Slipknot - The Heretic Anthem (Live At Late Night With Conan O'Brien 08/10/2001) HQ

deinterlaced and sorta upscaled

[Jeffo]

Conan said on his podcast that he loved bands like Slipknot because he found them genuinely scary and thought they would be terrifying, but when he spoke to them afterwards they would always be the sweetest guys, like, "Thank you so much for this opportunity Mr O'Brien"

[neemnoa]

Conan will always be a legend for this.

[lullsbaby]

This was on way past my bedtime. So I was already in bed falling asleep. But mom, since she knew I loved Slipknot, came and woke me up to see this performance on TV. Bless her. Miss you. (She'd be 69 today. Nice.)

[TheArtofGuitar]

I believe this to be the peak of human civilization.

[watashiuwu]

2:38 goes so hard even the camera was headbanging

[jordansclancy]

Always loved how Chris and Shawn don't have their usual setups for this performance so they're pretty much just there for vibes 😂

[ondrashin]

that jump from jim on 2:25 just hit's hard asf

[johnh]

Love Conan's solid handshakes at the end like he was pumped. 😂

[TheSturling]

2:37 the most heavy metal moment on national TV.

[Jeenyus]

There’s so much funny stuff to unpack with this performance:

• First off, the casual Conan watcher was 100% blindsided by this performance and there for sure were people in the studio audience who had no idea what they were in for. It’s one thing to have a metal band play Late Night, it’s a whole other thing to spring “The Heretic Anthem” off Iowa onto them lol

• This was at peak alcohol and drug abuse (at the time) for some of them and before years of moshing screwed up their necks and backs. They were absolute maniacs while on stage.

• To a non-fan of theirs it had to be hilariously confusing to just see two extra dudes on an already crowded stage seemingly only there to sing a single word or sentence every minute or two and jerk off their nose

• And finally, this was a prime time in US history where republicans and super religious were trying to blame heavy metal music and video games for the violence going on - so for Slipknot to play such an on-the-nose “we don’t give a shit what you think” song lyrics wise had to frighten the living hell out of that demographic.

[Gamma]

You'll never see an act like this on a late night TV show ever ever ever.

[tompayton]

How the hell they got to play their heaviest song of all time on live TV on a mainstream show is beyond me hahaha 🤘🏻🤘🏻🤘🏻

[JustJoshingBra]

Crazy to think Jay Weinberg was 11 years old backstage watching Slipknot, and 13 years later he’s recording an Album with them! 🤯

[TheKyoput]

Joey was such a monster on those drums. RIP

[KirePlasmaX]

In the running for the most badass performance ever filmed in metal, it doesn't get much heavier and batshit crazy than this.

[Divine_Serpent_Geh]

Easily one of their most brutal performances of this song ever. All 9 on such a tiny stage losing their fucking minds. Conan is a legend for this.

[TheGeographyNerd]

Imagine not knowing ANYTHING about the people behind the masks, and then asking them to play music on LIVE TV with SCARY MASKS at like 9:00pm or something. Conan is a LEGEND for this 🤘🤘🤘

[jeffreylong]

0:56
Mick swooshing his hair like he’s on a LOreal commercial haha 😂

[gabrideen]

Max Weinberg watching from the side with no idea his son would join this band later on

[Whosreadyformonsterjam]

3:38 one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen with this band