Slipknot.
Alexandria Crahan-Conway*Slipknot are extending their busy fall plans with another installment of Knotfest, dubbed Knotfest Los Angeles, which they’ll headline at Los Angeles’ Banc of California Stadium on November 5th. Bring Me the Horizon, Killswitch Engage, Fever 333, Code Orange, and Vended will also perform, along with the aerial dance troupe Cherry Bombs. The general on sale will begin Friday at KnotfestLosAngeles.com, while presales start Tuesday.
The event follows the announcements of Knotfest Iowa, which kicks off the band’s concert activities on September 25th, and the touring Knotfest Roadshow, which stretches across the States from September 28th to November 2nd. The Roadshow dates all feature support from Knotfest Los Angeles performers Killswitch Engage, Fever 333, and Code Orange. (The band has also announced the postponments of planned 2021 Knotfest events in Brazil, Chile, and Colombia to next year.)
Slipknot intends to celebrate the 20th anniversary of their commercial breakthrough, Iowa, which made it up to Number Three on Billboard when it came out. Each of the Knotfest events will feature a museum with memorabilia and artifacts from around the release of Iowa. At Knotfest Iowa, the band will also offer tastings of its small-batch Iowa whiskies, No. 9 Iowa Whiskey and No. 9 Reserve, and band-branded beers.
Prior to the band’s live events, the group is currently recording a follow-up to their 2019 album We Are Not Your Kind.
The group’s frontman, Corey Taylor, recently embarked on a solo tour, which he chronicled in a three-part tour diary for Rolling Stone. In the final installment, he paid tribute to Knotfest Los Angeles performers the Cherry Bombs, which features his wife Alicia. “This is no ordinary revue; hell, there isn’t even an easy way to describe it,” he wrote. “It’s more than just a dance troupe. It’s dance, and fire performance, and aerial performance, and pole performance, coupled with storytelling and angle grinding for good measure. Now even an expanded mind needs a minute to take that all in.”
Sharleen Spiteri joined BBC Radio 2’s The Sara Cox Breakfast Show ahead of Texas taking the stage to launch the main live music programme at Radio 2 in the Park in Stirling.
Checking in from rehearsals, the Texas frontwoman spoke about getting ready for the band’s opening performance at City Park. Radio 2’s annual flagship festival takes place there from 11 to 13 September 2026. "I’m match fit because I’ve had a couple of days’ rehearsals," Spiteri said. "We’re kicking the whole weekend off, which we’re very much looking forward to, so everybody’s got to get ready to party."
Before the live acts take over, Friday’s DJ Pre-Party gets the weekend started with Radio 2 favourites Sara Cox, DJ Spoony, Gary Davies, Michelle Visage, and Rylan behind the decks.
Jo Whiley helped set the mood with a special programme from Stirling’s Tolbooth venue. Working with BBC Introducing Scotland, the broadcast put the spotlight on Scotland’s emerging music scene through performances and conversations with Fright Years, Alice Faye, and James Emmanuel.
Fright Years, a four member band from Edinburgh, played "Never Been Wrong" and offered their take on Simple Minds’ "Waterfront." Glasgow singer and songwriter Alice Faye, the BBC Introducing in Scotland 2026 winner, paired "Some Brief Encounter" with a rendition of Lulu’s arrangement of "I Started a Joke." James Emmanuel, who was born in Nigeria and now lives in Edinburgh, sang "Brothers & Sisters" before taking on Chaka Khan’s "I’m Every Woman."
"We’re all about celebrating BBC Introducing and all the music that’s come out of Scotland," Whiley told listeners. "It's about celebrating the local music scene and the incredibly important work that BBC Introducing does to support independent, up-and-coming artists."
Joining the conversation were Stephanie Cheape, presenter of BBC Introducing in Scotland, Tara McLoughlin, venue manager for Stirling Council, and student radio presenters representing the University of Stirling’s Air3 Radio.
Listeners can catch the complete interviews and live performances from the weekend’s programmes on BBC Sounds.
