Review: Slipknot at the Metro Radio Arena, Newcastle; Slipknot stage a gig that is exhilarating, energetic and totally uncompromising, at the Metro Radio Arena in Newcastle.
Byline: Mick Burgess
January is usually a fairly quiet month on the touring front yet with Queen and Adam Lambert last week and former Screaming Trees singer Mark Lanegan landing in town later in the week it's already shaping up to be an uncharacteristically busy time.
Nothing however, could brace the Metro Arena for The Prepare For Hell Tour featuring the masked marauders Slipknot along with Nu Metal veterans Korn and new comers King 810.
Tipped for big things, King 810's debut album Memoirs of a Murder has received rave reviews and they clearly relished the chance to play before thousands and by the end of their set they had won over many new fans.
Korn certainly need no introduction as fore runners of Nu Metal movement in the early '90's they have a clutch of platinum records to their name. Unlike most of their contemporaries, Korn have grown and diversified and remain vibrant and relevant two decades on.
The recent return of guitarist Brain "Head" Welch taking his place next to James "Munky" Shaffer has reinvigorated the band as Twist and a groove driven Here To Stay made a big impact.
Vocalist Jonathan Davis unique style sounds like no other and his spasmodic jolts look like 1000 volts have just surged through his body.
A blast of bagpipes before Shoots and Ladders received a roar of approval before Korn brought out the big guns Freak on a Leash, Got The Life and Falling Away From Me with Blind bringing their all too short set to a triumphant end, leaving the crowd screaming for more.
With a full light show and a large stage area to use this was a headliner standard set as Korn stamped their class on the night. Job done.
With their latest album 5:The Gray Chapter, giving them their second consecutive chart topper in The States and with only Ben Howard denying them a No.1 in the UK there can be few bigger bands than Slipknot around at the moment.
Slipknot at the Metro Radio Arena, Newcastle
Christmas may have just passed but any unsuspecting attendee could be fooled into thinking Halloween was upon us with many in the crowd dressed as their on stage heroes and with Slipknot looking like characters from American Horror Story complete with scary clowns and other assorted ghouls it made for a uniquely striking image.
In an unpredictably understated opening atmospheric XIX played out behind a silk curtain but the calm before the storm was shattered by Sarcastrophe as the curtain fell and all hell broke loose.
The huge stage, with a demonic...
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