Slipknot played at the Sonic Temple festival in Columbus, Ohio last weekend without their percussionist M. Shawn ‘Clown’ Crahan.
Before starting the fourth song of Slipknot’s set on May 19, the band’s lead singer Corey Taylor talked to the crowd about Clown’s absence. He was worried about Crahan’s health:
“First things first, obviously, we are missing one of our brothers. Clown, yesterday, broke a tooth, had to have it removed. There is an issue. He had to stay home for medical reasons, but he insisted that we come here and f*cking play this f*cking show for each and every goddamn one of you, man.”
Taylor continued his words, sharing how Clown is ‘essential’ to Slipknot’s performances:
“He is missed. He is essential, and goddammit, on the count of three, I want you to f*cking tell him all that he is so f*cking loved. I wanna hear you scream! ONE! TWO! THREE!”
It Is Not The First Show Crahan Missed
Last year in June, Crahan missed some of Slipknot’s shows once more to be with his wife. But he rejoined the band for the Download festival and some other dates. Later in the same month, Crahan missed more concerts to stay with his wife, who was dealing with health issues. At the time, he wrote on social media:
“Hello to all of our fans. Unfortunately, I had to return back home to be with my wife due to her medical situation. Thank you for the overwhelming support for the few shows I was able to make. I’m so sorry for missing the remainder of these shows, I was really looking forward to being there. As always, I’m so gracious for your overwhelming support for our family. I will be seeing you all at our shows in July. See you soon and hail Slipknot.”
Sonic Temple was Slipknot’s fourth show with their new drummer, Eloy Casagrande. Before Sonic Temple, the band performed on April 25 in Pioneertown, California, on April 27 in Las Vegas, Nevada, and on May 12 in Daytona Beach, Florida. Slipknot wore their classic 1999 red jumpsuits for these shows and updated their early masks to celebrate their 25th anniversary this year.
You can see footage from the show below.