The security at this place was extremely fucking tight, because there were rumors that Mushroomhead fans were going to show up and start some shit (if you don't know about the shit between Slipknot and Mushroomhead, then oh well..go read up on it)...they even had metal detectors, which caught my camera I was trying to sneak in...so no pics..which really sucks cause there was a good amount of tit-flashing going on. Anyway, the place was already extremely packed when we got there...there weren't any spots open up against the barrier, and even if there were, I doubt I'd wanna stay there unless I wanted to get fucked up. So, we chilled on this wall just to the right of the pit area, about 10 feet from the stage....however, right in front of the huge stack of speakers. Let me just say it's not a good idea for the opening band to be 40 minutes late, when you already know the crowd is rowdy as fuck. Never before have I seen people start moshing to the music that's playing before the show...that's how anxious everyone was. And not to mention all the chicks that were flashing their tits to pass the time. But anyway, the show started 40 minutes late, which there is absolutely no reason for....they've had all day to get everything ready.

Anyway, the first band was Mudvayne. Yeah...who? That's what I said, but holy christ did they fuck some shit up. I already told you how anxious everyone was, and even though most of the people had never even heard these guys, that place went crazy like they were the headliners and everyone was there to see them. Hmmm...I'm trying to think of who they sounded like, but they didn't really sound like anyone else...they had a nice original sound...with what sounded like a tiny bit of Static-X and System of a Down influence. One bad thing I noticed was they didn't have a whole lot of stage presence...the lead singer was crouched over the monitor the whole time, and the other guys just stood there and played. Overall, a great performance though...watch out for these guys...I'm thinking they're gonna hit it big PM5K or SoaD style.

After another half-dozen or so tit-flashes, Dope hit the stage. A couple songs into their set, we got kicked off of our spots on the wall, cause the security guards are assholes...so I took off my glasses (uh oh, watch out) and headed down into the pit area to mix some shit up. Dope's one of my favorite bands to see live cause their pit is so fun (but it wasn't that fun this time with all the insane Slipknot fans), and they get the crowd involved alot. Although, I would have to say this was their weakest performance I've seen from them so far. They only played for about a half hour tops...and it just didn't seem like it was as dynamic of a performance as the other two times I've seen them.

After Dope, I decided to get out of the open area on the floor and headed to the wall in front of the seated area at the back of the floor area, cause quite frankly, I knew the pit was going to be insane....so much so that I knew I'd get hurt...and I'll do anything to avoid pain...I'm a big puss. Anyway, another 10 or so flashers later, and the lights partially go out, and AC-DC's "For Those About to Rock" comes on. Quite loudly too...I thought they were gonna blow the fucking speakers. Right as soon as that ends, the lights go out the rest of the way, the fog machines start up, and the "the whole thing I think is sic" starts up. Slowly Joey appears behind his drums...then about a minute later another one of the guys comes out...and slowly everyone comes out, ending with Corey of course. After the usual greetings and "How the fuck are you Cleveland?!? Are you ready to fuck some shit up?!?", they broke into (sic). A couple minutes into the song, one of the most insane things I've ever seen happened. Sid climbs up on top of the speakers, which is at least 20 feet off the floor.....and does a fucking flip into the crowd. I was like "wha?? oh..my...god". Fucking crazy I tell ya. Most of the night the only thing he was doing was crowd-surfing...I even got to touch him...oooh...heh. It was funny watching one of their roadies trying to follow him through the crowd, I guess to make sure he didn't get hurt or anything. Then a couple songs later, he climbs the other set of speakers and jumps straight backwards into the crowd...I'd be amazed if no one got hurt from that....nevermind what would happen if they didn't catch him heh. Easily the most memorable and most amazing moment was during Spit It Out....Corey stopped and told everyone to sit down on the ground...he wouldn't go on till everyone was on the ground, so it took a couple minutes to get everyone to cooperate. Then he says not to get up till he says "get the fuck up." So they start the music up again...everyone's trying to stay down, but anxious as fuck to get up, cause a badass song is playing, but they have to stay on the ground....and then in the part where he normally goes "Bam - are you sick of me? Good enough - had enough", instead he screams "Bam - are you sick of me? Good, GET THE FUCK UP!" At that moment...holy christ...it was insane...everyone went absolutely nuts. I think fes from my message board described it best: "at that point, all hell broke loose. all ppl, every race, color, sex, national origin, and religion, all came together for one solid purpose....to beat the fuck out of each other" I've gotta find a bootleg of one of the shows from this tour, just to see that shit. Another badass thing was during the last song, I forget what it was, but they took Shawn's keg, poured lighter fluid all over it and caught it on fire....then proceeded to keep fucking playing it...which made some very weird sounds....but then Shaun was spraying the lighter fluid all over his arms, and sticking them in the fire. Imagine how hot those outfits have to be if they can stand up to fucking fire. Anyway, I literally blew my voice out I was screaming and growling along with Corey so damn much....especially during Surfacing...the "Fuck it all, fuck this world.." part....christ, I've never yelled harder in my life...then a couple minutes later I go to scream along with him, and I fucking can't heh....that was an odd feeling. Oh yeah, the one thing I neglected to mention yet...the pit. I have never ever seen a more psychotic, more violent, more intense, more insane pit before. Several fights broke out, and it was just plain silly how aggressive people were being. That's the only thing bad about this concert....it was too violent...I would've liked to get into the pit during Slipknot, but not if it means getting my face bashed in...like I said, I fear pain. Anyway, I had a real hard time deciding what rating I wanted to give this concert. If it wasn't for the craziness of the pit, it'd easily get a 10, but I don't think that's reason enough to drop it down to 9. So I'm giving it a 9.5. Which rounds up to 10, so I guess it gets a 10 out of 10.