It would really be hard to refer to what we got at Darien
Lake last night as the Rockstar Mayhem festival. This bastardized version
featured only four bands – Anthrax, Motorhead, Slayer and Slipknot, and while
that’s not exactly a lineup to sneeze at, it didn’t feature even half of the
billed bands currently touring the country with the Rockstar Mayhem festival,
most notably for this reporter, the mighty As I Lay Dying.
To be honest, there was
definitely some novelty in seeing those first bands in action, and having never
seen the trio of Anthrax, Motorhead and Slayer live; I guess it was a
noteworthy show. But for me, and those with me, Slipknot was definitely the
drawing point. Even though images of [Anthrax guitarist] Scott Ian’s beard (thankfully
perfectly visible from our vantage point) and sounds of [Motorhead frontman]
Lemmy’s legendary raspy howl probably were the things I’ll take away the most
from this show, but as I said, Slipknot was the main drawing point for me.
Slipknot
truly is a band you’ll never get tired of seeing. I first saw them in Toronto
on Ozzfest 2001 (anyone remember Ozzfest?), and have seen them a couple more
times since then, and they never get old. The masks, the jumpsuits, and more
importantly, the music – it just never tires. With the band having just
released their greatest hits canon Antennas
From Hell, I knew I was in a veritable who’s who of Slipknot cuts. And
that’s what I got. “Wait and Bleed,” “Before I Forget,” “Eyeless,” “Surfacing” and
“Psychosocial,” and the list goes on and on, almost literally, though the true
highlight was “People=Shit,” which I was thinking they weren’t going to play. I
don’t say this about many bands, but if ever there needed to be one band on
your must-see live list, then Slipknot is it.
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