Sara Hammerzmith

THE DAY IS HERE! Or was here. The day we’ve been waiting for since October. It’s finally here. SLIPKNOT!

As you guys know, I arrived in Estocolmo already the day before so today we basically… first I went up very late. And then we did some quick shopping – finally got my hands on THE DRESS. Woho! And then, back to the hotel to get ready, or put some trash on my face as I usually adress it, and then hit the arena.

We arrived at the arena around 15, 3pm. Unlike Germany, there were already QUITE THE LINE outside Hovet! Ok, maybe not that many, like 20? Still quite a lot. We went and picked up some food at subway (BREAKFAST AT LAST) and then began the long, long wait. Or technically, it wasn’t THAT long, it just felt that long, because just as in Frankfurt ITS FUCKING DEAD COLD. LIKE SERIOUSLY. Never again concerts in the winter. NEVER. Mark my effin words.

Anyway, there isn’t a lot to say about the queueing process. We had already on beforehand given up our hopes on front row since SlipKnot has this BEAUTIFUL THINGS called “Early Entrance”. My feelings about tickets like that, I’ll save for another entry. I promise you. Anyway. A little after 18 they finally let us in the arena, and as suspected, 2nd row. Not too bad, I guess.

And that’s where the long wait for the opener began. Ok, I’m lying. We really only waited about 45 minutes or so before King 810 entered the stage.

I hadn’t listened to the band anything beforehand, and I must admit that this band was NOT my cup of tea at all. They did a good job opening though, and it was nice celebrating your crewmembers birthday with you. Although, I’m still curious as to what was up the with sound. Too much bass.

They played for cirka half an hour before leaving the stage to SlipKnot’s crew to start prepping. The curtain fell down sealing up everything, and farily early to my surprise) they started rolling “XIX”. Ahh. The sing along people. I still wish they had actually done this live though.

At the end of “XIX” the curtain was lifted and the band set off with “Scarcastrophe”. And ok.

So, in Germany, we had been pretty lucky. We had been able to come and go as we pleased, visiting bathrooms and saying hello to bands and things like that. Well. That wasn’t the case here. I was praying and hoping somewhere that MAYBE the audience wouldn’t press so much. But of course they did. As soon as “Scarcastrophe” began, the pushing began.

And the thing is, it’s not that I can’t take the pressure. I can. But it’s not fun you know? When you are being squeezed past your bodys actual shape where you can’t jump, you can’t headbang, you can’t even take up your arm. It’s not fun.

So already in”The Heretic Anthem” did we surrender and walk further back in the arena. Well, that’s those 3 hours to waste… Anyway.

The band was on top, the energy was on top, the audience obviously were on top as they continued with “My Plague”.

After that one’s been  shred to pieces, Corey asks us how many of us has .5, and that it was time to play a song from that album.

To step inside, the devil in him.

And the arena BASICALLY EXPLODED. And the fire! The pyrotechnics on this tour are fucking stunning, I’m telling you. They have a purpose. A lot of the times, when bands has pyros, they are just there for the sake of pyros. Not to fill any function. These ones actually worked well with the music. Thanks!

“Psychosocial” was next song on the list and again, the arena basically exploded. Are you surprised? I’m not. “The Negative One” was next on the list, and we basically lost it. Corey asked us all to lose it, and we did. God damn, it’s always nice with a good neck-work out!

“Three Nil” was next on the list, massive! And talking about massive, there’s something I wanna talk a little bit about. The stage.

I mean, sure, I have seen pictures of the stage on Tumblr prior to the show, and I saw the livestream at KnotFest… But JESUS FUCKING CHRIST IT’S MASSIVE! JUST FUCKING MASSIVE! THIS is what I call a show without a doubt.

With that said, “Eyeless” was the next song on the list and again…. Ahh. This is by far one of my favorite SlipKnot songs, so I was very satisfied. But nowhere near how satisfied I’d end up being in just a few seconds.

Because after Eyeless, they opened with some very sweet tones. Sweet tones that we could all recognize as one certain song.

“Vermillion”.

I’m not lying when I’m saying my eyes almost popped out of my head (eyeless anyone?) and my jaw was hitting the floor. And I had to cover my mouth and NOT start to cry because of the sudden surprise. “Vermillion” is probably my NUMBER ONE SlipKnot song, but as far as I was concerned, this wasn’t a big live favorite, so to actually have it thrown in your face when you weren’t expecting it was just… No. I don’t even know what to say. Still now, many many HOURS after the gig, I’m still giggling and fangiriling over this little surprise.

After “Vermillion” being done they fiercly continued with “Before I Forget” which seemed to the audience favorite of the day. EVERYONE lost it. “Duality” and “Wait and Bleed” was ripped off  with some MASSIVE sing alongs before THE moment came.

“Spit it Out”.

I must admit, after seeing a lot of live shows of SlipKnot on Youtube, I was really WAITING for this part. You know what part I mean.

Jump the fuck up.

I was a LITTLE anxious – I’m not that strong in my legs, so I was concerned that I wouldn’t manage to get up properly and eventually be stomped to death (what a great way to go though) but once we all sat down, literally ALL, and Corey starts singing, and building up and finally releasing and we are ALL jumping up on the same time… first of all. It was EXTREMELY liberating.

But it was also not as bad as I thought it would be! I was reallllly worried, but it was basically nothing! I’m glad. I can’t wait to do it all over again on Sunday.

They wrapped the whole show up with their new little baby “Custer”. Ahh. I LOVE this song people, I LOVE IT.

They left the stage, and a little while later “742617000027” started, and you all know what that means. “(SIC)”! “(SIC)!”

God, I love this song. I’ve said that twice in a row now, but damn. So. Fucking. Epic. Live. I can’t even begin! And if it wasn’t massive enough, next song to be executed was “People = Shit”. And seriously.. The singalong people. To hear the ENTIRE Hovet go “PEOPLE EQUALS SHIT” is just… I can’t even describe it! Goosebumps!

We noticed how the audience separated after “People = Shit”. A big hole in the middle, with people on the sides…. oh. It’s a wall of death. I’ve never actually seen a Wall of Death in real life before, so when “Surfacing” started on stage, I’m not sure which one I was more excited for – the song or the pit. I wasn’t in it myself, because I’d probably end up dead if I tried, but it was pretty cool to witness one for the first time ever!

And “Surfacing”? Epic as hell. A worthy ending for the whole show! After this, the band thanked for the evening, threw out their picks and sticks and eventually left the stage.

Michelle and I pretty much DASHED out of the arena and picked up a bottle of water. SO FUCKING DEHYDRATED. I have never emptied a bottle of water quicker before, but this means you REALLY had fun. I hit the merchstand quickly to pick up a tourshirt before we left Hovet for good and headed home to our destinations.

Thanks SlipKnot, for an EPIC night we will never forget, and I cannot wait to do it all over again on Sunday.

Cut cut cut me up and fuck fuck fuck me up.

// Sara

This entry was posted on February 11, 2015 at 1:25 am and is filed under Concerts, Music, Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.