Rare, newly unearthed, footage of an unmasked Slipknot soundchecking for a hometown show Des Moines on New Year's Day 2000 has been posted on an fan account on Instagram.
Having played the Super Toad Entertainment Center with Coal Chamber, Dope and Powerman 5000 on October 17, 1999, their first major hometown show following the release of their self-titled Roadrunner records debut, The Nine returned to the venue for a special New Year's Day celebration on January 1, 2000, as part of their World Domination Tour.
And now, thanks to the people behind the Slipknotvideos_ Instagram account, fans can watch footage both of the soundcheck - during which the band are unmasked, and wearing regular clothing - and a clip of the gig itself, when their trademark red boilersuits and masks disguise their true identities.
Speaking to Metal Hammer last year, producer Ross Robinson revealed that the very first time he saw the band play, on they were unmasked.
“We’d arranged to meet them at Sid’s parents’ house, and they were all waiting for me, unmasked, on the deck,” he recalled. “As we drove up, I saw them run off, like excited children, into the basement where they rehearsed. Then they put on their instruments, and, oh my God…”
“Without the masks, I could see their facial expressions,” he says. “All that insanity was fully visible. I was kind of bummed out knowing that they wore masks because they were so expressive without them.”
Watch the rare soundcheck footage plus footage of the group's homecoming gig below:
Shawn Crahan is currently over-seeing a deluxe re-release of the band's seminal debut.
