Watch footage of Corey Taylor's chaotic first Slipknot show

Corey Taylor in 1997 — (Image credit: YouTube)

This week marks 25 years since Corey Taylor's very first show with Slipknot. While the monstrous Des Moines metal collective were already making a serious racket in their local scene and starting to gain hype in metal's wider consciousness courtesy of the Mate. Feed. Kill. Repeat. EP, released on Halloween 1996, it's safe to say that Taylor's arrival in the band the following year was one of the key factors in their rise to fame kicking up a gear.

What better time, then, to revisit that aforementioned gig, which took place August 24, 1997 at an all-day charity show at the Safari Club in Des Moines, Iowa. In the three-and-a-half minute clip below, taken from a longer video also posted on YouTube, we can see Corey Taylor making his official bow with Slipknot, lurching out onto the stage with his hair covering his face, eyes affixed with black Xs.

Flanked by Joey Jordison, Paul Gray, Shawn M. 'Clown' Crahan, Craig Jones and Mick Thomson, as well as former Slipknot members Donnie Steele (bass), Josh "Gnar" Brainard (guitar) and Greg "Cuddles" Welts (percussion), Corey is clearly already displaying some of the mannerisms and stage presence that'd make him one of metal's most idiosyncratic frontmen.

Oh, and there's also a besuited, masked MC introducing the show, cuddly toys being handed out and sparks flying across the stage at one point. Slipknot certainly embraced showmanship from the early going, ay?

Check out the clip below and watch the 45-minute long video taken from the show just below that, if you fancied some more. New Slipknot album The End So Far lands September 30 via Roadrunner.

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.