Better late than never, Slipknot formally barreled into 2025 last night (February 28th), with the Iowa Nine delivering a set of nu-heavy hits and deep cuts at the first date of their “Knotfest Australia” tour. The biggest surprise, however, was the live debut of All Hope Is Gone banger “Gematria (The Killing Name)”.
Slipknot’s first show of the year took place at Melbourne, Australia’s Flemington Racecourse. Ahead of the headliners, though, metal fans were treated to sets from the likes of BABYMETAL, Slaughter to Prevail, A Day to Remember, Hatebreed, HEALTH, Sunami and more.
While the ‘Knot generally stuck to the sounds of their self-titled debut for their 25th anniversary shows throughout 2024, the band hit a wider swathe of material last night at Knotfest. The 14-song set pulled from all eras, and hit biggies like “Wait and Bleed,” “People = Shit,” and “Psychosocial.”
But for Knotheads, the wildest performance came up super early in the set, when the band — clad in Early Aughts-era white jumpsuits — dropped into the first-ever live performance of “Gematria (The Killing Name)”. Truly, it was a night that went down in history…and not in flames.
The appearance of “Gematria (The Killing Name) in the setlist, while obviously welcomed, came as a bit of a surprise. After all, the song first appeared on-record nearly 17 years ago. That said, the track has a place in Corey Taylor’s heart, with the Slipknot vocalist having explained to the All Things Music podcast in 2023 that he’d always wanted to bring the song to the stage.
“I’ve always wanted to open a concert with ‘Gematria,'” he said. “There are certain odiums around the way that that song was created and recorded, which is why some of the guys in the band are like, ‘Fuck that, we’ll never play it.’
He added: “[The reason] isn’t even sentimental…It’s resentment. But for me, man, it’s such a fucking burner that I just love that song. I can listen to that shit all fucking day. It just comes screaming out of no-fucking-where. But it’ll never happen. Unless the pope ends up opening up for Slipknot someday, that shit will never happen.”
While the pontiff was unable to attend, you’ll nevertheless find fan-shot footage of Slipknot hitting the All Hope is Gone rarity up above, while additional vids from the night, as well as the setlist, can be found below.
Slipknot’s Down Under tour continues this Sunday (March 2nd) at Brisbane, Australia’s RNA Brisbane Showgrounds. You’ll find info on the rest of the tour here.
Slipknot setlist 2/28/15:
(sic)
People = Shit
Gematria (The Killing Name)
Wait And Bleed
No Life
Yen
Tattered & Torn (Sid remix)
The Devil in I
The Heretic Anthem
Psychosocial
Unsainted
Duality
Spit It Out
Surfacing
Scissors