Chaos Erupted After Slipknot Cancelled Knotfest Mexico
They’ve often said their fans are the craziest in the world but this was proven to Slipknot at their Knotfest event in Mexico over the weekend where a broken barricade resulted in chaos for punters after the final two bands of the day, Evanescence and Slipknot were unable to take to the stage due to safety concerns
In a statement, the band revealed their side of the story via Facebook:
Due to unforeseen circumstances, Slipknot were not able to perform at last night’s Knotfest. Security barricades became an issue, and it was decided that for the safety of the fans, neither Slipknot or special guests Evanescence could take the stage.
We had hoped to be able to perform today, but regrettably, a situation arose onstage after the cancellation that damaged or destroyed gear that would have been necessary to play.
We are extremely disappointed that we did not get the chance to perform, but the safety of our fans and our community is our biggest priority. We will look to get back to Mexico sometime in the future.
-Slipknot
Photo by Aranza Mt
Rock Feed released a video featuring footage of fans wrecking the venue, starting fires and jumping on stage damaging equipment that was set up for Evanescence who were preparing to take to the stage for their performance.
They shared their thoughts on the outcome with fans on Facebook revealing:
Even though we are devastated by the destruction of our instruments and gear, we do not see the violent end to last night as a representation of our Mexican fans, or the Mexican people. 50,000 people were there, and sadly a handful of them turned to anger and violence after the cancellation. You have shown us an incredible amount of love from the very beginning, and we will always come back for you.
We are heartbroken we didn’t get to play for you tonight, México City. Your safety, your life is more important than any show! We love you and we will be back soon, that’s a promise.
Posted by Evanescence on Sunday, December 1, 2019
Drummer Will Hunt shared videos of the chaos and aftermath on his Instagram account with the caption of:
So, a lot of questions about this. First and foremost everyone is ok. We love Mexico and as a whole the fans are incredible. The riot that happened was a small group of morons and they WILL NOT change my love for the Mexican people or our fans in Mexico. As for the rest of it, here are my (somewhat comical) take aways. 1st- Do you even riot bro’s?! I mean, hell, if you’re gonna do it, REALLY do it!! Burn the whole fuckin’ thing down!!! What you pack of pu@$ies did was weak and stupid- JUST LIKE YOU. 2nd. If you’re gonna torch my beautiful @pearl_drums kit that meant the world to me (second video), at least cook some meat or marshmallows over the fire!! Fuckin’ weak ass pu@$y AMATEURS!! Again- weak and stupid JUST LIKE YOU. And 3rd- to the kind worker trying to clean up the mess- before you cart off my still smoldering kit (third video and because it used to rock so hard it’s still on fire!!) you should probably make sure the embers are out because IT CAUGHT BACK ON FIRE SMOKEY!!! So there ya go……… Moral of the story is don’t half ass anything…… least of not your fucking riot, which again was WEAK AND STUPID JUST LIKE YOU FUCKING MORONS….
Because of a broken barricade and failed attempts to fix it, Slipknot were forced to cancel our performance last night. Safety – especially the safety of our fans and fellow bands – is priority number one. We apologize profusely and hope you all understand. If anything were to happen to ANY of you, we wouldn’t forgive ourselves. Also, if we could have fixed the barricade correctly, we would have gone onstage. Again, we hope you understand and we will try to make it up to you as soon as we can.
Comments have started coming in from those in attendance who have shared their recounts/opinions of what happened, including having to wait up to 4 hours without any idea of what was happening…
We’ll keep you posted on the outcome
