Slipknot & Lamb Of God
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PHOTOS BY MEGAN MOSS
By Clare McCabe
Artist: Slipknot & Lamb Of God
Date / Venue: Wednesday October 26th, 2016 - Vector Arena, Auckland
Vector Arena. Wednesday night. Completely packed out and ready to rock.
To be honest I do not think I have ever, in the history of Vector gigs, seen the crowd move together like they did last night. One giant mass of fans, all moving in unison to the preacher onstage. And the preacher last night was Corey Taylor.
But first up we had Lamb of God, returning for another visit after playing for us at Westfest last year. And they are just as good in the dark. Suspect a lot of the crowd was equally as excited to see Randy and his crew as they were Slipknot. The boys might have only got to play for a short time, but they smashed out those songs as hard and fast as they could. The crowd loved them. Randy bounced around stage and jumped off stuff. They played Walk with Me in Hell and the fabulous 512.
The crowd this evening certainly seems very jolly. And when I say jolly, I mean R.O.W.D.Y. I even spot a fabulous vintage rainbow Mohawk down in the middle of the pit.
The thing with a Slipknot concert is you know what you are going to get. You pay your money and you get blown away with loud music and crazy mind-blowing theatrics. You cannot be disappointed. Everyone in attendance is already a fan. But you can be surprised AGAIN with how fabulous these guys are live. They have been through a lot in recent years. Paul is no longer with us (RIP). Joey has moved on to other ventures. Corey recently had neck surgery and has added a neckbrace to his mask/jumpsuit stage combo. A lot of sadness and history has gone down. But this just makes the music more emotional doesn’t it?
And then they sneak through the side door and we are ON. Oh. My god. Where to look? Here they come. Clown and Long Nose are up on their percussion risers. Corey is growling and prowling the stage. The latest round of masks are the best yet. There is crazy video going on in the background but who has time to watch when there is so much going on onstage. My eyes can’t keep up. Clown goes up and down. Mick hammers his guitar and loiters around like an escaped inmate from Alcatraz. #5 rocks his pinhead mask and hangs at the back. Sid does some fabulous Cossack-style dancing and runs around a lot. Let’s be clear. There is nothing quite like Slipknot.
The crowd is heaving as they launch into The Negative One which is just a start of the chaos that follows. So many favourites. Before I Forget, Killpop. They slam through The Heretic Anthem: If you’re 555 then I’m 666… screams Corey and the crowd move faster.
And then shit got crazy. Here comes Psychosocial. Clown seems to be running his own crazy marching band on his riser. He spins faster. Long Nose joins him for a bit. Mick lurks round like its Halloween. Are they reaching a crescendo yet? Oh no there is more to come.The guy behind me is nearly destroying the seats with his headbanging.
Corey has the crowd in his hand as he chats between songs. Mostly he just says words including mother and fucker. But god they love him. Devil In I and Wait And Bleed come out. A short break and then back they come for that final encore. Oh Duality. Why not
And then the evening is over. Sometimes words cannot describe an event, you really have to be there to experience it for yourself. Last night was one of those times. People. You should see Slipknot. Every one of their fans that hung out at Vector with them last night will agree with me. Thanks Corey, Clown and the rest of the guys. Good times. As usual.
CLICK HERE TO CHECK OUT THE FULL SLIPKNOT GALLERY BY MEGAN MOSS