Slipknot kicks off 25th anniversary tour in Noblesville

Slipknot kicked off their Here Comes the Pain 25th-anniversary tour at Ruoff Music Center in Noblesville, Indiana, on Tuesday, August 6th. Joining them on tour are melodic death metal band Orbit Culture who made their way over to the United States from Sweden and metalcore punk band Knocked Loose from Kentucky.

From the moment Orbit Culture walked on stage, you could feel their strong presence and instantaneous pull with those in the venue. Guitarist Richard Hansson quickly connected with the crowd as he walked on stage wearing sunglasses just to toss them to the fans – many of whom seemed already familiar with the band and excited to see them play. The unique stage set of flashing lightboxes that coordinated with both the music and the matching lights within the drumset helped to draw your attention deeper into the underworkings in the music, rather than only listening to the interesting mix of guitar parts and vocals on top. With a wall of death being opened in the mosh pits forming on the lawn with no command from the band, it’s safe to say that Orbit Culture is a strong opening to the night.

Following Orbit Culture, it was Knocked Loose’s time to shine – both metaphorically and literally with their heavy use of strobe lights at the beginning of their set.. Knocked Loose is a band I say has a musically interesting style, especially due to the large contrast between vocalist Bryan Garris’s high-pitched voice against the backing deeper tones. They have a very distinct sound to them that sets them apart from bands that toe the same line as they do between hardcore and metalcore.

Considering both the lack of date in their home state and the fact the crowd seemed familiar with the entire setlist, I say it’s a pretty fair assumption that Knocked Loose had some fans in the crowd that had traveled hours to be sure to see them on this tour. The crowd surfers didn’t hold off for long, and neither did the multiple large circle pits that opened up with fans in the lawn – much larger than what the smaller GA pit in front of the stage could contain. The moshing was heavily encouraged by those on stage, with the crowd being told to get off their phones during the last song, split the venue apart down the middle, and move – something that everyone in 24,000 capacity venue gladly listened to. As a special moment on stage, the band paid a quick thank you to the beloved local DIY venue Hoosier Dome – somewhere they had been playing shows at only a few years before – and mentioned how they were honored to get to watch how their fan base had grown.

For fans who had been hoping for a true throwback anniversary tour – Slipknot will not be disappointing you; it was quickly announced that nothing being played that night was written after 1999. The band came onstage looking proud and mysterious, donning modern renditions of their original masks and red jumpsuits, and essentially appearing out of a dark green haze on stage complete with a setup of lit-up risers and medieval-reminiscent banners to the side all donning the Slipknot logo. The mysterious presence did not last for long, though, as the moment the first song started the energy in the band erupted on stage. The members were everywhere – up the risers to the drums, in each other’s personal space, and even down in front of the barricade doing handstands – all while keeping a clean sound to their music.

The surprises within the setlist started strong with “(sic)” being played as the opener, and songs that hadn’t been played in a long while kept coming throughout the night with “Me Inside” and “Only One” being performed for the first time since 2015 and 2012, respectively. While “No Life” was played for the first time since 2000, it was “Scissors” that was announced as being played for the first time since then – dedicated to all the Maggots there that night who had stuck by the band for 25 years and introduced as a song that was going to take them to a dark place. It’s obvious that this tour is going to mean something special to long-time fans, so study up on the older songs and get tickets soon if you haven’t already – it’s only just begun.

Check out Slipknot’s “self-titled” album here: