Slipknot, Vended @ Entertainment Centre, Adelaide 4/3/2025
‘It’s time for your new, national anthem!’ Corey Taylor explains, middle finger raised, imploring the Adelaide crowd to do the same before Slipknot rip into the classic Surfacing.
It’s a well-worn refrain from Taylor however it’s one that lights the blue touch paper in a way that few can. Fortunately, Slipknot can do it often.
A sideshow as part of the Iowa legends Knotfest Australia tour lands in our fair city and the sold out signs went up pretty quickly. It’s has been quite some time since they graced the City Of Churches and the fans make up for that.
Before we get to that, Iowa’s other band that are in no way related, Vended, take to the stage. Having seen them during the midday sun in Melbourne on Friday, it was more nasty to see them in the dark.
Griffin Taylor wastes no time in calling everyone a c**t, which is actually a compliment in Australia, and the band slip right into the groove of dangerous, spitting, sweaty, metal.
The set list was essentially the same as Melbourne so Nihilism and Am I The Only One standing out for the band, face painted, hidden in the shadows, as they fleetingly appear in the light like the little evil, fuck you trolls they wish to be. Listen at your own risk.
However, being support for Slipknot is really just to be the same as lift music. Yeah it’s pleasant and all but you actually just want to get to your floor. When you do, the doors open and you’re greeted with (sic).
You know the pits going to go off, it does and it stays all night however what becomes apparent is just how loud the vociferous Adelaide crowd is. Much louder, more engaged and more desperate to let loose than Melbourne.
For their part, Slipknot, and Taylor in particular, let the crowd loose. For a band that somehow ripped anthems out of extreme aggressive metal, they are happy to let the crowd take the lead.
People = Shit, Wait And Bleed and Devil & I showcase the audience more than the band however it is wise to point out Eloy Casagrande’s – the former Sepultura sticksman – performance. Absolute epic is the Brazilian’s power tonight. No need for a spinning machine when you can make a theatre rumble like a cyclone has hit.
The band are back as a eight-piece and acknowledge the missing Clown as rarities Gematria and No Life are aired in public. Taylor atop a riser, surveying the chaos in front while chaos also reigns behind in the shape of crazed lunatics in boiler suits. Or maybe just Sid Wilson and his DJ solo spot. Lunacy.
It’s not long before the crowd are back, this time chanting ‘666’ during The Heretic Anthem and then everything goes up a notch. Psychosocial lands and even people at the back of the venue are dancing in the aisles.
Jim Root, a giant of a man, jazz swing solo’s are illuminating the air and then another crowd favourite Unsainted.
At this stage, running into the final songs, you know what’s happening. Anthemic chorus’s, pints thrown the air, random shoes landing nearby and anarchy down front as the band tear through more classics before finishing with Scissors.
It’s not the twenty-fifth anniversary show, it’s something different with different flavours mixed in. It’s something that has been collated for Australia and in Adelaide, it has been consumed in the same way fat kids consume cake. Delicious, messy and with a hell of a lot of noise.
Live Review By Iain McCallum