Slipknot & Korn
Tsongas Center
Lowell, MA
December 7, 2014

In October, Slipknot released their first studio album in over six years, and are wrapping up their first US arena tour since 2009. Joining them on this trek are fellow nu-metal pioneers, Korn.

Korn

Fresh off of this summer’s Mayhem Festival, Korn played a short a set, less than an hour long, and packed it with all the hits you came to hear. The band was full of energy, and sounded great. It’s really wonderful to see Head back in the band after all the years they were apart. I was thinking about the many different experiences I’ve had at Korn shows over the last decade+, having seen shows with lots of stage production and extra musicians on stage, it’s really wonderful to see these five guys just kicking ass with their unique sound.

Setlist
Twist
Here to Stay
Right Now
Love & Meth
Good God
Falling Away from Me
Hater
Shoots and Ladders
Got the Life
Freak on a Leash
Blind

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Slipknot

Slipknot has been through a lot in the last five years. First their bass player, Paul Gray, passed away in 2010. Over time they decided to start working on new music, only for drummer Joey Jordison to leave the band. They just released a new album, .5: The Gray Chapter, in tribute to their fallen bass player.

I was hesitant going into this show. I’ve loved Slipknot for a long time, but sometimes singer Corey Taylor can be pretty cheesy with his banter in between songs, and it kills the mood for me. The cheese-factor wasn’t out of control tonight though, and I thought this was a really solid performance. The new songs off The Gray Chapter seemed to get a great response from the crowd.

Slipknot has been changing a handful of songs in their set each night, and tonight we had a little run in the middle of the set with songs off their self-titled, major label debut album. Personally, I got into Slipknot during the Iowa cycle, and never really developed a relationship with the self-titled album, so the set dragged for me a bit in the middle. Other people I spoke to, however, loved it.

 

Setlist
Sarcastrophe
The Heretic Anthem
My Plague
The Devil in I
Psychosocial
The Negative One
Eeyore
Liberate
Purity
Before I Forget
Duality
Left Behind
Spit It Out
Custer
—
(sic)
People = Shit
Surfacing

It’s great to see that Slipknot is firing on all cylinders, despite the trouble they’ve dealt with. I’m much more optimistic about their future than I had been, and I look forward to seeing them the next time they come around.