Slipknot w/ Cypress Hill & Ho99o9 @ Canadian Tire Centre - Ottawa, Ontario, Canada - May 29th 2022 - Photo Gallery + Show Write Up

By: Tyler Roberts

Metal bands have always had a unique place in the music world and seem eager to go to any metal show. Doesn’t have to be a favourite. We just want metal. But it seems since covid restrictions have lifted and tours have started again, it seems like Canadian metal heads have been EXTRA hungry. We don’t get as many tours as the States do. That’s just a fact. The last time Slipknot played Ottawa was in 2004 when it was still the Corel Centre. But when a name like Slipknot rolls through, you bet you’re ass we’re going. 


Slipknot rolled through Ottawa with Cypress Hill and Ho99o9 (pronounced “Horror”) on May 29 at the Canadian Tire Centre. It was a bill that had me really excited. In the recent spree of metal tours being announced it was arguably one of the most unique lineups. Sadly, Eady from Ho99o9 tested positive right before the show and they had to cancel their set. For those who don’t know, they’re an aggressive punk-rab band with amazing visuals live. They’re different. They’re unique. And they’re a fresh face in the heavier world of music. Definitely check them out if you want something very different from the classics. Cypress Hill was the first to perform, but even they were down a member. Sen Dog was hospitalized in May so it was only B-Real, Eric Bobo, and DJ Lord perform. But boy did they kill it. DJ Lord opened their set with a DJ set playing and mixing everything from Metallica to Journey. When they main Cypress Hill set kicked in, if you grew up in the 90s, you knew 90% of the songs they performed even if hip-hop isn’t your go to. They opened with “I Wanna Get High” and B-Real walks on stage with a cigar sized joint. He was a one-man smoke
machine. The crowd got more and more into it and by the time they closed with “Insane In The Membrane” and “Jump Around”, the floor was already a full blown mosh pit…for an opener….that‘s playing hip-hop...to metal heads. This was an amazing show by them. 

Slipknot headlined. There. That’s the review. 

In all seriousness, even if you’re a long time fan jaded by how “soft” they got since Iowa (it’s been over 20 years get over it) or somebody who bought tickets because of the $25 promo price, there is something we can all agree on…they put on one spectacle of a show. Between all the riffs, double kicks, pyro, swirling
lights it all adds up to a ticket that pretty much guarantees you’re going to get your money’s worth. Oh yeah and there’s 9 of them. 

Their stage for this tour had multiple tiers and stretched across the whole stage front to back and side to side with PLENTY of massive screens on stage. The back section was raised above the floor and had Jay Weinberg (drums) with Craig Jones (Keyboardist/Sampler) and Sid Wilson (DJ/Sampler) flanking him on
each side. On the floor in the front there’s Corey Taylor (vocals) with Jim Root (guitar) and Mick Thompson (Guitar) swapping sides through the set and their bassist, Alex Venturella, wondering all over it seemed. Finally, at the front of the stage raised way up are towers of percussion kits for Michael Pfaff and Clown to
play. Their massive stage was only dwarfed by their music. That’s what the fans are there for after all. Opening with “Disasterpiece” from behind a curtain, the band is already head banging by the time the curtain gets sucked up when the song fully kicks in. Obviously the crowd is already going nuts at this point with security pulling crowd surfers from the floor. Their set list crossed over all 6 of their album which span over 20 years at this point and played just a piece of their upcoming album with the song “The Chapeltown Rag”. At one point Corey asks the crowd “How many people have seen Slipknot before?”. The crowd roars but what’s impressive is when he asked “How many people here, this is your very first Slipknot concert?” even more people yell and cheer and Corey replies “What took you so long?”. Fair point. Their music continues to draw new fans in and keep the old ones. They continue to grow even decades later and I firmly believe their live show is one of their best marketing tools to sell anybody who might be on the fence about them. 
Now, I could go into the specifics of the set list. But there’s a setlist.fm link somewhere that will be easier to read. The main point this review wants to make is that Slipknot is all about the live energy. Are the lights and pyro and stage design cool? Yes. Are they the best part of the show? Absolutely not. It’s the music. But when it’s bundled together in Slipknot fashion, you get one of the best visual shows in any genre of music. It is truly unique and can only be experienced live.