SliPKnoT Concert Review - October 2005

Greetings MetalMortals!
I am still stoked from this concert! Slipknot played the Congress Theater in Chicago, IL on Tuesday, October 18th, 2005 and kicked some serious ass! Seeing a band that you love in a small club, it doesn't get any better than that. The Congress Theater only holds about 2,800 people, so it's a really intimate setting and you can easily get as close to the stage as you are comfortable with (in and out of the mosh pit for me!). If you were at this concert, I was the dude with the freaky jack-o-lantern mask and the Ozzfest 2001 t-shirt (see picture for an example of the mask...this picture is from Ozzfest 2005 at Alpine Valley in WI.)

Slipknot played an awesomely loud set and did not disappoint. I'm a little hazy on the other specifics (it was a 10 beer night with a "twist"). I remember fighting for my life in the mosh pit while they played Wait and Bleed. They had their black uniforms on and looked ready to kill.

Unearth and Dillinger Escape Plan opened for them. I missed Dillinger, but Unearth was pretty good. Unearth's bass player had a lot of energy, which is always kewl to see and the lead singer sounded good.

It was a much different concert compared to Slipknot's performance at Allstate Arena in Chicago on March 11, 2005. The Allstate show was ear-splittingly LOUD due to all the pyro and the crowd was at least 10,000 strong (probably more). The Allstate show was also a lot more painful for me (got hit in the back with a cup-holder thrown from the upper deck....not cool, but not totally out of the ordinary for a metal show....at least it didn't hit me skull.)

Slipknot is releasing what appears to be an awesome live 2CD package titled Slipknot 9.0 Live on November 1, 2005. But, you might also want to check out the bonus live material on Vol. 3 The Subliminal Verses (Special Edition). The People=Shit track especially kicks ass (performed in Chicago). I will let you know what I think of 9.0 after I give it a listen. Until then, horns up MetalMortals!
Later,
Tommy Knocker