Las Vegas Weekly

Slipknot

Who is that masked man? Slipknot’s Corey Taylor.

Photo: Ryan Olbrysh

The final performance on Slipknot’s latest tour, Halloween night at the Pearl, was as intense as would be expected—90 minutes of powerful heavy metal, with the full force of the nine-piece band’s percussion-heavy sound dominating the venue.

The Details

Slipknot

Oct. 31, The Pearl

As massive as Slipknot’s sound is on record, it was even more so live, with percussionists Shawn Crahan and Chris Fehn each presiding over impressive homemade kits. Crahan’s rose up from the stage and spun around at various times; at one point during “Duality” he used a baseball bat to play his trash can-like custom drum. That kind of go-for-broke stage presence informed the whole show, with the masked band members bringing the exact right kind of Halloween atmosphere (even though they wear masks at every show).

Musically the show was surprisingly heavy on older songs, but hits like “Psychosocial,” “Before I Forget” and “Dead Memories” all made their way into the set. The nine members were in sync the entire time, and singer Corey Taylor gushed repeatedly about the awesomeness of Slipknot fans (although the band neglected to play excellent fan-tribute anthem “Pulse of the Maggots”). During the encore, Taylor had fans crouch down and then jump up in unison, a Slipknot concert staple that demonstrated just how strongly this band is in touch with the people who fuel its fire.