Slipknot feeds its maggots another round of Knotfest Iowa

Photos and text by Darren Tromblay

Slipknot returned to their old Iowa stomping grounds Saturday night, much to the delight of the more than 20,000 fans who packed Water Works Park in Des Moines for another round of Knotfest Iowa, an all-day festival that first began in 2012 and has expanded globally since.

The eclectic festival featured metal veterans Hatebreed, GWAR, and Rammstein vocalist Till Lindemann, as well as devilish rockabilly demons Twin Temple and upstarts Knocked Loose, among others on the bill.

From the outset, it was readily apparent that event organizers were cognizant of the long lines and water scarcity issues that plagued the last Knotfest Iowa held in Indianola in 2021. Multiple water stations were strategically placed around the event grounds, and numerous vendors were ready this time for the hordes of “maggots” that descended on the normally quiet park.

The mostly pent-up crowd was ready for action.

And they got it.

A security guard at the event confirmed that, prior to the festival, bands were discouraged from encouraging crowd surfing or any violent activity in the “pit.” Anything that would rile the audience up.

That’s like asking the ocean to stop making waves. Not going to happen.

And it didn’t.

Hatebreed vocalist and podcaster Jamey Jasta called for multiple circle pits. Bryan Garris, vocalist for deathcore group Knocked Loose, parted both the VIP and general admission areas into halves, for an Iowa version of the wall of death in which the two halves, upon command, raced back to the center for a good, friendly, violent collision.

Lindemann, whose full-time job is that of fronting the world-renowned Rammstein, a Neue Deutsche Härte band from Germany, had jaws dropping with his sexually overt performance. While most of his lyrics were unintelligible, it didn’t matter thanks to what was playing on the video screens behind the band — that of graphic, sex-tinged videos of varying body parts and activities normally not seen, well, anywhere.

But the night was about the ‘Knot, Des Moines’ hometown heavy metal juggernaut.

This year marked the 25th anniversary of Slipknot’s eponymous debut album and the band made sure the night was one to remember. Vocalist Corey Taylor announced to the audience the band’s setlist would not include any songs written after 1999. A daring, but great move.

“To the casual Slipknot fan, sorry,” Taylor said. “To all of the maggots who have been with us since day one, this is for you.”

Truth be told, dates didn’t matter to the majority of the audience. They simply wanted to imbibe in the Slipknot experience in whatever wickedness and form it was processed. And the band delivered it, playing blistering versions of “(sic), “Eyeless” and “Wait and Bleed” to open the night as rain began to fall, almost on cue.

“It is so good to be back,” Taylor said. “It is so good to be back home because this place is undoubtedly the city that built Slipknot from the ground up.”

The frantic pace continued with benders such as “Me Inside,” “Liberate,” and “Prosthetics,” with guitarists Jim Root and Mick Thompson’s frantic fretboard work on full display.

Mother Nature eventually put an end to the show following “No Life” and “Only One,” thanks to the ominous lightning strikes and more incoming precipitation that could be seen to the west. The decision to call it a night and cut out the encore was a smart — if not unpopular — one with fans. But risking the lives of the band and thousands of others simply wasn’t an option.

As for the festival itself, this one passed with flying colors. Yes, there were some grumblings of exiting the parking lots afterward, but with this volume of people, that’s inevitable. Events like these will never be perfect. There are too many variables — and 20,000 opinions.

Will there be another Knotfest Iowa? Who knows? But after this one, all hope is most certainly not gone.