SLIPKNOT, MANSON PUT ON CROWD-PLEASING SHOW
SARATOGA SPRINGS >> Sunday night’s rock show at Saratoga Performing Arts Center was a crowdpleasing mix of metal and theatrics.
Headliner Slipknot returned to the Spa City stage, this time with the one and only Marilyn Manson as support, along with California-based metalcore group Of Mice & Men.
Manson’s set was full of stunts, including a knife-shaped microphone and a burning book. Though Manson had a band behind him, it was clear he was the star of the show, as noted from the Marilyn Manson $666 bill as the band’s backdrop, and stained glass images featuring Manson in a Jesus-like pose on either end of the stage.
In his creepy manner, Manson and his black-clad band performed hits like “Mobscene,” “The Beautiful People” and the popular cover of Eurythmics’ 1980s hit “Sweet Dreams.”
From shooting color bombs into the crowd to walking on stilts, Manson’s set did not have one dull moment, and served as an entertaining opener for the evening.
Shortly after, Slipknot’s highly anticipated performance began with a video of burning mannequins, which turned into set opener “The Negative One” off of the group’s most recent release .5: The Gray Chapter from 2014. This record was the band’s first since the death of former bassist Paul Gray in 2010.
Slipknot’s current nine members, including frontman Corey Taylor, wore their famous masks, which make the musicians look like monsters during their concerts. Though their true faces are now on the internet, for many years the group members kept their identities well-hidden with
these covers, which have come to be an important and expected part of the live Slipknot experience.
Early in the show Taylor addressed that he recently had neck surgery, and couldn’t do all of his usual actions on stage, but still promised to rock for the crowd which the group undoubtedly did.
Two of the band’s three percussionists, situated on either side of the stage, played their instruments while on hydraulic risers, which moved vertically and spun around throughout the set.
Slipknot played a selection of songs from its five studio albums, even reaching back to the band’s 1999 self-titled debut and its 2001 release Iowa, named after the act’s home state. Fan favorites included “The Heretic Anthem,” “Spit It Out,” “Dead Memories” and the more recent “The Devil in I.”
Show-goer Ronald Belon of Ballston Spa said the show was awesome, intense, and better than he expected when heading out to the venue that night.
Sam Delsignore of Glens Falls, who has seen Slipknot at SPAC in the past, said the concert was just as thrilling as it was last summer. “As always, Slipknot put on an amazing performance. Marilyn Manson and Of Mice & Men were also great,” he said. “The line-up this year was fantastic. Can’t wait to do it again.”