Slipknot bring a circus of insanity + brotherhood to Alexandra Palace

Slipknot Alexandra Palace review, photos, setlist UK tour tickets

Photo: Alexia Arrizabalaga

"This could be the classiest room we've ever played," barks Slipknot frontman Corey Taylor, staring up and around the palatial interior of the cavernous space of this historic hall. "I don't know if they'll ever let us back after what we do tonight."

As he flips the bird and darts beneath the towering drum risers while nine masked menaces lose themselves in what can only be described as a carnival of chaos, one senses that tonight's show is a million miles from what the Victorians or Auntie Beeb had in mind for Ally Pally back in the day.

But this is the place where history is made after all, and who better to take on the challenge than modern metal's most revered? We await their arrival with the puching bass tones of David Bowie's 'Ashes To Ashes', before we're reassuringly reminded that there's a least one band on the planet carrying the torch for The Thin White Duke's blend of theatricality with integrity in music.

'The Negative One' begins, the title alone before the sounds and themes that follow naturally lend themselves well to the band's demonic aesthetic, but the mood and energy spiralling around tonight's constant circle pits is one of positivity. As spectacle the meets adrenaline, the result is pure joy.

From the crashing of 'Disasterpiece' and 'Eyeless' to the locomotive rush of 'Psycosocial', the modern classic 'Wait And Bleed', twisted pop of 'The Devil In I' and utterly feral '(sic)', they look to the darker corners of life, but ultimately shine light upon them. Dancing before a screen of warped visuals in their masks, they're characters in life's cruel circus, but the act of playing it out on such an almighty scale proves cathartic.

"My friends...," beams Corey Taylor with arms outstretched to the hollering masses before correcting himself, "my bad...my fucking family". Amen. On stage they stand as brothers, and few bands have the same sense of community among their fans - let alone put on such an inclusive live experience. In our thousands, we're invited to crouch down on the floor before jumping up during the volcanic eruption of 'FUCK ME, I'M ALL OUT OF ENEMIES' during closer 'Spit It Out', not only are we as much a part of the show as anything else, but we are one.

Here we may be misfits, but we're not miscreants. We've come together to celebrate this truly one-off band, and what a party it was. It never felt so good to be a maggot.

Slipknot played:
The Negative One
Disasterpiece
Eyeless
Skeptic
I Am Hated
Killpop
Dead Memories
Everything Ends
Psychosocial
Wait and Bleed
Duality
The Devil in I
Metabolic
(sic)
Encore:
Surfacing
Left Behind
Spit It Out