In a new conversation with Interview Magazine, Shawn Crahan talked about Slipknot’s ‘Here Comes The Pain’ setlist.
Slipknot is celebrating 25 years since forming in Des Moines with a tour for their debut album. It’s been 25 years, so some songs haven’t been played much lately, and for many, it’s their first time hearing them live. “We always set out to make ourselves happy first,” Crahan said of the playlist. “Playing the album is wonderful because we’ve been such a set-oriented band for decades.”
He continued, “And there’s been times when we’ve been asked to play certain albums, and we can play them all. But it’s been great to have no pressure and be able to say, ‘Hey, we’re going to do three months of this.’ It’s much different than playing all the songs.”
“‘All the songs’ is like this huge philosophy. And I’ll tell you, it’s just been so cool to reflect. It makes me think of brothers that are past and other brothers that are walking the earth and people that were there from the beginning that are still at the end,” the percussionist added.
The rocker also shared, “It’s been an honor to be able to do that, and everyone from North America to South America has really dug it and not given us too much pressure. Because there’s always people that want you to throw on a couple other things at the end, and we’re just not the band for that. We agree to what we want to do, and we do that. We don’t do anything else. So it’s been a good time.”
Slipknot started the North American leg of their ‘Here Comes The Pain’ tour on August 6 at the Ruoff Music Center in Noblesville, Indiana. The band’s 14-song set included only songs from that album, featuring two tracks that hadn’t been played in nearly 25 years.
“Nothing you will hear tonight was written after 1999,” Corey Taylor told the crowd during the show, which started with ‘(sic),’ ‘Eyeless’ and ‘Wait And Bleed,’ and included ‘No Life’ and ‘Scissors.’
However, the setlist received mixed reactions. Some fans complained about the show being too short, only an hour long, and featuring the same songs. Others argued the tour was focused on the anniversary album and defended the setlist.
The European leg of Slipknot’s ‘Here Comes The Pain’ tour starts on December 5 in Amsterdam, Netherlands.
