Slipknot and Korn at Mohegan Sun – Prepare for Hell Tour

On Dec 5, heavy metal titans Slipknot brought their “Prepare for Hell” tour to Uncasville, Conn., at the Mohegan Sun Arena with nu-metal veterans Korn. Slipknot has been around for 19 years (actively touring for 15) and Korn for 21 years. Two bands with that sort of longevity drew a packed arena full of a few different generations of fans.

Korn had just about a 50-minute set, packed mostly with their older hits like “Freak on a Leash,” “Shoots and Ladders,” “Got The Life,” and their first breakthrough single “Blind.”  The crowd was electric from the moment the intro tape started rolling, and stayed that way until after Jonathan Davis thanked the crowd after the last song. Being around for a couple decades and maintaining almost as big of a following as your heyday is pretty awesome, and being a huge Korn fan myself, I was pretty excited to see these guys for the second time this year.  They surely did not disappoint, and having Brian “Head” Welch back in the band after an almost 7-year absence was great to see. They seem a lot more like the old band from the early years, stepping back from the recent dubstep metal hybrid mumbo jumbo they put out during Head’s absence. If you missed them on this tour, be sure to keep an eye open for the next time they come around.

Touring to promote their new album .5 : The Gray Chapter, Slipknot took to the stage at just about 9;30, with an overly anxious crowd waiting for the curtain to rise, flooding the arena with “SLIPKNOT!” chants. As the intro tape played (also the intro track “XIX” from the new album), the crowd shook the roof of the arena with cheers and singing along to the chant-like lyrics of the intro. Then “Sarcastrophe,” another new song, began with Jim Root playing a clean, almost mellow intro on guitar. Then some light tom rolls from the drummer, and the curtain began to rise. The song then exploded with Mick Thomson striking some seriously powerful chords to get the crowd going. As frontman Corey Taylor stepped to the front of the stage, I couldn’t tell what was louder — the music or the crowd. This band has some of the greatest set openings I have ever seen. This tour is also a proving ground for two new members on drums and bass, yet to be officially named, but believed to be Alessandro Venturella on bass, and Jay Weinberg (son of Max Weinberg of the Bruce Springsteen E-Street band) on drums. From what I saw, they definitely held their own, and there seems to be chemistry with the other guys on stage, which is a good sign.

Slipknot played for well over an hour, and didn’t lose the crowd at any point in the show.  The sound was on point, the members were on point, and they were entertaining as well. With a great stage setup, much like a carnival, and plenty of pyrotechnics, this was one of those full package concert experiences. With four songs from the new album and the rest being songs from every single other album in their catalog, there was something for every maggot (nickname for Slipknot fans), old and new. Corey Taylor was certainly impressed with the crowd that night, stating that he isn’t easily impressed, but we managed to do it. Truly grateful for the fans, Corey made that known as well. It’s great to see that kind of connection between musician and fan this day in age, where many other musicians in this and other genres seem to lose sight of who makes them who they are and supports them. For nine guys in weird or creepy masks, they’re pretty humble and appreciative.

I highly suggest giving Slipknot a look next time they come around and picking up their new album, which is a hybrid of their first three studio albums. It also debuted at number 1 on Billboard, and got them yet another Grammy nomination, so if those aren’t enough good reasons to buy it, then I don’t know what would be. Great band, great new album, and hopefully, more great shows to come.