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.”
Faith No More appear to be hinting at a return to the stage in 2027.
The influential alt-metal band have remained mostly quiet over the past decade following the release of their reunion album ‘Sol Invictus’ in 2015. After its arrival, they played what would become their most recent live performances in 2016 and later called off several touring plans in the years that followed.
Now, however, they seem to be preparing fans for something new. The group recently shared an image of a concert crowd on social media with nothing more than the text “2027” placed across it.
No additional information accompanied the post, but it quickly sparked speculation among fans, many of whom believe a full scale tour announcement could be coming next year.
After wrapping up their 2016 run of shows, the band intended to return to the road in 2020. Those plans were ultimately abandoned because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Further touring plans surfaced in 2021 as venues began reopening, but those dates were also cancelled before they could begin. Frontman Mike Patton later explained that mental health struggles were behind the decision and revealed he had been diagnosed with agoraphobia during the pandemic.
Until recently, a reunion seemed unlikely. Patton spoke about Faith No More’s lengthy break and said that he did not “see it as a sad thing”.
Speaking on the Kyle Meredith With… podcast and reflecting on whether he felt a “sense of closure” after the 2016 tour, the vocalist said: “I didn’t really think so at the time, but, yeah, maybe. I think that we all kind of felt it, but it was unspoken.”
“It’s funny: when you’ve been in a band or a musical situation for a period of time, you always, in the back of your head, you’re kind of thinking, ‘Well, maybe this is it.’ And I don’t mind that feeling,” he added. “I don’t see it as a sad thing. I see it as being present and being able to really appreciate it while it’s happening.”
Faith No More have never formally announced a breakup following the cancellation of their 2021 tour, although other members have suggested in recent years that the chances of touring again were uncertain.
Last year, guitarist Roddy Bottum discussed the band's future and admitted they were in a “really weird spot”. “I can’t really tell you what’s going on. I don’t know myself. I get different information from people… and I’m in the band,” he said.
Drummer Mike Bordin echoed similar thoughts last spring, saying that he and some of the other members were willing to perform again, but claimed Patton was “unwilling to do shows with us”.
In addition to leading Faith No More since 1989 after replacing original singer Chuck Mosley, Patton has also been involved with projects including Mr Bungle, Fantômas, and Tomahawk.
Tomahawk recently unveiled plans for their first tour in 13 years, with a series of US dates scheduled for this summer. The run begins in Nashville next month and will also see Patton and his bandmates reunite with longtime labelmates Melvins for the first time since 2003.
Patton has also recently launched his tour with Avett Brothers and teamed up with Jehnny Beth on the new single ‘Look At Me’.
