2024 KNOTFEST Iowa: Live Recap and Photos from Water Works Park Event

REVIEW BY DAVID TAYLOR AND PHOTOS BY PAM WHISENHUNT | Go Venue Magazine

Knotfest Iowa returned to the Des Moines area after a rocky 2021 iteration, this time at a new venue, Water Works Park, where Slipknot played on the Tattoo the Earth tour in 2000. Unlike the one in 2021, Knotfest 2024 was a success. There was plenty of water at the water stations around the area, and many food and drink vendors were available for the attendees. My only critique of the experience (I didn’t participate in this one, but watched every time I walked by) was the line for the merchandise tent was pretty long. I don’t know what was going on with that (maybe the credit card readers were slow), but I couldn’t imagine having to wait for thirty or so minutes and miss some live music.

Holy Wars, a four-piece from Los Angeles, was the first band to play. They opened up the main stage. Led by Kat Leon, this was a fun start to the day. It’s always hard to get people to show up early at an all-day festival, but people showed up for these guys. They rocked hard and even had Leon going up to the barricade to rock out with the crowd. And guitarist Nicolas Perez had a damn good Tom Morello-like sound. Great start to the fest. Check out their EP, Cult Classic.

The genre of hardcore music was represented well on the bill with Zulu (Los Angeles), Dose (Des Moines), Spine (Kansas City), Knocked Loose (Kentucky), and Dying Wish (Portland, OR). Every one of these bands shouted each other out. It’s so cool that Slipknot gave all of these bands a large platform to play on. All had amazing sets, but it was Knocked Loose that really brought it on the main stage. They played Knotfest 2021, but Knotfest 2024 cemented them as one of the top-tier heaviest bands out there. They managed to get to a large wall of deaths going, as well as a plethora of crowd surfers. You can see why Slipknot loves having these guys on tour. Their music gets your blood pumping for Slipknot in the best way possible. Check out their latest release, You Won’t Go Before You’re Supposed To.

Other than Slipknot, the Des Moines music scene was represented well. As I mentioned above, they were hardcore act Dose, Swollen Teeth, who are very Slipknot-inspired act, which makes sense because Sid Wilson produces them, and Vended, fronted by Griffin Taylor, Corey Taylor’s son and Simon Crahan on drums, Shawn “Clown” Crahan’s son, their self-titled debut album coming out the weekend of Knotfest. Slipknot’s presence looms large on all three acts. They all stood out in the best way. Makes me proud of the Midwest music scene.

It was nice seeing Twin Temple, again, after seeing them open up for Ghost and Volbeat a couple of years ago. Tonally, they were one of two acts (we’ll get to the other one) that felt different from any of the other of bands that were performing on the bill. I always love the satanic imagery in their songs with this 50s/60s rockabilly doo-wop sound. I could see they were a hard sell, but I still dug their vibe.

Some bands on the bill have that legacy vibe to them. Many consider Poison the Well as one of the most important bands to kickstart the metalcore genre. It was amazing to see these guys be around since the late 90s and still rip it live. Jeffrey Moreira has a stage presence that is dominating and sincere. I wouldn’t take seeing them for the first time for granted. Hatebreed is another band I would consider a band with a legacy. I’ve seen Hatebreed play clubs, but I have been dying to see Hatebreed on a festival bill, and they did not disappoint. Jamey Jasta, lead vocalist of Hatebreed, considers Slipknot as the band that helped them out the most. So, yeah, it was about time they were on a Knotfest Iowa bill, returning to the same place they were on the bill with Slipknot on Tattoo the Earth in 2000. And they had so much fun onstage. They even brought out a giant black beach ball called the “Ball of Death”, a play on the wall of death. Hatebreed celebrating 30 years on the Knotfest stage felt right. I’m excited for the next ten years! Another legacy band on the bill was Gwar. This was my second time seeing these guys live, and they still brought all their fake blood and celebrities they wanted to kill that they’ve been doing for 40 years. And they sure know how to have fun doing it.

The last act on the main stage before Slipknot went on was the one and only Till Lindemann, who you might know fronts the German band Rammstein. If you don’t know Lindemann, he is a very provocative artist that you either understand his vibe or don’t. He had a pretty solid band backing him and never changed the German lyrics to English. There was quite the imagery on the video boards that made some people embarrassed to watch. I hope the kids that were there that saw it are doing ok. In short, Till Lindemann is one of the last rock stars and his presence in heavy music for the last thirty is unlike any other.

Finally, we were ready for Slipknot. They were ready for imminent severe weather, so Till Lindemann had an abbreviated set and Gwar played thirty-five minutes early for Slipknot to play at 8 PM in hopes of avoiding the weather. I could see lightning in the area and was starting to get nervous. They were going to play one of the most important metal albums of all-time, their self-titled debut, in honor of the 25th anniversary. They were playing everything from 1999, nothing after. As soon as Slipknot kicked into “(sic)”, the rain started to come down and, honestly, I couldn’t ask for a better concert atmosphere. It was so damn cool to see Corey Taylor wearing a similar mask he had during that self-titled era and singing those songs. Glad to see Sid Wilson rocking out on the turntables after having an incident with fire that had him in the hospital. The whole band was firing on all cylinders. And seeing Eloy Casagrande behind the kit was exceptional, a well-added addition. They ended their main set with “Only One”. Then they walked off-stage. We got an announcement saying severe weather was close by, and we needed to evacuate to shelter. And just like that, the concert ended. It would’ve been nice to get an encore, but I understand the decision. But, they played a solid set, and were not disappointed by them. It is always a joy to see Slipknot play in their hometown. I hope they get to do another Knotfest Iowa. I could understand why they had to dial it down since the second stage was smaller than the one from 2021. But, I think it was an overall success, weather excluded. Thanks to the Knotfest publicity team for lending me a VIP pass for the event. I hope Go Venue gets to cover the next one.