Slipknot kicks off 25 years of Here Comes the Pain Tour in Indiana

The Ruoff Center in Noblesville, Indiana is an earthen-built venue that looks like an impact crater had already hit it before the arrival of the Here Comes the Pain Tour. Hours before gates opened, dedicated fans were already queued in their vehicles to enter, a rare treat to see a full venue for each opening act. 

Formed in 2013, Orbit Culture has perfected melodic death metal.

Hailing from Sweden, Orbit Culture opened the night to eager fans, immediately controlling them in circle pits and a wall of death in the lawn. Even if you were unaware of the band’s Swedish origin, you would liken their sound to ‘Viking Metal’ fused with Metallica and Megadeth influences, as well as Wes Borland riffs.

Riding the tide of adrenaline, Knocked Loose followed with their unique take to metalcore punk. Reminiscent of early 2000s-2010s screamo and punk scenes, the band adds an additional layer of metal with Slayer-style riffs and Bryan Garris’ unique high-pitched vocals. Throughout the show, I imagined that this is what Zach de la Rocha of Rage Against the Machine would sound like if he went full metal.

Slipknot opened their set with “(sic)”, the opening (full) track off of their 1999 self-titled album.

Hinting at what lay ahead for the evening, frontman Corey Taylor told the crowd, “Nothing you hear tonight was written after 1999”, before beginning “Eyeless” and then “Wait and Bleed”. 

Old-school fans were expecting “Surfacing” to follow as track #4 (as the album goes), but it was then that the setlist diverted with other songs from the album in different order. Delighted fans nearby that had seen Slipknot over 30 times erupted when hearing for the first time “No Life” and “Scissors”, which haven’t been played since Slipknot’s tour to promote the 1999 album. Two songs from the album, “Diluted” and “Tattered and Torn”, were not played. 

Photography by Ryan Jacquot

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