Nostalgia went down a heavier road on Sunday when Slipknot’s Here Comes the Pain 25th Anniversary Tour visited Arizona’s Talking Stick Resort Amphitheatre. The hard rock legends were joined by Knocked Loose- hardcore heavyweights in their own right- and Vended for a loud, sweaty, wild night in the desert.
Vended opened the evening with an irreverent metal set that did the members’ fathers in Slipknot serious justice. The stage alternated between deep reds and pitch black to drive home their spooky aesthetic that accompanies songs like “Nihilism” and “The Far Side”. The band got the crowd sufficiently riled up for the insanity still to come.
Knocked Loose are very much in the middle of their moment and it’s one that’s carried them from tiny rooms to sharing the stage with Slipknot. After their set on Sunday night, it’s easy to see why- the hardcore group is confident and massively talented, allowing the music to do all of the talking (unless singer Bryan Garris commands you to bark). Opening with “Blinding Faith” from their latest album, the tone was set for a performance that covered every era of the band for fans who have been there since the beginning or those who have just joined the family.
High points of the set included the band’s brutal breakdowns, the crowd’s joining in on “Suffocate” and the final shout of “Knocked Loose motherfucker!” on “Deep in the Willow”. Plenty of fans arrived early just to mosh along- including an ending wall of death- with the band and they only had a short time to catch their breath before the night’s main event.
The Slipknot banner unfurled at the back of the stage, prompting a wave of ecstatic cheering from the sold out crowd. From the pit to the lawn, fans were on their feet as the band zombie-walked onstage to begin a celebration of over two decades of heavy rock as only Slipknot can. Fans shrugged off the Arizona heat and moshed with vigor while those in their seats banged their heads along with Corey Taylor.
The band was clad in their signature horror masks for each character and the true testament to their resilience is keeping them on even in the oppressive outdoor temperatures. Slipknot only played 14 songs but they made every single one count- from “Eyeless” to “”Liberate” to “No Life” at the end.
The set came to a ringing conclusion on “Only One” before the band returned for a three song encore that sent the massive audience into the night sweaty and satisfied with the set. So many years of music deserved a proper party and this tour will certainly be added to the band’s many accolades- at least until they outdo themselves on the next run.
