Slipknot broke out some rarities and deep cuts in London last night (December 20) as part of their huge 25th anniversary tour. Check out footage and the full setlist below.
The iconic masked metallers kicked off the tour in the US back in August and have been making their way through a number of international shows since, before wrapping up the shows with a handful of UK dates.
Last night, they brought the tour to the UK capital and performed the first of their two back-to-back nights at The O2, treating the audience to tracks that haven’t been played there in decades.
“I’m about to say something to you without an inch of sarcasm and irony, and I mean this from the fucking heart: Slipknot is home,” frontman Corey Taylor told the crowd, recalling the relationship the band have with London.
“The first thing I want to say to you is how grateful, how much we appreciate and how much we love every fucking one of you here in this building,” he continued. “25 years ago, we released our very first Slipknot album and a lot of people around the world really gravitated towards us, but no one took us in like this fucking city and this fucking country. That’s why London, England will always be Slipknot’s home away from home.”
As seen with other shows on the ‘Here Comes The Pain Tour’, the band shared a “brief warning” that they wouldn’t be playing any material outside of their 1999 self-titled debut album.
The set was opened with renditions of ‘(sic)’, ‘Eyeless’, ‘Wait And Bleed’, ‘Get This’ and ‘Eeyore’, before turntableist Sid Wilson performed an electronic remix of ‘Tattered & Torn’.
From there, other tracks played from across their earlier discography included ‘Me Inside’, ‘Liberate’, ‘Purity’, ‘Prosthetics’, ‘No Life’ and ‘Only One’, while the encore consisted of ‘Spit It Out’ and ‘Surfacing’.
For the final show of the night, the metal icons ended with an extended version of ‘Scissors’ – marking the first live rendition of the song in the UK capital since 1999. “The first and last time we played this in London, it was 25 years ago,” Taylor explained to the crowd. “Are you ready to go to a very dark place with us?”
Check out the full setlist and footage of the gig below.
What a gig! #Slipknot @TheO2 London pic.twitter.com/KKAdnQxwvi
— Chris
(@ChrisWr21053732) December 20, 2024
Slipknot’s London setlist was:
‘(SIC)’
‘Eyeless’
‘Wait And Bleed’
‘Get This’
‘Eeyore’
‘Me Inside’
‘Liberate’
‘Purity’
‘Prosthetics’
‘No Life’
‘Only One’
‘Spit It Out’
‘Surfacing’
‘Scissors’
Speaking to NME about their plans for this tour back in December 2023, Shawn ‘Clown’ Crahan said: “In 25 years of writing seven albums, we’ve allowed ourselves to do anything and everything we want. We do what we want, as much as we want, when we want, how we want. I’m ready to move on from what has been, and move onto a world that I know needs to be.”
“We’re going back to basics,” he added. “I’m ready to kick everybody in the face again! I’m ready to do a 100-person venue again! I’m ready to do a 500-person venue. We want to play in front of 500 people, but there are a lot of factors that will mean it can’t happen. We’re at the point where we’ve got to ensure safety.”
The 2024 leg of the ‘Here Comes The Pain’ tour will continue tonight (December 21) with the second of the two gigs lined up for London’s O2. From there, Slipknot will resume touring in 2025. Visit here for tickets.
Earlier this week, Slipknot’s Clown spoke to NME again and shared an update on the band’s long-awaited ‘lost’ album, ‘Look Outside Your Window’.
The record was recorded by the founding member and percussionist – real name Shawn Crahan – alongside Corey Taylor, Sid Wilson and Jim Root at the same time as they were working on 2008’s ‘All Hope Is Gone’. In recent years, its release has been teased by the band, although nothing has yet come to fruition.
“I did say [to NME last year that] it was going to be in 2024, and I gave it the best fight that I could to make it this year,” he said. “What I can tell you is that I showed Corey the final artwork two days ago. It is happening, but unfortunately, because of Christmas and New Year and the way business works, I can’t slide it in this year.
“But you have my word, it’s out of my hands now. It’s being moved on, the money has been spent and there is a plan. The management has it and it is coming out.”
Elsewhere in the latest NME interview with Clown, the percussionist reflected on Slipknot’s plans for new material.
“Eloy [Casagrande, drummer] is in the band and there’s something happening between the nine of us right now that is very fun,” he said. “A lot is floating around and we probably have several albums in us right now. As for how things feel, I’m being completely honest with you now, it’s like a cloud has left.”
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