their performances can be hit or miss and this time, for me at least, it was more of a miss than it was a hit. You always know you’re going to get a theatric performance with In This Moment, but I felt this time it really took away from their overall performance and definitely had an impact on the crowd. Gone were the mosh pits and the energy. The only time the crowd really got moving was when big balloons were released into the crowd for them to hit into the air across the fans on the floor. I noticed that the merchandise stands probably got most of their business during their set as well. Now don’t get me wrong, In This Moment is a hell of a band to see live. There have been times I’ve walked out of one of their shows thoroughly impressed, but tonight, unfortunately, wasn’t one of those times. The costume changes that are a staple of In This Moment’s performances were cool and added to the theatrics, but at the same time, it seemed Maria Brink (Lead Vocals) changed her stage attire at least four times during their very short seven-song set which took a few minutes every time. If you take a few of those away they could have possibly added a few more songs to their set or played songs like “Sex, Metal, Barbie”, “Black Widow”, or “Gun Show”. The latter two would have definitely gotten the crowd moving. I also wasn’t a big fan of their stage setup as it didn’t allow band members Chris Howorth (lead guitarist) Randy Weitzel (Guitars) and Travis Johnson (bassist) to really move around much. Drummer Kent Diimmel was put in the back corner of the stage, where depending on where you were sitting, you may not have even been able to see him. Overall, In This Moment sounded great. While I would have preferred a few more songs on their setlist, the ones they did have were some of their most well-known songs. You can find their music and merch HERE. Their setlist that night was:
- Burn
- The In-Between
- Sick Like Me
- Blood
- Big Bad Wolf
- Adrenalize
- Whore
Up next would be the band everyone had been waiting for; Slipknot! The first time I saw Slipknot was less than two blocks away at the historical Madison Theatre back in 1999. I remember them walking on stage that night and thinking Wtf am I seeing/watching. By the time they walked off the stage that night I was hooked. I’ve tried to catch pretty much every tour cycle they’ve been on since. That night in 1999 nobody knew who Slipknot was. Their first album had not been out very long and they weren’t getting the airplay on radio like they do now, fast forward twenty-three years and you can’t mention the words metal music without them.
They backed that up with another solid performance from the first note of their opener “Disasterpiece” to the final note of “Surfacing” which they closed the night out with. My favorite things about every Slipknot tour cycle are the debut of their newest masks and a new stage setup, both of which are over the top and never disappoint. The first time I saw Slipknot you could barely fit all nine of them on stage as they were almost always the openers. Ever since then, the stage setups have gotten bigger and better and this setup was no exception. They had the main stage where Corey Taylor (Lead vocals) Jim Root (guitars) Mick Thompson (guitars) and Alessandro Ventrurella (bassist) spent most of their time. From there were a set of five stairs that lead to a second stage that housed Craig Jones (Samples and Keyboard) Sid Wilson (Turntablesist) and Jay Weinberg (drums). On each side of that stage were a set of four stairs that lead to each side of a giant u-shaped stage where Michael Phaff and Shawn Crahan’s (custom percussions and backing vocalists) played their famous custom drum sets that have become a must-see at every Slipknot show.
After ripping through their opener Slipknot would on to play 19 more chaos-filled songs including “Wait and Bleed”, “Psychosocial”, “(Sic)” and “People=Shit”. Another highlight of every Slipknot show occurs during the song “Spit It Out” when lead singer Corey Taylor tells everyone in the arena to get down and on his cue to “Jump the Fuck up!” Seeing thousands of people close to the ground and suddenly jumping into the air as Corey tells them to Jump the Fuck up at just the right moment during “Spit It Out” has become a staple of every Slipknot show since the beginning. The only time you had to catch your breath was when they played the songs “Dead Memories” and “Snuff”. By the time Slipknot ripped through their 20-song setlist that included 3 encore songs, Slipknot had proved why they are one of the biggest draws in heavy metal and why they have some of the most loyal and dedicated fanbases. I’d have been hard-pressed to find anyone that didn’t enjoy themselves at this show, whether it be a fan in the pit or one up in the upper bowl. There is one thing that I was surprised I didn’t see and was also disappointed I didn’t see being a huge fan of theirs. There was no tribute paid to two of the co-founding members in Paul Gray and Joey Jordison who have tragically passed away. Other than that I had zero complaints and I would highly recommend seeing the Knotfest Roadshow if it’s coming anywhere close to your town.
The second half of the Knotfest Roadshow will run May 18th through June 18th and will feature Cypress Hill and openers Ho9909. You can find Slipknot’s music and merch HERE and more info on the Knotfest Roadshow HERE. Their setlist that night was:
- Disasterpiece
- Wait and Bleed
- Sulfur
- Before I Forget
- The Chapeltown Rag
- Dead Memories
- Unsainted
- The Heretic Anthem
- Psychosocial
- The Devil In I
- Solway Firth
- All Out of Life
- Snuff
- Vermilion
- Duality
- Custer
- Spit It Out
Encore:
- People = Shit
- (sic)
- Surfacing
Overall the Knotfest Roadshow was a great show and a spectacular performance from Wage War and Slipknot. Go catch them while you can, you will not regret it!
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