S Poddar
Slipknot have never been a band to shy away from pushing boundaries, but now founding member and percussionist Shawn ‘Clown’ Crahan is setting his sights on the biggest stage of them all: the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles. In an exclusive interview with Metal Hammer, Clown spoke about how excited he is by the prospect of Slipknot playing such a monumental event, following on from their friends in Gojira.
The talk started with a question from journalist Paul Brannigan, who asked Clown about Gojira’s recent performance at the opening ceremony of the 2024 Olympics in Paris. The French metal band shredded through “Ah! Ça Ira,” a moment that definitely stayed with Clown.
“I got goosebumps,” Clown said of Gojira’s set. “I know this is going to sound stupid, but I’m just so proud of them. I know the word ‘proud’ probably sounds weird coming from me, but that band is so incredible and they’re friends of ours and Mario [Duplantier] is one of my favourite drummers in hard rock.”
Clown isn’t just a fan of Gojira’s music. He knew exactly what it meant for a metal band to headline such a grand platform packed with the world’s best athletes. “When I saw the performance, I was just proud to have them do that. What a huge, huge honour, what a huge performance.”. And what a huge metaphor: you’ve got all these brilliant sports people, the cream of the cream of the cream all together, and someone involved goes, ‘Yeah, we should get Gojira to open this up…’ Ah, like Gojira are the gold medal.
As expected, naturally, the notion of Slipknot playing the next Olympics in Los Angeles came up. Being asked if Slipknot were interested, Clown didn’t mince words: “Of course! We’d love to do it,” he exclaimed with energy. Slipknot has never been a band to shy from grandiose and sometimes out-of-place opportunities, and the Olympic Games would no doubt be another platform unlike any other to exhibit their intense, theatrical performances.
As the conversation went on, Clown even hinted at more out-of-the-box Slipknot appearances in the future. “You’re gonna start to see Slipknot do some weird shit,” he teased. More than two decades into their reign over the genre, the band is seeking to expand the horizon. “We’ve reached the point where you know, we want to play the Grammys, we want to play the Olympics. Why not? We’ve done the standard circuit already, for 25 years, and in the future we are going to be everywhere.”
That fact speaks to the audacity and ambition of Slipknot to perform in events such as the Olympics as an unending drive to question any status quo and present their music to any audience. For a band who came up through the underground metal scene of Des Moines, Iowa, that would be surreal-a full-on circle-if they were able to perform at the Olympics. It also speaks to the greater acceptance and recognition heavy metal has achieved in recent years, with bands such as Slipknot leading the charge.
Right now, Slipknot are celebrating the 25th birthday of their self-named first album with a headlining tour of the United States. Each and every night, they play the album in full – surely a testament to how the album has stood the test of time and just how much Slipknot hold dear to their roots. When they wrap up their US tour, Slipknot will take their show to Europe and the UK in December, while returning to the continent in 2025 to headline the Rock Am Ring and Rock Im Park festivals.
In a career that extends back over more than two decades, Slipknot has reinvented themselves time and time again, never being happy to simply continue along. Their music and performances embody raw energy, emotion, and theatre. The masked nine are perhaps among the most exciting acts across the globe. And if it were up to Clown, a 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles could be the next touchstone in the storied career of Slipknot: a moment wherein the band brings their chaos and ingenuity to a global audience unlike any they have ever seen or encountered.
As Clown confidently puts it, “In the future, we are going to be everywhere.” And if that future includes the Olympics, the world better be ready for the mayhem that only Slipknot can deliver.
