Knotfest hit Jiffy Lube Live on September 1st, over the Labor Day weekend. Slipknot brought along Volbeat, the Danish metal band, Gojira with its French heavy metal rock sounds and Behemoth with its dark Poland Satanic vibes.
Behemoth, the Polish overlords, had a good short set with high energy and used a lot of onstage props and fire and smoke. At the beginning of the third song, Nergal came on stage carrying wands of fire and the place went nuts. Behemoth played songs such as “Daimonos,” and “Ora Pro Nobis Lucifer.” Before the last song, “Chant for Eschaton 2000,” Nergal spit what was supposed to be blood in the air and in the crowd.
Gojira, the French metal band from Bayonne, rocked out Jiffy Lube and had the fans crowd surfing in the pit. Gojira played a decent 8 song set with the crowd headbanging and pumping them up for what would be a great show. Gojira played songs like “Backbone,” “Love,” “The Cell,” and “The Gift of Guilt.”
Volbeat, the Denmark metal band of groove, brought a very upbeat show with front man Michael Poulsen always smiling and playing with fans. He asked a fan if he had been drinking with hand jesters. Poulsen noticed a young boy in the pit area with his nose bleeding. He brought the boy up on stage to watch the rest of the set which made this young boy’s day. Volbeat did a tribute snippet of Johnny Cash’s hit “Ring of Fire” before they broke into “Sad Man’s Tongue.” They also performed “A Warrior’s Call / I Only Want to Be With You,” “Black Rose” and “Still Counting.”
Everyone was ready for Slipknot, the 9 masked jumpsuit wearing maniacs from Iowa. Their very huge stage display was a lot to take in from the huge drum rise and DJ set in back, to the band bouncing and dancing around on stage with very different moods, in lights from soft blue to red and smoky grey. Man #8 (Corey Taylor) put on a head banging of a time and a very powerful sound on stage. Slipknot started their set with “People=Shit,” followed by “Unsainted,” “Psychosocial,” “The Devil in I,” “Wait and Bleed,” and “Duality.” They ended with a 2-song encore, “Spit it Out” and “Surfacing.”
For more info on Behemoth, Gojira, Volbeat and Slipknot, check out all their social media outlets.
