Slipknot take summer\’s last stand in Indy

Slipknot have been atop the metal world since they released .5: The Grey Chapter last Fall. They’ve headlined almost every major festival in the world and have been on numerous successful tours since the album’s release.

They recently hit the road again for the Summer’s Last Stand Tour and have taken Bullet For My Valentine, Motionless In White and Lamb Of God along for the ride and the trek recently stopped off in Indy for what was one of the highest-attended shows of the summer.

And after Motionless In White wrapped up a dominant set of which it was clear a large portion of the crowd had come to see, it was time for Bullet For My Valentine to take over.

It was a big show for them since their fifth album- Venom- released that very day. They played a good mix of songs from Venom and past albums combined and the excitement of the band was equally matched with that of the fans.

In Indianapolis it can be tough for new material to go over well sometimes due to the lack of an active rock station but that didn’t stop the fans from getting involved, singing and screaming as loud as they could.

After finishing up “Tears Don’t Fall” and “Waking The Demon,” their set came to a close and it was time for the almighty Lamb Of God to kick things up a notch.

Much like Bullet, LOG was fresh on the heels of their new album release- Sturm Und Drang and the energy in the crowd was indescribable. It only took mere seconds before the crowd was jumping, screaming and circle pitting all over the venue.

They didn’t say a whole lot, opting mainly to play as much material as possible and the fans were perfectly fine with it. From start to finish it was an adrenaline rush and you just couldn’t keep up. If you want a high-energy show, Lamb Of God is your band- singer Randy Blythe stands still for a total of 5 minutes- maybe.

Even if you aren’t a fan of their music or the vocals, Lamb Of God put on a show in Indy that will go down as one of the band’s best performances in the city- and it didn’t end there.

After a short wait, the red curtain sent down and Slipknot began setting up. Before too long, the tune of “Running With The Devil” blared over the PA, the lights went down and the curtain opened after their “XIX” intro finished.

The crowd lost it, the band took the stage- it had begun.

With that they pummeled the crowd with “Sarcastrophe,” “The Heretic Anthem” and “Psychosocial” and it was like going back in time. In a world where they say rock and roll is dead, Slipknot took everyone back to a time when it was at the top.

When most bands go on tour, it’s just a tour- but when Slipknot announces at tour there’s a certain aura about it. It always feels like the biggest thing of the year and there’s a good reason for that- they know how to bring the show and they know exactly what their fans wanna see.

They said all summer leading up to the tour that this would be one of the best tours they’ve ever done and one of the biggest. They couldn’t have been more right.

Complete with pyro and a mini-extended stage that allowed for Corey Taylor to get even closer to the fans and even saw him up against the security barrier up close and personal with the fans, Slipknot didn’t let up until there was nothing left of the crowd.

To finish it all off, Taylor had a lot of encouraging words for the fans, telling them that when people say rock is dead and that metal is dead haven’t been to a show to see the sight he was looking at. He told everyone to look around at the people around them- “That’s your fucking family, Indy!” he told them “I want you to know that you have family all over the fucking country!”

-Reggie Edwards

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