It’s not too often that Erie, PA, gets a double bill dose of prime metal in one offering, but that’s exactly what happened this past Tuesday night. Slipknot with Hatebreed played the Erie Insurance Arena in front of a capacity crowd.
Jamey Jasta is one of the hardest working men in metal, playing in multiple bands, but the primary focus for him is always Hatebreed. The band played a very memorable 12 song set that lasted just about an hour. It’s great to see the respect that Slipknot has for Hatebreed to give them that long as an opener and obviously well deserved. Very few men in the metal genre can work a crowd like Jasta and he did so with ease in Erie. He stated, “If the men don’t have sweaty balls and the women sweaty tits after they see our show, then I haven’t done my job as a front man.” Songs like “Last Breath” and Live for This” were highlights of the band’s set.
Slipknot, who I refer to as the bastard child of KISS, Alice Cooper, Motorhead and many others, graced their way onto the stage at about 9:30 pm. This band takes all of the aforementioned artist’s elements and adds much more to make one truly insane rock show. Led by Number 8 (or you may know him as Corey Taylor), the band’s melodic yet forceful music reached and blew the minds of most of the crowd in my opinion. Constant pits were erected and went on throughout the band’s performance. With the twin towers of Jim Root and Mick Thomspon on guitar, you won’t find a more fearsome tandem in rock & metal. Listening to the hooks these guys dish out is truly scary on its own merit. They both are fantastic players and don’t get enough credit for what they do.
The stage featured a large ram’s head and ramps on each side of the drum kit. Lots of fire, explosions and the chaos brought on by both percussionists, Shawn “Clown” Crahan and Chris Fenn, make for a truly insane experience when attending Slipknot show. You never know what will happen next. Turntablist Sid “Ratboy” Wilson climbed underneath Clown’s percussion kit during “Vermillion” and the crowd had no idea if he was going to fall or not.
Taylor had everyone settle down and then squat or kneel down during the song “Killpop.” He then had everyone in unison jump up and go nuts and they did just that. The band played for about an hour and a half. Controlled chaos is what it can be classified as and Taylor was the ringmaster.
This band has gone through a lot in the past few years with the death of bassist Paul Gray and the departure of drummer Joe Jordison. I’m glad to see that the band is back and still kicking ass. Hopefully, the troubles are behind them and we can look forward to more music and touring from the band going forward!
Slipknot setlist:
Sarcastrophe
The Heretic Anthem
Psychosocial
The Devil in I
AOV
Wait and Bleed
Eeyore
Frail Limb Nursery
Purity
Killpop
Before I Forget
Duality
The Negative One
Spit It Out
Custer
Encore:
(sic)
People = Shit
Surfacing
Hatebreed setlist:
Dead Man Breathing
Honor Never Dies
Everyone Bleeds Now
In Ashes They Shall Reap
Empty Promises
Betrayed by Life
This Is Now
Last Breath
Doomsayer
Live for This
I Will Be Heard
Destroy Everything
We would like to thank Ross Anderson from Roadrunner Records for the credentials to review the show.
