Slipknot’s Clown Worries About Future Festival Headliners

Slipknot remain one of the more popular choices for headlining festivals, but what does percussionist Shawn “Clown” Crahan think about the future of hard rock and metal festivals? He shared his concern about the lack of new generation headliners during a chat with NME.

What Clown Had to Say About Festivals Taking Risks on Newer Bands

Within the discussion, Clown was asked his thoughts on Download Festival tabbing Sleep Token as one of their headliners for 2025, essentially bringing an up-and-coming and buzz-generating band to the top of the bill.

“They have their niche and they must be doing their business well. The old me might have torn it down, but the new me, the real me, is just like ‘Hey, it’s always up to the fans’. The fans let the business people know what to do. The fans speak and the business people listen,”” he said of Sleep Token’s festival ascension.

“They must be very popular, and you’ve got to remember that there’s not a lot of good music out there. There just isn’t. In my opinion, these days there are so many horrible bands right now. I’ve seen Sleep Token, I’ve watched them for a bit and I’ve downloaded their stuff. They have their niche and they have a fan base,” he added.

READ MORE: Download Festival Organizer Responds to Sleep Token Headlining Criticism

While the band’s rise to headliners seems to have been a divisive decision amongst U.K. music fans, the percussionist adds, “It doesn’t matter if it has divided [Download fans] because that means 50 per cent are getting what they want. I no longer worry about these sorts of things, I just worry about being me and about being in the moment. If they’re a good band, and if they work hard – as it seems like they do – they deserve everything they get.”

What Else Clown Had to Say About New Generation Headliners

Clown’s comment about next generation headliners didn’t go unnoticed, as the interviewer then followed by asking the Slipknot percussionist if it was on festival organizers to take these kind of risks to prepare for the eventual turnover.

The Slipknot musician doubled down in reiterating his fears about the next generation of music. “As I was saying, there are so many horrible bands who are going to be our future headliners. You don’t want me to start naming off names, because we’ll both start laughing and laughing,” he explained. “The days of great music have come and gone at the moment. We’re seeing the backlash of the computer and we’re seeing the backlash of everybody being able to get in [to the music industry]. But where is everybody that got in and did it themselves? They all need validation.”

He continued, “I didn’t get in a band to get validated. I validated myself. When someone said I needed to work harder, I worked fucking harder. I didn’t need the internet, or socials, or anything to validate me. We have a real problem now, and bands that are good these days – which is few and far – are being prepped for this future. We saw that with Bring Me The Horizon. They’re a great band and I’m a fan. I’ve listened to the band since the very, very beginning and they’re doing big things like headlining Download because they can make that jump.”

He adds, “Great bands are being pushed into these new circumstances. What else do we have [without artists like that] – a bunch of crap bands that won’t draw tickets. So yes, the business people need to take chances and push these few good bands in the right direction.”

Slipknot in 2024 + 2025

Slipknot have spent much of the past year celebrating the 25th anniversary of their debut album. They’re currently finishing out the year with a U.K. run, with more shows in Australia and Europe already booked for the new year. Ticketing info can be found through their website.

Clown also recently confirmed that he’s handed over the long-delayed Look Outside Your Window album over to management to set up a release plan, so we could potentially see the album finally arrive in 2025.