This past weekend, Slipknot had to walk off stage and bassist Alessandro Venturella was rushed to the hospital for what was revealed to be "severe dehydration." Venturella was eventually discharged and in a statement, Slipknot announced that he would be re-joining the band at their Mansfield, MA show, which happened last night.
However, when the band took the stage, it was without Venturella as the footage has shown…
[youtube]https://youtu.be/lCkzR9eSL5M[/youtube]
Update: Multiple fans who were in attendance have since told us that at one point Corey Taylor announced on stage that Venturella was playing with them, he was just not on stage. Taylor said Venturella flat-out refused to not perform, so a compromise was made and he played off-stage to avoid a potential repeat.
Earlier in the day, in an interview with WAAF, Taylor offered the latest update on Venturella:
"I can say that Alex is okay. We're being told that it was a dehydration problem that led to… Basically, he just kind of lost consciousness. The doctor said he's okay. He's been discharged from the hospital. He's gonna need plenty of rest, but we are not planning on canceling any shows. So, right now, we're just kind of looking at… basically, trying to balance what we need to do for the fans against what we need to do for Alex's health. We're just kind of playing it by ear right now. Luckily, we [had] a day off [on Monday], so he [could] kind of get some rest and get some fluids and everything. He's got a whole regimen that the doctor wants him to do and make sure he's taking care of himself. But the good news is that he's okay, [and] he's feeling better. And it just comes down to making sure that you take care of yourself."
Slipknot's next gig is tonight in Holmdel, NJ at the PNC Bank Arts Center. We'll keep you posted on if he returns to the stage.
