Knotfest Roadshow 2019 brings the only Canadian date to Toronto’s Budweiser Stage.

Hardcore Metal Heads gathered in droves at the Budweiser Stage in downtown Toronto last week to see the Knotfest Roadshow, featuring Slipknot along with supporting acts Behemoth, Gojira and Volbeat.

Behemoth, hailing from Poland, are considered an integral part of establishing the regions underground extreme metal scene. Always a crowd favorite within the Toronto metal scene, they entice the crowds instantly to create mosh pits, head banging and horned hands. The crowd surfers began rolling into the pit instantly upon Behemoths presence on stage. The theatrics of this band just adds to the entertainment factor they present, filling the stage with smoke, flames and during the 3rd song “Ora Pro Nobis Lucifer” Nergal came out dawning two fire sticks, posing for the crowd.

Considering they have 11 studio albums, it must have been hard for them to widdle their set list down to 7 songs. Opting to perform 3 tunes from their 2018 release called I Love You At Your Darkest with “Wolves of Siberia”, “Sabbath Mater” and “Bartzabel.” Behemoth closed their set by pulling from the archives a song from their forth studio album dated back to 1999 called Satanica with “Chant for Eschaton 2000”. Behemoth always come prepared to melt your face and that they did!

Gojira brought the Heavy Metal, Thrash and Groove aspect to the Knotfest Roadshow. This French band brought tons of energy to their set, as well as an unexpected inflatable shark made it’s way across the swirl of the crowd. I had heard of Gojira but never actually heard their material. l loved the melodic aspect they brought to the heavy sound and double kick drums. It was right up my alley in terms of musical interest.

The fans posted on social media how they felt that Gojira was a better fit as second to last on the musical roster, feeling like Volbeat didn’t quite represent the heaviness needed for their time slot, however the crowd in attendance negated the posts. I felt they are two very different acts, each representing a different facet of the never ending sub genre of Heavy Metal, each certainly worthy of the Knotfest Roadshow.

Duplantier said that it’s always great to play to the enthusiastic Toronto crowd, one of their favorites places to perform.

Next up was Danish Metal Band Volbeat. They brought a completely different genre of the scene to the Roadshow. A mix of Metal, Rock along with Hillbilly lyrics. You could certainly hear the Johnny Cash influence within Michaels vocals. It’s an interesting blend of heavy guitars, double kick and country vocals all mashed into one.

Volbeat has been to Toronto on multiple occasions, headlining tours. Poulsen said coming from Denmark it’s so nice to be welcomed.

A surprised guest that evening joining Volbeat was Danko Jones, performing “Black Rose”.

When asking the crowd what they would prefer hearing, a rock or metal song, The crowd made the obvious choice of metal. With that Volbeat went into the song “The Everlasting”.

They put on their usual solid set. Musicianship on point and they always look like they are having a blast. A band worth seeing.

At 9pm sharp the lights dropped and the audio decibels reached max levels. A huge sign with Slipknot hung at the front of the stage, shielding the crowd from the massive stage set up that was hiding on the other side. The AC/DC song “For Those About To Rock” played in the background, counting down the moments until Slipknot made their appearance.

I knew I was in for a wild ride when entering the photo pit and the security detail had quadrupled in size, standing shoulder to shoulder, from one end of the pit to the other. They obviously knew more then I did and thankfully so, because from the moment Slipknot appeared the crowd surfers made their way over the rail like a never ending tsunami. I was constantly looking over my shoulder while trying to capture the spectacle that was happening in front of me on stage.

I admit, I didn’t do my usual research of the performance beforehand. It was like visual sensory overload what was happening on stage. I knew Slipknot wore masks but never realized the complexity that their stage set up, or what the performance entailed. There were two drum risers flanking each side of the stage, along with conveyor belts and massive lights. The outfits where intriguing, yet disturbing at the same time. Guitarist Mick Thompson gave these frightfully erie glances that made your skin crawl. Drum playing clowns and a dancing mime (DJ Starscream) also filled the scene on stage. Ironically I walked away from the shoot thinking I wonder why the only person not donning a mask was DJ Starscream. Yep, I was completely fooled. Looking at my photos later on I realized he was wearing a human looking face mask.

I have seen Corey Taylor perform with Stone Sour and he brought his “A game” just like the last time I saw him perform. Such a showman by nature, he told the crowd that Slipknot has been doing this for a long 20 years. He confessed it hadn’t always been easy but because of crowds like Toronto, they will do another 20 years.

Slipknot performed a 17 song set list, much to the delight of die hard “Knot fans”. Throughout the entire show, a never ending vortex swirled in the general section. I was happy to be enjoying the show from the comforts of my seated area, far away from the carnage.

Slipknot has a massive following, and until that night I wasn’t sure what made them so special. Their ability to hook the crowd into their alternative world was very impressive. This was a show that I was very happy to have covered. The only gal in the pit representing, upped the points on the cool factor for me. If you have a chance to witness this spectacle, I highly recommend it!

MORE PHOTOS

Behemoth

Gojira

 

Volbeat

SlipKnot