SLIPKNOT- from their SLIPKNOT ROADSHOW
Hollywood Casino Ampitheatre
Tinley Park IL
Tues 9/28/21

Slipknot- from their Slipknot Roadshow extravaganza 2021, with a stop in Tinley Park Illinois- And as much as I enjoy the opening acts, such as Killswitch Engage, Code Orange, and Fever 333- this quick review (along with photos) will be entirely focused on all things Slipknot- from their Slipknot Roadshow 2021.
Keep in mind as well, that the band appeared as a last minute replacement for Nine Inch Nails at Riot Fest a couple weeks before, and carried the same setlist into Tinley Park.
I guess the only main difference between the two headlining events would have to be the pyro- Hollywood Casino Ampitheatre has a much taller stage and depth configuration, allowing for more heavy use of pyro, which Slipknot is obviously known for.
Slipknot, fronted by their extravagant showman Corey Taylor, was (and still is) amped up loud, and as aggressively intense as ever, with all nine band members corralling and marching about the stage, making their presence known, and fiendishly working their instruments to the core.
Slipknot, opening under a black stage curtain to the tune from AC/DC- “For Those About to Rock (We Salute You)”- and then just like that- the curtain vanishes into thin air up and into the stage rig, and the band is off and running full throttle, to the opener “Insert Coin”, and quite frankly, stay mostly menacing up until the encore which consists of “People = Shit”, into “(Sic)”, and lastly “Surfacing”.
And there’s no rest for the wicked inbetween.
But I assume all you diehard Slipknot fans already know this- that Slipknot is the definition of aggressive- aggressive as all get out.
The real blessings, outside of watching Corey Taylor’s every move, are of course the two elevated on hydraulics percussionists- Founder of Slipknot Shawn Crahan stage left / audience right, and on the other side- Michael “Tortilla Man” Pfaff, who know how to wallop the shit of all kinds of drums, down to the strapped on beer kegs.
All nine band members of Slipknot have their fiery and incendiary moments, heads flailing, necks crashing, all behind their distinctive and quite frankly awesome masks.
And speaking of masks- have to say Corey Taylor’s new mask is rather striking and noteworthy.
It resembles a white rag doll of the post apocalyptic kind, like something straight out of that cool animated film from 2009- “9”, with cool dark rings imbedded into the eye sockets, and a strap on the back looking like something out of a level three psych ward, and gnarly stitches on both sides to give the look and feel of a maniac hellbent on creating a diabolical mask outback in the woodshed to scare the masses.
And it works- hence for me as a photographer, I can’t keep my eyes off him.
As for the pyro, with all the jostling and forearms shoving in the pavilion, I couldn’t get decent shots of the pyro display worthy of posting and publishing, so the focus on the post is basically of individual band members from different vantage points, mostly by front of house, so I can catch my breath.
Which is fine by me.
Like Corey Taylor, I’m equally transfixed with the antics of Shawn Crahan perched above on his percussion drumkit, with a bright red clown mask that is also equally captivating to capture as well.
And as for Jay Weinberg, principle drummer for Slipknot- he’s a propulsive four- to- the- floor kind of guy, which Slipknot obviously needs and demands.
Overall, the polished look and feel of all things Slipknot- from their Slipknot Roadshow was a case in point of coming out of the gates mid pandemic, playing for the masses as if their lives depend on it, making a union with their devoted audience, and flushing out all the bad demons and negativity at least for one night, so that we can all bloody carry on with our lives.
Put it this way, even for a seasoned live photographer who’s seen everything- you leave a Slipknot show spent, and drained.
Bobby Talamine- Music Photographer