Knotfest

Knotfest
Genre	Heavy metal, groove metal, death metal, metalcore, deathcore, thrash metal, nu metal, alternative metal, black metal, deathgrind, hip hop
Location(s)	Council Bluffs, Iowa (2012) Somerset, Wisconsin (2012) San Bernardino, California (2014-present) Chiba, Japan (2014, 2016) Toluca, Mexico (2015-present)
Years active	2012, 2014-present
Website
http://www.knotfest.com /http://knotfestjapan.com/ http://knotfestmexico.com/

Knotfest is a music festival created by American metal band Slipknot. The inaugural Knotfest was a two-city event and took place on August 17, 2012 in Council Bluffs, Iowa and August 18, 2012 in Somerset, Wisconsin.^[1] Amongst the line up were bands such as Deftones, Lamb of God, Cannibal Corpse, and many more.^[2] On March 24, 2014, it was officially announced "Knotfest Japan" will be held in November 15 and 16 at Makuhari Messe, Tokyo.^[3] Headliners of both dates are Slipknot. Korn, Limp Bizkit, Lamb of God, Five Finger Death Punch, Papa Roach, Bring Me the Horizon, Trivium and In Flames were announced to perform. On the first date of the Mayhem Festival 2014, Knotfest 2014 was announced, with it being held at the San Manuel Amphitheater in San Bernardino, California, on October 24–26.^[4] Knotfest 2015 will be held once again at San Manuel amphitheater in San Bernardino, CA during October 23 through October 25

History

Creation

Knotfest was officially announced on June 4, 2012. Among the activities the festival offered as part of its "dark carnival experience" circus big-top tents, pillars of fire, amusement park rides, burlesque performers, firebreathers, stilt walkers, drum circles made of junkyard cars and graffiti walls. The two shows also debuted a Slipknot museum.^[2]

"It's all about having fun and going crazy, bringing it to the standard it used to be," Slipknot's Shawn "Clown" Crahan tells Rolling Stone. "It's time for us to really engulf this idea known as Knotfest where we're in control, we make a day devoted to our mindset, our ideas, the people that we want to play with, the people that we think our fans want to be around." Slipknot, of course, is about a whole aesthetic, not just the music. "When everyone leaves their senses [will be] overloaded, and I'm talking about smells, sights, hearing, your body, everything is overloaded with stimulation, because that's what Slipknot does," Crahan says.^[2]

Broadcast

On July 11, Slipknot announced that their closing performance at Knotfest would be broadcast via a pay-per-view streaming website.^[5] Shawn "Clown" Crahan said "It means everything for everyone to see the live spectacle we're creating in the flesh, but we understand some fans around the world can't be at the show. We've now made it possible for you to be there in spirit - so join us live on August 18.".^[5]

Performers

2012 Line-Up

^[6]

2014 Line-Up

California

Japan

2015 Line-Up

California

Mexico

2016 "Ozzfest Meets Knotfest" Line-Up

California

2016 Line-Up

Mexico

Japan

Future

Corey Taylor said on his Twitter "Don't worry, UK: this won't be the last Knotfest...". This suggests there will be more Knotfests in the future, including in the UK.^[7]

References