REVIEW BY DAVID TAYLOR and PHOTOS BY ROBERT A CHADWICK | Go Venue Magazine
On Friday, March 18, the Knotfest Roadshow featuring Slipknot made a stop in Omaha, Nebraska at the CHI Health Center. Metalheads all over the region flocked to the heartland to see one of the biggest metal bands in the world.
Wage War from Florida opened up the show. Originally, Jinjer was the opening act, but they are currently focusing on the relief efforts of their native country, Ukraine, as they are going through some hard times over there. But, Wage War stepped in and their metalcore sounds were a perfect fit for the bill, riffs and breakdowns and all. The crowd was having a good time connecting with the music. They have a new album out called, Manic. Glad they got this opportunity to play arenas and open up for a band like Slipknot. I also hope Jinjer and their loved ones in Ukraine are safe and doing well.
In This Moment was the direct support of the night. And couldn’t be more of a perfect fit. The theatrics. The heaviness of the music. I think it is safe to say Maria Brink is, respectfully, the Lady Gaga of metal. She just carries a prowess and confidence in the way she performs. The band, overall, forms this symbiotic relationship with her that gives each member equal footing. This band was made to perform arenas. They put out an album in late March 2020 called, Mother, right when the pandemic was starting up around the world. They are finally out on tour in support of it. I do find is surprising they played only one song from it, “The In-Between”. But, it’s been a minute since they played Omaha, so I understand they wanted to play the hits. I do hope they are working on a new album to have out by the end of next year. Great showing by In This Moment!
And finally, it was Slipknot that was the main event. Omaha is a like second home for these Des Moines rockers, so it means a lot to them when a crowd like this goes bananas for them. They brought so much pyrotechnics, including a flamethrower on Alessandro Venturella’s bass. Corey Taylor was actually kinda funny on stage, joking around with the crowd, teasing the name of their upcoming album by hitting the microphone and asking if they heard what he said. But, man this band just continually crushes live. It’s also fun to watch Tortilla Man aka Michael Pfaff and Clown aka Shawn Crahan just run around onstage hitting things with their various mallets. Such a dream job. I’m so glad Slipknot came back to Omaha one final time before they are to put out their upcoming record, which is supposed to come out this summer.
Slipknot
Wage War
All images © Robert A Chadwick
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Robert’s note: In This Moment decided not allow us, the media outlets, to photograph their show. We learned like 30 minutes before their show started. It was unfortunate.
