Over the weekend, Slipknot teased a major announcement this morning with the accompanying graphic of a carival with Slipknot flags all over it. Today, they released an announcement. They will be curating the first ever KnotFest will take place on August 17th at the Mid-America Motorplex in Pacific Junction, Iowa and Saturday August 18th in Somerset, on the border of Wisconsin and Minnesota.
There will be circus big-top tents, pillars of fire, amusement park rides, burlesque performers, firebreathers, stilt walkers, drum circles made of junkyard cars and graffiti walls. A Slipknot museum will also be launched. Oh, and of course there will be music!
There will be slightly varying lineups for both dates. Here is the breakdown:
August 17th Lineup: Slipknot, Deftones, Lamb of God, Dethklok, Serj Tankian, The Urge, Prong and Dirtfedd
August 18th Lineup: Slipknot, Deftones, Lamb of God, Dethklok, Serj Tankian, Cannibal Corpse, Prong, Gojira and Dillinger Escape Plan
Tickets go on sale this Friday at Ticketmaster. When asked by Rolling Stone what fans can expect, here is what Shawn "Clown" Crahan had to say:
"It's all about having fun and bringing something to the world of rock & roll, bringing it to the standard it used to be. It's time for us to really engulf this idea known as Knotfest where we're in control, we make a day devoted to our mindset, our ideas, the people that we want to play with, the people that we think our fans want to be around. . . When everyone leaves, their senses [will be] overloaded, and I'm talking about smells, sights, hearing, your body, everything is overloaded with stimulation, because that's what Slipknot does."
Certainly, this is great news for Iowans, who I'm sure don't get too many metal shows in their neck of the woods. Could this be Slipknot's answer to The Gathering (but obviously, much more metal?) More info can be found at Knotfest.com.
