This footage of Slipknot making 90,000 people jump up at Download shows they seem to be doing just fine

A Slipknot crowd at Download 2023 — (Image credit: YouTube)

If some comments on the internet were to be believed last week, Slipknot were in serious trouble heading into their Sunday night headline set at this year's Download festival. In some ways, it was an understandable stance to take: in the space of just one day (June 7), two bombshells dropped. First, it emerged that the band's beloved co-founder and percussionist, Shawn 'Clown' Crahan', would be sitting out an unspecified number of dates on their European tour to care for his wife, who is currently suffering from undisclosed health issues.

Then, mere hours later, Slipknot announced that longtime keyboardist and samplist Craig Jones had left the band, a short but polite statement being pushed out across the 'Knot's social media channels. Then, very soon after that, the announcement of Jones' departure was deleted, replaced with a startling image of a mysterious, unidentified masked man, believed to be Jones' replacement in the band (a theory quickly confirmed as Slipknot played the first date of their European tour in Austria that evening). Put frankly: no one seemed to know what the hell was going on.

Luckily, as the dust settled on an incredible headline set at Download on Sunday night, it appeared that Slipknot had traversed their latest road bumps in style, and as footage from the show now makes clear, their midweek issues made no difference to a delirious Donington crowd.

Videos of the band's trademark 'jumpthefuckup' rally cry, dropped as always during the final moments of Spit It Out, show what is estimated to be around 90,000 people excitedly jumping up in unison before pogo-ing, moshing and dancing around the field so hard it's amazing an earthquake wasn't registered around the midlands soon after.

Watch footage of the weekend-stealing moment below.

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Merlin was promoted to Executive Editor of Louder in early 2022, following over ten years working at Metal Hammer. While there, he served as Online Editor and Deputy Editor, before being promoted to Editor in 2016. Before joining Metal Hammer, Merlin worked as Associate Editor at Terrorizer Magazine and has written for Classic Rock, Rock Sound, eFestivals and others. Across his career he has interviewed legends including Ozzy Osbourne, Lemmy, Metallica, Iron Maiden (including getting a trip on Ed Force One courtesy of Bruce Dickinson), Guns N' Roses, KISS, Slipknot, System Of A Down and Meat Loaf. He has also presented and produced the Metal Hammer Podcast, presented the Metal Hammer Radio Show and is probably responsible for 90% of all nu metal-related content making it onto the site.