Slipknot easily sells tickets to huge venues these days. But back when they were nobodies in their hometown of Des Moines, IA they had to play some weird gigs (as we all do). Vocalist Corey Taylor tells BBC Radio 1’s Daniel P Carter that Slipknot once had to open for a jazz band as part of a gig trade deal, and basically the whole club wasn't super receptive.
"It was a gig-trade because Clown owned a bar in Des Moines. They all, like, stared at us like we had shit in our hands and had thrown it at them. They were so stunned with the madness."
Even better, Taylor said that same night Slipknot's van broke down. The band sat around freezing their asses off and ended up making a makeshift vent to keep the van warm.
"And then driving home, both vans broke down in the middle of nowhere, in the middle of winter. So some of us stayed, some of us walked to call a tow truck. That’s what you did. And I can remember constructing cardboard ventilation for the heater just to get some back. We all huddled our gear as close as we can to this weird cardboard ventilation system – it was brutal. And then having to get up the next day and go to work… I mean, dude…"
Slipknot recently announced their Knotfest at Sea festival departing out of Barcelona, Spain in August 2020. Which is a pretty far cry from playing to people who couldn't give a shit less about what you're doing.
You can also catch Slipknot at one of the below 2020 dates.
01/14 Dublin, IRE – 3Arena [Tickets]
01/16 Manchester, UK – Manchester Arena [Tickets]
01/17 Newcastle, UK – Utilita Arena [Tickets]
01/18 Glasgow, UK – The SSE Hydro [Tickets]
01/20 Sheffield, UK – FlyDSA Arena [Tickets]
01/21 Nottingham, UK – Motorpoint Arena [Tickets]
01/22 Cardiff, UK – Motorpoint Arena [Tickets]
01/24 Birmingham, UK – Birmingham Arena [Tickets]
01/25 London, UK – The O2 [Tickets]
01/28 Amsterdam, NET – Ziggo Dome [Tickets]
01/29 Frankfurt, GER – Festhalle [Tickets]
01/30 Paris, FRA – Accorhotels Arena [Tickets]
02/01 Luxembourg, LUX – Rockhal [Tickets]
02/02 Lyon, FRA – Halle Tony Garnier [Tickets]
02/04 Budapest, HUN – Budapest Sportarena [Tickets]
02/06 Lodz, POL – Atlas Arena [Tickets]
02/08 Stuttgart, GER – Hanns-Martin-Schleyer-Halle [Tickets]
02/09 Munich, GER – Olympiahalle [Tickets]
02/11 Milan, ITA – Mediolanum Forum [Tickets]
02/12 Zurich, SWI – Hallenstadion [Tickets]
02/14 Vienna, AUT – Stadthalle [Tickets]
02/16 Hamburg, GER – Barclaycard Arena [Tickets]
02/17 Berlin, GER – Mercedes-Benz Arena [Tickets]
02/18 Dortmund, GER – Westfalenhalle [Tickets]
02/20 Copenhagen, DEN – Royal Arena [Tickets]
02/21 Stockholm, SWE – Ericsson Globe [Tickets]
02/22 Oslo, NOR – Telenor Arena [Tickets]
02/24 Helsinki, FIN – Hartwall Arena [Tickets]
03/20 – Tokyo, Japan – Knotfest [Tickets]
03/21 – Tokyo, Japan – Knotfest [Tickets]
03/24 – Singapore – Singapore Rock Fest [Tickets]
03/27 – Jakarta, Indonesia – Hammersonic Festival [Tickets]
03/29 – Manila, Philippines – Amoranto Stadium [Tickets]
