In Concert This Week - August 16, 2012

There’s something going on every night this week of all rock/metal styles, so surely there is a show you should get out to see!

Doom metal guitar god Wino brings his acoustic/folk show with Conny Ochs to the Turf Club in St. Paul tonight, Thursday, August 16.

Friday, August 17 has rock band Saving Abel playing in St. Paul at Station 4 with Matchpoint and Aeous.

Of course, Saturday, August 18 is the big day for Knotfest at Somerset Amphitheater. You can read my final update (with set times and live streaming information) about the event here, but the confirmed bill at this time is Slipknot, Deftones, Serj Tankian, The Dillinger Escape Plan, Lamb Of God, Machine Head, Cannibal Corpse, Prong, and Gojira. Also on Saturday, the show for rockers The Classic Crime and Embers In Ashes has been moved from the North Star Room in Mounds View to Station 4 in St. Paul. Saturday as well has classic rock band The Guess Who headlining a benefit show for the Laker Educational Foundation with Patty Peterson and moZiak at Epic in Minneapolis.

It’s a brutal night of metal on Sunday, August 19 at Station 4 in St. Paul with Eyes Set To Kill, My Ticket Home, Awaken The Empire, Brothers Loyalty, and See The Rise. That same night Texas Hippie Coalition will be rocking at The Cabooze in Minneapolis with support from The Lost Wheels.

Things set even more intense at Station 4 in St. Paul on Monday, August 20 with Abolishment Of Flesh, Skinned, Sadistic Passage, What Lies Within, and Fetus Heist.

Station 4 in St. Paul then has an all-local bill on Tuesday, August 21 with Face Of Oblivion, Micawber, Ominous Conception, Australis, and Vessels For Our Ghost.

To wrap up the week’s event, Canadian thrashers Unleash The Archers bring their show to Station 4 in St. Paul on Wednesday, August 22 with local support from the mighty Dawn Of Valor and Eternalize, featuring Pyramaze and Echoterra keyboardist Jonah Weingarten in their first ever full performance.

Final Knotfest Update

Due to the unfortunate situation surrounding the well-publicized incarceration of Lamb Of God singer Randy Blythe in a Czech prison and cancellation of their planned tour with Dethklok and Gojira, there’s been a bit of uncertainty about the final bill for Knotfest this Saturday, August 18 at Somerset Amphitheater in Somerset, Wisconsin. A number of changes have been confirmed, and Randy has also been released from prison (on August 2) and is back in the US. Here’s the latest update on the performers at Knotfest.

The most important news is that Lamb Of God will be making one-off performances at both Knotfest events (the other in Council Bluffs, Iowa on Friday, August 17). They had initially cancelled, but now are back on the bill. With the Lamb Of God/Dethklok/Gojira tour up in flames, Dethklok has cancelled but Gojira will still be there. Taking the place of Dethklok is the mighty Machine Head.

According to a recent story on Blabbermouth, the set times for the final billing in Somerset is:

Main Stage

Slipknot: 10:20–12:00

Deftones: 8:10–9:10

Serj Tankian: 6:10–7:00

The Dillinger Escape Plan: 4:30–5:10 pm

Second Stage

Lamb Of God: 9:15–10:15

Machine Head: 7:05–8:05

Cannibal Corpse: 5:15–6:05

Prong: 3:45–4:25

Gojira: 3:00–3:30

If you can’t attend Knotfest, Event View Live is hosting Slipknot’s performance as an internet streaming pay-per-view event for $19.95. In addition to access to exclusive backstage footage and band interviews, Event View Live is also doing a cool thing by allowing you to stream the concert on demand for 30 days after the event. So even if you can’t (or don’t want to) sit at your computer on Saturday night, or if there are bandwidth issues when streaming live, you can watch the concert at your convenience.

Slipknot And Knotfest To Invade Twin Cities and Omaha Areas August 17 and 18

There's been a slew of new concert announcements this week (more on these tomorrow), but one bit of news can't wait and that's the long overdue return of Slipknot to the Twin Cities on Saturday, August 18 at the recently renovated Somerset Amphitheater in Somerset, Wisconsin. To make it even more special, this is one of only two dates for Knotfest, an apparently new annual festival-style touring event—the other being Friday, August 17 in Pacific Junction, Iowa (just outside the Omaha, Nebraska metro area). The band lineup differs slightly on each day, but the Somerset date has a more extensive bill, so far being:


Main Stage:
Slipknot
Deftones
Serj Tankian
The Dillinger Escape Plan


Second Stage:
Dethklok
Lamb Of God
Cannibal Corpse
Prong
Gojira


More bands should be added to the bill. I'm just hoping that a long-time favorite live band of mine, The Urge, who is slated to play the Pacific Junction date, will be added to the Somerset show. From the initial press release, it sounds like there will be vendors and a variety of activities including carnival rides. One cool feature will be a "Slipknot museum" with information and memorabellia from the band's archives. I'll have more information about the event as I learn it!


Tickets for both dates of Knotfest go on sale this Friday, June 8 at 10:00 am CDT through Ticketmaster. The event is all ages and tickets for the Somerset date are only $23 plus fees. The Ticketmaster event page states that "A limited number of tickets will be made available at 'early bird' discounted prices." It's unclear whether $23 is the early bird price or whether this is the standard price.