Corey Taylor has performed over 1,000 Slipknot shows, so it makes perfect sense that there's at least one song he's "fucking tired of playing" and, naturally, with a catalog so vast, there's going to be some songs that will never be played live no matter how much the singer wants to.
The frontman, who will release his second solo album, CMF2, later this year, opened up about the frustrations of crafting a setlist in a late 2022 interview on the All Things Music podcast.
The Slipknot Song Corey Taylor Is Tired of Playing
During the interview, Taylor clarified that he typically does not rule any songs out when it comes to building out the setlist, but he did get his way for a short while one time.
"I'm going on record here. I'm not the one who vetoes these things. I vetoed one song for a half a tour – you're going to laugh – 'Wait And Bleed' because I was fucking tired of playing it," the singer revealed (transcription via Metal Injection). "I was like, 'can we do one run where we don't play it?'"
The band conceded and it didn't go over well in the long run.
Speaking about Kerrang!'s rating system where a maximum score is five Ks, Taylor recalls, "We got a 4K review from headlining Download specifically because we didn't play 'Wait And Bleed'. I was like, 'are you fucking kidding me?' I was so mad. I purposefully was like 'I don't fucking want to play this song ever again.' Well guess what? I'm the asshole. We did it."
So, did he learn his lesson? It sure sounds like it.
"It's in my fucking solo set now. So there you go," he continues, "I can't escape it. People love that song. It's not a bad song. It's just old, man. And I, like everybody else who makes music, I love the fact that we have legacy stuff. But man, I fucking played that [forever]."
READ MORE: Why Corey Taylor Doesn't Want Slipknot's 'Look Outside Your Window' to Be Released
Fun facts about "Wait and Bleed"
- It's Slipknot's fourth most-played live song, having been performed 942 times (as of May 4, 2023). The only other songs the band has played more are "Surfacing," "Spit It Out" and "(sic)", each over 1,000 times onstage (per setlist.fm).
- It was the first-ever Slipknot single that was released, debuting in July of 1999.
- It was certified platinum by the RIAA on March 18, 2019, nearly 20 years after it came out.
The Song Slipknot Will Never Play Live
There's a lot of songs Slipknot have never played live and there's one Taylor not only wants to play live, but he wants to open the whole show with it — "Gematria (The Killing Name)" off of 2008's All Hope Is Gone.
"There are certain odiums around the way that song was created and recorded, which is why some of the guys in the band are like 'fuck that, we'll never play it. [The reason] isn't even sentimental. It's resentment. But for me man, it's such a fucking burner that I just love that song," he explains, lamenting, "But it'll never happen."
Out of the 12 songs on All Hope Is Gone (which includes a noisy intro track), only five have been played live (per setlist.fm) — "Psychosocial," "Dead Memories," "Sulfur," "Snuff" and the title track, which was one performed one time ever.
Slipknot, "Gematria"
Slipknot on tour
Head to Slipknot's website to see their worldwide tour dates and get tickets here.
