Slipkont - Iowa's bad boys.
Story and Photos by Rob Grabowski
The Pledge Of Allegiance Tour brought it's traveling freak show
to the Allstate Arena last night with similarly diverse bands such as Rammstein, Slipknot and System of a Down. Rammstein
unleashed their dark German madness and deep
pounding metal stylings to the American soil as they warmed the crowd up for
System of a Down. System came out just in time for the
teenage angst to reach it's boiling point as they ripped into such favorites as
"Prison Song," "Chop Suey" and "Sugar" bringing their own unique brand of
metal to the new world of toxic rock. The sparsely filled arena with mostly
teenagers in attendance awaited the shock rock group from Iowa, known as
Slipknot.
The stage was covered by a large black drape featuring a nine-point star
and the Slipknot logo emblazoned on it so as not to forget who we're seeing. The band who is currently promoting their sophomore CD IOWA came out with a torrent of slap-you-in-the-face noise that turned the pimply and not so pimply into a swarm of angry
bees buzzing around the bear that just invaded their hive. As the curtain fell, the grotesquely
dressed and masked musicians broke into the loud and energetic "People = Shit." From the
first note the general admission crowd on the main floor moshed their way
into a frenzied tornado. Continuing on with the drum-beat madness of songs like "Liberate,"
"Get This," "Disaster Piece," "Purity", "Gently," and "Eyeless" these weirdos showed why melodies and structured rhythms are useless and foreign to their musical onslaught.
The intro to the title track "Iowa" had drummer Joey Jordison's drum riser
elevated into the air and rotated into a 360 degree circle as it then
tilted forward over the crowd vertically appearing to spill all of it's contents on the fans below. Oh well, the band's remaining eight members certainly could fill the vacancy. As lead singer Corey Taylor was about to start "New
Abortion" he quieted the crowd and stated ranting how hate crimes are up 58% and why
we should not be punishing innocent Americans here instead of targeting the guilty! As
the song was winding down, he shouted "Let me here it" prompting the crowd to feverishly chant "USA! USA! USA!"
Two huge signs
with the numbers 666 lit up the dark stadium during the heart pounding "The Heretic Anthem." Like Marilyn Manson, this band wants it's cake and eat it too. They deny that they are Satanists, yet they promote and sell their message as their free will and speech, as a way for disenfranchised youth to come together and rebel as a community. Surely the kids will keep buying the CDs of these freakishly wild
bands or until the next dark fad comes along. What's hot today is usually ice cold tomorrow. Underground music that goes
mainstream always loses it's shine. If this is the future of
music, stop the world I want to get off!
