Tonight:
4°c
Evening Standard rating
Metal for maggots with Slipknot
Rick Pearson, Evening Standard 2 Dec 2008
Last night, Hammersmith Apollo was crawling with more maggots than a fisherman’s bait box. I refer, of course, to the nickname given fans of the nine-headed, heavy metal monster Slipknot, who came to cheer on their masked messiahs for the first of three nights at the west London venue.
The Iowan band are promoting their fourth full-length, All Hope Is Gone, the latest slice of dense, vitriolic metal to add to the Slipknot canon.
But they started with a riotous version of Surfacing from their eponymous 1999 debut. It set the tone: bludgeoning beats, gunshot guitars and a worldview offered by frontman Corey Taylor blacker than the group’s wardrobe.
Elsewhere, Before I Forget (which won Slipknot a Grammy for Best Metal Performance in 2006) built to a fist-pumping chorus and suggested there was craft to match the chaos.
Yet there remains something pantomimic about Slipknot: the ridiculous garb, macho posturing and the feel that, despite the surprising amount of adult’s in attendance, this isn’t music to be taken too seriously.
Not that there was anything staged about the vicious moshpits. Five songs in, during the thumping Liberate, a teenage boy had to be helped out of the venue.
However, there was a strong feeling of camaraderie at last night’s show – something Taylor alluded to. “There’s a lot of people outside these four walls who don’t understand us,” he barked.
There was one inside who didn’t really either – and two if you count my bewildered plus one. But as the incendiary Spit It Out raged into the night, there were glimpses as to what got the maggots hooked on this brutal, bludgeoning band.
Details are correct at the time of publication - please check with venue before booking.
Reader views (6)
you are the best band in the world i am 11 years old my big sis went to see you and she has the drummers jummper.
- Emma Mcqueer, scotland-glasgow, 09/12/2008 12:23
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I thought I would never like this type of music, I went with a friend last night and it has certainly changed my view!
Slipnknot were wicked, one of the best live shows I have seen!
- Nick, leigh on sea, 04/12/2008 15:52
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It does amuse me when, so called, music commentators try to come up with all manner of fancy speak to fill out an article to justify their salaries. I go to all manner of concerts a year, partnering my wife and last night was just an awsome show. Theatre is important! With no visual feast it's just not the same. My 10 year old came with us and thought it was 'immense'! If you go to write about a band like this, you have to have a VERY open mind.......thought they spent my ticket money really well.
Who else provides you with a drummer who performs upside down!
Yee Haa
- Jowly, Ascot, 03/12/2008 11:58
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By far.
This was the greatest gig i have ever been too.
The Atmosphere was outstanding.
Slipknot really did well.
Shame they didnt play Wait and Bleed.
Stay SIC
- Brunyee, Poole, 03/12/2008 10:56
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Great review Holly, and being the teenage boy that was carried out of the mosh pit during Liberate, i can safely say that I have not one bad thing to say about it!
- Jake Tilling, Oxford, 02/12/2008 23:19
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They were amazing last night, I queued for 4 hours in the freezing cold but it was totally worth it.
However, the quote 'this isn’t music to be taken too seriously', I don't agree with, not from my personal experience, but Slipknot are a band which stand for the outcasts, the young, the rebellious, the ones who feel they've been kicked down by the rest of society and the ones who feel they're meant for something more. I agree with this to the extent that people might be a bit mental if they go out with a baseball bat and a clown mask, but then again, most maggots have enough common sense to not do that, more so than those who think Slipknot are an 'evil' band!
Their music had helped to liberate many people, it's a total fist in the mouth to any social construct, and the unity of maggots around the world is truly immense. Being a fan of this band carrys an 'all for one and one for all attitude', expressed in the song 'Pulse of the Maggots', which unfortunately they didn't play, but they made up for that with performing most of their back catalogue and not stuff off of the new album.
They didn't disappoint whatsoever, it was the first time I'd seen them live and it's left me wanting more! I didn't want it to end, because I've not yet seen a band who can match the intense atmosphere they created last night. I doubt that anyone, even those who get dragged out of the mosh pits, will have a bad thing to say about the live Slipknot experience.
Immense.
- Holly, London, 02/12/2008 16:08
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