It is difficult to describe the kind of charge that careened through the Intuit Dome as 18,000 fans all screamed in unison, "This is a war!" It was one of several instances where the volume of the arena, was in very real competition with what was blaring from the stage.
This is the power of Slipknot.
Taking over Los Angeles for consecutive sold out nights inside the city's newest arena, the combination of the state-of-the-art digs along with the significance of the Here Comes the Pain 25th anniversary tour, created the optimum chemistry for a legendary weekend. Devoting the entirety of their set to the '99 era of the band, the Iowan powerhouse leveled the room with a performance of their self-titled album that felt more relevant than it ever did nostalgic.
In fact, the only real reflective element of the set was the marvel in knowing these songs - still this powerful, this convincing - were assembled a generation ago. A testament to the forward-thinking of the band, tracks like "Get This", "No Life" and "Prosthetics" were executed in a way that felt like Slipknot was presiding over a ritual. The visceral quality of the songs and that resounding live translation underscored the authenticity of the band's enduring aggression.
The self-titled album, while championed as a cultural-shifting moment, was still very much a forced to be reckoned with. The band's weekend engagement in Inglewood proved as much.
Returning to the stage for an explosive encore, Slipknot compiled a trifecta of anthems that would decimate the room and send the fans home reeling. Inciting some 18,000 a night to jump in unison, "Spit It Out" set it off to properly kick off the second portion of the set. Forever enshrined as heavy culture's 'National Fucking Anthem', "Surfacing" proved as destructive as ever with frontman Corey Taylor leading a brigade of 18,000 plus each night roaring, "Don't belong/Don't exist/Don't give a shit/Don't ever judge me!"
Bringing the celebration to close, Slipknot completed their masterclass with a dramatic rendition of "Scissors" that countered the chaos of their set and captivated every level of the arena. The slow burn and eventual inferno of the track, was the kind of colossal finale that reiterated this was no casual stroll down memory lane.
Rather than reveling in nostalgia, Slipknot's revisiting of their self-titled era pulled the cork off the bottle they captured lighting in some 25 years ago.
See the gallery of images below from Slipknot's weekend takeover at the Intuit Dome of Los Angeles from photographer Danielle Parsons. A list of remaining dates on the Here Comes the Pain North American tour can be found below.
SLIPKNOT
