Last night, I saw Slipknot and Kuazar at the Jockey Club in Asuncion, Paraguay. For several weeks, I knew that the show was coming up, but I was hesitant to attend it. The main reason was that I had never fully clicked with Slipknot for 25 years.
Kuazar, on the other hand, had left me with an excellent first impression when I saw them open for Megadeth in April at the same Jockey Club.
The night before the show, I decided to attend. I told myself that, in the worst-case scenario, it would be an opportunity to see Kuazar again. After all these years of playing in bands and going to shows, I concluded that one should judge a band by their live performance, not their recorded material.
After waking up, I went to the shopping mall to buy my ticket. Only V.I.P. and “Platea” tickets were available. I did not know what “Platea” meant in Spanish; I assumed it was the pit. The man at Maxi Cambio selling me the ticket had no map. I purchased the ticket for 280K Guaranies (35 USD).
I left the house around 4 PM, knowing the show would create extra traffic. My idea was to get closer to the venue, have a cup of coffee at Urbano Café in Ycua Sati, and then go to the Jockey Club in Hipodromo, where the concert would be held. The doors were opening at 5:30 PM. I did not want to miss a minute of Kuazar, so I called an Uber from Urbano Café by 6:00 PM. The driver was a metalhead. Waiting in heavy traffic turned itself into an opportunity to chat about metal, travel, and life in Paraguay. Once I arrived at the Jockey Club, the Uber driver wished me a good show and dropped me off at the venue.
I was extremely excited about the show until I discovered that “Platea” meant bleachers, which were located on the other side of the horse-racing tracks. The Jockey Club is no joke. It’s an actual horse-racing stadium. “Platea” was very far away from the stage. At first, I thought a 35 USD ticket in Latin America for a seat a quarter of a mile from the stage was a straight robbery. But then many people in that sector were excited about the show, so I decided to keep my mood up and enjoy the night as much as possible.
I watched Kuazar’s show by sitting down hundreds of feet from the stage. They are an excellent band. I love their sound and the harmonies they are using. I am a sucker for power trios. I just wished I was closer to the stage.
They closed the set with a short sequence of Wrathchild of Iron Maiden as a tribute to Paul Di’Anno, who passed away a few days ago. R.I.P. and thank you, LEGEND!
After Kuazar was done playing, the place kept filling up with more and more people. I did not want to lose my spot, so I sat down watching the surroundings; on the big screens, they would show some fans going crazy. Some women would flash their tits. Their dude counterparts would imitate the female tit flashers by pulling up their t-shirts too. The entire stadium would burst in laughter. I could feel that everyone in the stadium was excited to be there, and seeing a big name like Slipknot live was a big deal for everyone present that night at the Jockey Club.
It was 9:25 PM, about five minutes before the Slipknot show. There was a movement of panic in the “Platea.” Many people started running towards what seemed to be an exit. I would hear people screaming. “Vamonos! Vamonos!” I thought the organizers had opened the doors of the “Platea” to attract more people to the pit. It was an excellent opportunity to get closer to the stage. I left my seat and stepped outside with the running crowd. As I was walking towards the racing tracks, I saw about 20 security guards running towards us, screaming; Get back inside! Get back inside!
That is when I understood that some of the metalheads in the “Platea” had broken a metal wall-like structure to free us. I kept calmly walking towards the stage instead of running, acting like I had a pit ticket. Hundreds were escaping the “Platea,” and the security guards were only a few dozen. This situation gave me an idea of how the battles were fought in medieval times and an immense sense of freedom. The system can’t do anything against you once you have the numbers and disobey the authority. I even saw some security guards giving up on trying to put people back in. It was a beautiful moment to live. I am glad I lived it.
I wanted to get as close to the stage as possible but remain comfortable. Although I am 49, I could still physically participate in a pogo, but I prefer not to. At shows, I want to enjoy the music and capture the aura of great musicians playing live as much as possible. So, to capture the aura, you have to get close to the stage, but pit moshing could happen anywhere in places like Paraguay. Even in the “Platea,” people were going crazy. There is something magic about live performance. This is what music is about for me.
The show started with ambient sounds, building up tension and anticipation. Even though I prefer enjoying the show rather than capturing it on video, I knew the show’s beginning would be crazy, so I decided to shoot the scene with my camera. Although I wasn’t all that close to the stage, what I anticipated happened, and with the first notes of the first song, I found myself in a pit mosh pogo situation. I could step back and keep filming without getting pushed around too much.
For the next hour and fifteen minutes, Slipknot musically kicked my ass. What a great band made of outstanding musicians. The performance on the drums and rhythm guitar was surreal. The band performed their self-titled album, released in 1999. For some reason, I had a different image of the band all these years. I thought they were more in the popular new metal realm, but with this setlist, I realized they were a real metal band with high-performing musicians. The sound and light systems were top-notch, which positively impacted the performance.
The singer made an effort to speak in Spanish between the songs. Although his Spanish wasn’t perfect, I thought it was a grand gesture that he made an effort to learn the language of the fans living on this side of the world. It’s a show of respect.
After the show, I felt immense satisfaction, and like everything had worked out so, I’d enter the Slipknot world and recognize them from now on as a great metal band. In 24 hours, I went from being hesitant about Slipknot’s music to almost becoming a fan. As if there was a higher power that pushed me to go buy the ticket, and somehow I was able to escape the “Platea” and get closer to the stage to get my ass kicked even more as if everything that happened was meant to be.
It was a perfect night that also confirmed once again my life philosophy. Suppose I am still deciding whether to do something. It is always better to do things than not to do them.