Rock City presented

Slipknot

Plus guests

One Minute Silence
Kittie

Thursday 2nd March, 2000 - Rock City, Nottingham, ENGLAND.

 

Well, this was the first visit to the 'Rock City' in Nottingham for me. I have been lured to the venue by the prospect of a quiet (not!) evening with Slipknot. I didn't find out who the support was until several hours before the gig, it had been rumoured to be "Kill II This", and I was quite looking forward to seeing them again. As it was, it turned out to be two bands that more than substituted for them. They were "Kittie" and the maestro's of a good gig, themselves "One Minute Silence". My appetite was well wet with anticipation and only the swallow of some ale could calm the taste buds!
No sooner had I entered the building, than I recognised the sound of "Kittie" forcing it's way out into the entrance hall, so straight for the stage I headed. "Kittie" were in full pelt, they had only just started and I was most impressed with this all girl band from Ontario, Canada. Okay, so they are young and inexperienced and most amazingly they are girls, but a "big up" to them and "respect" because their inexperience was blown away by their pure enthusiasm and they showed that the girls can play hardcore metal just a well as the boys! The "Rock City massive" appreciated this, all but a couple of half-wits that felt that they needed to hurl abuse, but these cretin types will always find something to slag off and besides their opinions (ha) mean shit!

Slipknot Gig Ticket

 Morgan from Kittie Kittie's gig covered most of the songs from their debut self-titled album that was released October 99 and many fine tunes were played. The songs that immediately spring to mind are "Suck", "Charlotte", "Do you think I'm a whore?", "Brackish", "Choke", "Paperdoll" and my personal favourite "Spit". These songs really represent a lot more than their titles suggest, with consequential lyrics that sometimes impart a sombre message. Their sound goes from throbbing death metal violence to a wonderful down-tuned chug, sometimes a more frenzied almost techno backbeat and captivating guitars that complement vocals which occasionally converse then disentangle into fervent vocal discharge.

"Kittie" are made up of the two Lander sisters Morgan (Vocals/Guitars) and Mercedes (Drums), and completed by Talena (Bass) and Fallon (Guitars/Vocals). Morgan normally takes care of the vocal duties, except on "Choke" where Fallon took over, but I did think Fallons voice was far weaker and this was confirmed when Morgan resumed with the song that followed.

Fallon of KittieTalena of KittieMercedes of Kittie

Overall, "Kittie" were a good band and performed very well. I was unable to make the most of their show as I was stuck right at the back of a venue that I was unfamiliar with, but I still managed to enjoy watching them and they were a refreshing change. Given the opportunity, I would love to catch them again.

During the break, I was amazed by the amount of people here already; it was going to be a good turnout. I also bumped into the "Earthtone9" boys and "Karl" (the lungs of the band) mentioned that they would be on tour very soon (check it out here). It was a pleasant surprise meeting them and it will be nice to see them live again.

Next up was "One Minute Silence", one of my favourite live bands, so expert at motivating a crowd!  They provided a short but excellent set, making the most of the time to play many new songs from their latest album, which is to be released in the UK on the 10th April. It is to be called 'Buy Now, Saved Later' (check out the details here) and if the songs that they played tonight, along with the ones I remember from the "Leicester gig" back in December, are anything to go by it's going to be a stormer!

There were also two-three oldies played, including live favourite "South Central" and I witnessed my first occurrence of a phenomena known as the "Circle Mosh". This for the uninitiated is fairly self-explanatory, and involves just about everyone moshing round and around the hall in one massive circle like some bizarre, manic conga! . This was possible because of the large hall at the 'Rock City' and those mad bastards on stage of course….. You just could not avoid getting caught up in it, just like the enthusiasm in their performance. Another splendid performance from this delightfully entertaining band from the emerald Isle.

Slipknot - AHHHHHHHHHH!

There seemed an enormous wait until the house lights dimmed ready for the headliners from Iowa USA, "Slipknot" to take to the stage. Then, from the speakers came AC/DC's "For those about to rock" at gargantuan volume and we were played the whole track, cannons smashing eardrums and all. Err, a little perplexing and unnecessary I thought at the time. Looking back, those Slipknot bastards knew what we were in for, and just like the Zulu's at 'Rorkes Drift', they were saluting us before the onslaught!
Slipknot - Guitar At last, the worrying-familiar eerie dialog of some disturbed southern American children talking in gruesome detail, with a similar ambience to the discourse in "Frail Limb Nursery" and the atmosphere started mounting. There was lights flashing, smoke billowing and search lights penetrating into the audience and after a sinister few moments "742617000027" and 'I thing the whole thing is Sic….' looped into the sound. Then, there they appeared, with handheld searchlights staring at us from the stage, examining us with the beams, their masked faces emotionless and inhuman. This was brilliant but charged with the tension similar to when watching a good horror film! The atmosphere was getting too much until the massive double-bass drum kicked in, joined by that wonderful low, down-tuned riff of "(sic)" that procedded to stamp through your mind and was accompanied by those screaming savage vocals…..AHHHHHHHHH!
Slipknot - DrumsSlipknot - Percussion (Right)
That was only the start of my turmoil. The place was now packed, it seemed impossible to get any more people in here. Just like some timed detonation they all went wild (myself included) totally carried away with the events unfolding. I was far too adventurous, "largeing it, big time" in the mosh pit with all the kids. Half way through the second song I felt myself starting to flag and gasping for some air (of which there was none!). Oh so unfit, I found myself being bounced out to relative safety at the rear of the auditorium! There, I took several minutes to recover and it was from there I stayed to watch the rest of the show Slipknot - DJ
Slipknot - VocalsSlipknot - Guitar
On stage, there seemed to be members of the band everywhere, there are so many of them. There was kettle-style drums (on risers) being played at both sides of stage and the main drummer in the middle. The percussionist nearest to me was wearing a very creepy clown mask that maintained an inane smile throughout. Then there was the psychotic vocalist who between songs keep inciting the crowd to go even more berserk, saying that if they didn't he would piss on them (?). And fuck me, before the end of the gig, he did actually piss onstage against the drum riser, bizarre or what!
Slipknot - BassSlipknot - Percussion (Left)
Slipknot - Sampler The gig just got more and more intense, I was quite amazed that everyone could keep going (both band and crowd), but they did and it was excellent. Most of their songs got an airing tonight, highlights for me being the aforementioned "(sic)", and also "Wait and Bleed", "Only One", "Purity", "Surfacing" and "Prosthetics".

It was toward the end of the gig, when I thought I had seen everything (including the acrobatics of the rubber nose!), that a couple of the band members wandered out with large tins of barbecue-starter\lighter fluid. Firstly, the drums at the side of the stage were targeted and up in flames they went, everyone looking on agog. As the flames died down, they started to set themselves on fire, then concentrating on the clown's arm, which soon became engulfed in flames as he flapped around the stage. Wow, I still remain speechless…….

This was a truly entertaining evening, worth every penny of the ticket price. "Slipknot" were extremely professional, so heavy and intense, totally insane, each member with their own spooky mask will linger in my mind for a long time. If you get the chance and you love heavy music, you must go to see these blokes, they really are mind-blowing!!

Rigsby.

 

Slipknot are:

8 -
Vocals - Corey Taylor
7 - Guitar - Mic Thompson
6 - Percussion - Shawn Crahan
5 - Sampler - Craig Jones
4 - Guitar - James Root
3 - Percussion - Chris Fehn
2 - Bass - Paul Gray
1 -
Drums - Joey Jordison
0 - DJ - Sid Wilson

Kittie are:

Vocals/Guitar - Morgan Lander
Guitar/Vocals - Fallon Bowman
Bass - Talena Atfield
Drums - Mercedes Lander

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