Slipknot have had a pretty successful run of of Knotfests all over the world, with big shows happening in California, Mexico and Japan. Destination festivals in general have been seeing a huge resurgence, with promoter Danny Wimmer as one of the top organizer for some of the biggest festivals in the country.
The state of the current music industry was the topic of discussion at a recent panel titled "Underground To Mainstream: What Are Metal and Hip-Hop Doing Right (And Where Does It Go From Here?)" conducted by Pollstar. The panel, moderated by Townsquare Media's Josh Bernstein include Wimmer, Slipknot percussionist M. Shawn Crahan, his manager, Cory Brennan (5B Artist Management), and Coolio among others.
The biggest story coming out of the panel was when Wimmer proposed that Slipknot co-headline his festivals alongside bands like Foo Fighters. Crahan rebuffed noting:
"I ask myself, does Slipknot want to play next to the Foo Fighters? The answer is no, because my kids don’t want me to do that," he said.
"If we play alongside the Foo Fighters we are going to get new fans, I agree with that. I love that. But I’m worried about the kid that won’t come to the show, because we’re playing with the Foo Fighters. He wants to know why we’re not playing with Nine Inch Nails. Those kids tell all of us what they want. So, don’t try to figure out ways of how to combine things for the new fan. I don’t need the new fan, I need the fan that has anxiety, parents are getting divorced, social problems, gender problems – I need them to come to the ultimate show. And they’re going to get that at Knotfest."
The first thing that popped into my head was asking if the audience for Nine Inch Nails was that much different than the audience for Foo Fighters. Regardless, it seems the point Crahan was making was that Slipknot is only interested in performing with harder acts. Image is very important to Crahan.
If you recall, when the band was organizing the first Knotfest, Crahan's plan was to burn camel feces to create a nasty aroma around the event, until local law enforcement put a stop to the permits.
