Photos by Chris Besaw
Edited by Kelly Besaw
It’s Wednesday July 29th and nothing could prepare the town of Corfu for what was about to be unleashed upon them. Slipknots “Summers Last Stand” tour made a stop at the Darien Lake Performing Arts Center and they brought some of their friends with them!
First up was the gothic American metal band Motionless in White! The Scranton, PA natives opened up the evening with “Break the Cycle “off of their current album “Reincarnate”. They continued through a very high energy set treating fans to a variety of tracks such as “Abigail”, “Unstoppable” and ending their set with the title track off their current album “Reincarnate”
Next up, veteran Welsh metal titans, Bullet For My Valentine. Currently on tour in support of their new album “Venom,” they took the stage opening with “No Way Out.” If you are a fan of metal acts like Metallica and Iron Maiden, this is a band you need to see! If you haven’t heard their song “You’re Betrayal,” you need to listen to this essential track.
They continued to keep the crowd pumped up and excited ending their set with “Tears Don’t Fall” and the mega favorite “Waking The Demon” I can honestly say that for a band I have not paid much attention to before, after catching their performance, they are on my radar. I am looking forward to listen to more of their music and seeing them live again.
From the deep dark recesses of Richmond, Virginia something wicked and powerful creeped onto the stage; they call themselves Lamb of God! From the moment the band took the stage, they started the frenzy with their hit “Walk with Me in Hell.” Front man Randy Blythe took a moment to honor our country’s fallen military heroes before ripping into their classic “Now You Got Something To Die For” which criticizes our governments ill gains through war. Lamb of God is currently on tour in support of their newest release “VII: Sturm und Drang.” They treated fans to “Still Echos” and “512.” This is one band that does NOT disappoint their fans. I have seen them more times than I can count and they are truly a testament to the profession. They ended their set on a heavy note with two of my personal favorites: “Laid to Rest” and “Redneck.” Then, the sweat soaked musicians took their bows and said, “Until next time.”
The stage goes dark, you can hear fans chanting, growing restless, getting louder and louder as each moment passes. Faintly at first, then a little louder a voice from the PA system is saying “With my face against the floor, I can’t see who knocked me out, out of the way.” Oh yeah… it’s Slipknot’s killer intro! The curtain drops, the stage explodes and Slipknot, in full force, starts right in with what feels like a punch to the gut also known as “Sarcastrophe”! The band is in top form. They don’t take a break from the heavy bass laden assault ripping right into “The Heretic Anthem” and “Psychosocial.” Front man Corey Taylor only pauses for a second to ask the masses if they want to “hear a new song with an old school feel to it?” The crowd roared with approval as the band keyed up “AOV” off their new album, “The Gray Chapter.” It felt like the entire crowd sang along to the hit “Before I Forget” off the band’s “Vol.3 the Subliminal Versus.” I have been going to Slipknot shows since their early days and they are consistently high energy and always discover unique ways to engage the audience in the madness.
During their performance of their mega hit from their debut album “Spit It Out” percussionist Shawn Crahan (aka Clown) snuck into the audience undetected and emerged by the soundboard where he dumped one of the garbage cans on himself and terrorized fans. While clown was busy making a mess, Corey Taylor encouraged the crowd to get down and when the song crescendos to jump up and sing along. The band took a brief break before storming back on stage and finishing out the evening of metal and mayhem with “People=Shit” and “Surfacing”. Although the tour is titled “Summers Last Stand,” Slipknot proves once again that this is not heavy metal’s last stand and that it is here to stay!
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