“So, do you wanna go see Slipknot and Korn with me?” my friend Justin asked me last week.

I paused. I enjoy both bands (I own original CDs from each of them; that’s saying something, in this day and age), but I also heard on the radio what ticket prices were going for — $39 for the cheap seats, $89 for down front.

“I have free tickets and backstage passes,” he added. SOLD.

Earlier today, Justin drove up from Dallas and this evening the two of us drug our old asses down to the Zoo Amphitheater. There were five bands in all playing, the first three I’d never heard of. We timed things just right so that we arrived right around the third band was leaving the stage. Perfect. The lady at the Will Call window had some trouble finding our passes, but between Justin and the lady they were able to get Justin’s friend on the phone who validated our story. Soon we were on our way down to the Gold VIP section on the side of the stage.

With our $6.50 beers in hand (in our defense they were 44 ounces) we made our way to the side of the stage where we could see, essentially, jack shit. There were three rows of people up against the side railing, followed by people standing on park benches. We were two rows behind that. Basically all we could see were girls standing on the park benches who were facing the wrong way and chatting, either with one another or on their cell phones. Fortunately the VIP area had several flat screen televisions broadcasting the band. From where we were standing I could see two televisions and one giant projector screen. Through those, I could see the band. Looking at the stage, occasionally, I could see hair flying.

After Korn left the stage, most of the people in front of us went to get beer or use the restrooms so Justin and I worked our way up to the front. By the time Slipknot took the stage, we were on the second row. Two songs into the show the people in front of us left. Basically there was about twenty feet between the band and us.

The sound on the side of the stage was kind of boomy and it was difficult to hear the vocals, but man, the view was great. Not only did we have a great profile view of the band, but being on the front row, we had a great view of everything!

If you don’t know who Slipknot is … they’re a nine-piece band who wear masks on stage, refer to themselves by number, and have hits such as “Pulse of the Maggots” and “People = Shit”. They’re definitely not the Beatles; then again, the Beatles never played empty beer kegs with a baseball bat while thousands of people cheered them on. There’s room on my iPod for both of them.

Thanks to Justin for a tickets, the beer, and the good time.