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It's been 19 years since Slipknot formed in the most metal of places: Iowa. But their fanbase, known as "maggots," is still going strong, and the band threw a metal festival called KnotFest in San Bernardino this past weekend.
While you won't see any girls wearing Native American headdresses in our gallery, you will see a lot of goat heads—real and otherwise—and pentagrams. And some clowns. (A crewman informed us that no goats were sacrificed in the acquiring of these heads.)
Slipknot threw a Knotfest in 2012 in Iowa and Wisconsin, and plans to host another in Tokyo in November. For their California event, Slipknot hosted a number of newer bands and classic metal acts like Danzig, Napalm Death, Carcass, and Anthrax. The grounds offered carnival games and rides, a post-Apocalyptic Thunderdome full of Mad Max-style warriors, and a museum detailing Slipknot's history. The band had wanted to burn camel feces in drums in order to give the festival its own unique scent, but the fire marshall wasn't too keen on the idea.
Several guests camped nearby for the three-day fest for a solid metal weekend, but not us. We ended up staying in a nearby motel that our Uber driver told us scared him.
We liked: Anthrax, Carcass, Glenn Danzig's massive belt buckle, Slipknot's attention to stage detail, Baphomet stilt walkers, the weather.
We didn't like: The $11 domestic beers at the San Manuel Amphitheater.
