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Oct 22, 2024

"He’s got his gas mask on, he’s all taped up and he’s flying like a bird." Inside the chaos and carnage of Slipknot's legendary first UK show at the London Astoria | Louder

Slipknot's chaotic, infamous headline show at London's Astoria on December 13 1999 cemented their status as metal's next superstars When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an

Slipknot's chaotic, infamous headline show at London's Astoria on December 13 1999 cemented their status as metal's next superstars

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Slipknot’s reputation as an explosive live band was sealed by their stint on the US Ozzfest in the summer of 1999. By the time they flew to Europe at the end of that year, the buzz surrounding them was deafening. On December 13, 1999, they played their very first overseas gig at hallowed London venue the Astoria (since demolished) as part of the aptly titled World Domination tour.

It was a chance for people outside America to see if they could live up to the hype – or whether they were just a flash-in-the-pan novelty.

Mark Palmer (then head of Roadrunner Records UK, Slipknot’s label): “Before the Slipknot album came out, we were unsure how they were going to be received – people might see it as a gimmick. But once you hear the music and see the band, you realise it’s definitely not a gimmick.”

Danny Nozell (then Slipknot’s tour manager): “The Ozzfest had definitely been their breakthrough, but playing London was a big deal. It was their first time overseas.”

Corey Taylor (Slipknot vocalist): “Coming from Des Moines, Iowa, when do you think you’re ever going to be able to play London, for fuck’s sake? We were just wide-eyed: ‘Oh fuuuuck.’”

Danny Nozell: “There were fans waiting for them at the airport, wanting their autographs.”

Jim Root (Slipknot guitarist): “We’re still infants, we don’t have our own sound guy, we can barely afford to have a bus, or any of that shit, and then to be in London playing a sold-out show at the fucking Astoria? Mind-blowing.”

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Danny Nozell: “The band were excited, but we also didn’t know how the audiences overseas would accept us.”

Mark Palmer: “A lot of people were really interested to see the band live, just to see if they could cut it and whether all this crazy shit they‘d been hearing about the band was true.”

Mark Mynett (guitarist with support band Kill II This): “There was a massive buzz around the show. Everybody was talking about it.”

A former warehouse and cinema built in 1927, the Astoria was a staple of the London gig circuit. It had hosted gigs by everyone from Black Sabbath to Nirvana over the years, but now it was Slipknot’s name on the marquee.

Mark Palmer: “The Astoria held about 2,000 people, but it always felt really intimate, the way it was shaped and set up.”

Mark Mynett: “Tickets were changing hands for ridiculous amounts of money. Everybody wanted to get into that show.”

Mark Palmer: “Being able to sell out the Astoria was a real benchmark as to whether a band was going to go on and do bigger and better things. It always felt like the first step to world domination.”

Mark Mynett: “We got to the venue and watched them soundcheck. The band and their crew were incredibly friendly and helpful with us. There were no egos. I mean, why would there be? It’s not like they’re going to be scared of anybody blowing them offstage.”

Corey: “We didn’t have a big crew back then. It was two or three guys who set things up. I wasn’t allowed to touch anything ’cos I’d break things.”

Mark Mynett: “It was before the internet really took off, and people genuinely didn’t know who they were. There was so much intrigue around them. There were rumours that they were members of Korn.”

Danny Nozell: “At that point, they didn’t want people to know what they really looked like, so they kept themselves very hidden.”

Mark Mynett: “Their tour manager, Danny, was stopping people from taking photos of the band without their masks on in the venue.”

Danny Nozell: “Sid [Wilson, DJ] would walk through the venue prior to the show to check it out: ‘Am I going to jump off the speakers? Am I going to jump off the balcony?’ But he never told me specifically what he was going to do during the show. Whatever happened happened.”

As showtime drew near, the atmosphere in the venue cranked up to fever pitch. Several members of the audience had turned up in Slipknot-style boilersuits and homemade masks. Everybody was waiting to see if the band would deliver.

Mark Mynett: “Were people there to see Kill II This? God no, we were just a temporary distraction. They were all there for Slipknot. The expectation was tangible.”

Danny Nozell: “There was a really eerie vibe to it. It was so intense.”

Corey Taylor: “We had our intro tape, and we would loop that thing for an hour if we could get away with it, ’cos we just didn’t give a shit.”

Mark Mynett: “It was the most electric atmosphere I’ve ever experienced at a gig. Everybody was just fixated on that stage.”

Corey Taylor: “We came out and it was packed and people were hanging from shit. I’d never seen anything like it.”

Mark Palmer: “It was madness. They were throwing the kegs around, all of that.”

Danny Nozell: “People in the audience were going crazy. They didn’t know how to handle it, because no one had ever seen anything like it.”

Mark Mynett: “You watch great gigs and great live performances, but this was something on a whole other level. They were absolutely giving it 110%, absolutely immersed in it. There was no sense of them being aware of what was going on.”

Jim Root: “The show was just a blur.”

Danny Nozell: “We did not take any security with us, so I’d be grabbing people as they came up onstage and getting them back in the audience. We never kicked these kids out. The band really respected the fans. And whenever Sid jumped off the speakers, which he did a lot, I had to be in the audience to help catch him.”

Mark Mynett: “Sid dived off the speakers at least once, maybe twice.”

Danny Nozell: “The PA speakers were maybe 10 or 15 feet off the ground, then the stage was another five or six feet high, so he was at least 20 feet up. There’s an incredible photo of him - he’s got his grey gas mask on, he’s all taped up, and he’s flying like a bird. You can see me down at the bottom of the photo looking up, really intense.”

Mark Mynett: “At one point, Sid went up on to the balcony. The tour manager had this big torch that he was shining down at the audience to catch their attention. Then a few people looked up and saw Sid, and then a few more people looked up and saw him, and they realised what was going on. And then he climbed over the balcony and went off backward. It must have been 20 or 30 feet, and people caught him. It was just incredible.”

Mark Palmer: “There was a VIP area on the balcony. I looked over at it and directly near the front was Björk.”

Jim Root: “I remember hearing that Björk was in the audience, and that was so surreal to me. Artists like that don’t seem real, but then you get out into the real world, and there they are.”

Slipknot’s 10-song set lasted barely an hour, but it made a huge impression on the audience. The most-talked about band of the year had lived up to the hype. The Astoria show rubber-stamped them as metal’s most exciting new band. They’d go on to play bigger shows, but none had the same impact as this one.

Danny Nozell: “When they came offstage, everybody was exhausted but elated. We knew it was a brilliant show. There was no big aftershow party that night, just them winding down and catching up with people. Then it was onto the next show in Amsterdam the next night. It was relentless, in a good way.”

Corey Taylor: “We were all really jet-lagged and just hanging out after the show, and then here comes Björk to say hello. I was like, ‘What the fuck?!’ I had no idea she was there. She was very, very cool, but she was kind of socially awkward, like we were. She came up, she said: ‘Hi’, she hung out a little while. It was all very quick.”

Jim Root: “We met so many cool people that first time in London, people that we’re still friends with to this day, and it was the beginning of our education on the culture of other countries and continents.”

Corey Taylor: “Everyone I meet, regardless of age, has said they were there. There’s no fucking way, because the capacity of the Astoria would have been 100,000 people, but I love the fact that show has become this legend people talk about.”

Mark Mynett: “The hype around the band was massive. But in every respect, they delivered. It really felt like the beginning of something special.”

Mark Palmer: “They made a huge impact that night, no doubt about it.”

Jim Root: “It was 100% a landmark show.”

Corey Taylor: “That Astoria show was the start of everything taking off.”

Slipknot bring their 25th anniversary tour to the UK and Europe in December. See dates below

Dec 05: Amsterdam Ziggo Dome, NetherlandsDec 06: Dortmund Westfalenhalle, GermanyDec 08: Stuttgart Schleyerhalle, GermanyDec 90: Leipzig Quarterback Immobilien Arena, GermanyDec 11: Zurich Hallenstadion, SwitzerlandDec 12: Paris Accorhotel Arena, FranceDec 14: Leeds First Direct Arena, UKDec 15: Glasgow OVO Hydro, UKDec 17: Manchester Co-op Live Arena, UKDec 18: Birmingham Utilita Arena, UKDec 20: London O2 Arena, UKDec 21: London O2 Arena, UK

Staff writer for Metal Hammer, Rich has never met a feature he didn't fancy, which is just as well when it comes to covering everything rock, punk and metal for both print and online, be it legendary events like Rock In Rio or Clash Of The Titans or seeking out exciting new bands like Nine Treasures, Jinjer and Sleep Token.

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