One of the most infamous rock tours of the past few decades was the yearly installment of “Tattoo The Earth.” The touring brand ran from 2000 to 2002 and featured a variety of artists including Slayer, Sepultura, Sevendust, Nashville P*ssy, Hatebreed and Slipknot, among many others. A new book about the tour has been written by festival founder Scott Alderman called “Caravan of Pain: The True Story of the Tattoo The Earth Tour,” and is available now. The tour itself was high energy affair but also featured numerous backstage escapades that are highlighted in the book. Alderman shared an excerpt with Loudwire detailing a painful experience for Slipknot’s Shawn “Clown” Crahan who was attacked and Maced in the face by a security guard before a “Tattoo The Earth” date in Wisconsin. Clown’s unfortunate experience included tour photographer Fran Strine and Snot guitarist Sonny Mayo, then a member of Amen.
“The whole enterprise seemed like it was getting darker and more dangerous as we headed west and then south,” writes Alderman. “The vibe was foreboding the moment we set foot at our next stop, Float-Rite Park in Somerset, Wisconsin. Our show was part of the 93X Clambake, the local rock radio station’s annual festival, but the mood was anything but festive. During the day at most shows, Clown liked to take a golf cart into the festival village to check out the crowd and listen to some of the bands. He was anonymous without his mask, and enjoyed the freedom of driving around and seeing what he had wrought. In Somerset, Clown took out a golf cart with Fran, Sonny Mayo from Amen, and a few others (golf carts were definitely one of the best parts of the tour). I’d made the right call about Fran. The bands trusted him, and they all gave him complete access onstage and off. Fran said Kerry King from Slayer approached him in Lawrence (Kerry is an intimidating character, and Fran first thought he’d done something to piss Kerry off), but Kerry told him to come up on stage and shoot away. Fran was a talented photographer, reliable, and a good hang.
… Out of nowhere, Clown got clotheslined by a security guard, and the cart flipped on its side. Then the security guard Maced them at close distance while they were still on the ground. Within seconds they were all rolling on the ground, gasping for breath. They got Clown close up, right in the face, and he was vomiting, snot pouring from his nose. He was having serious trouble breathing, so paramedics put him on oxygen and got him back to his bus. We weren’t sure if he would be able to play that night, or whether he should. The head of the venue’s security had Maced the leader of the headline band a few hours before the show, and we weren’t sure if it would be safe for them to play … I found out later that Clown’s Macing was retribution for an incident that had occurred when Slipknot played the venue with Ozzfest the previous year. The band had been unhappy with how they were treated, and one of them took a sh”t on the dressing room floor. The Macing was payback; Tattoo the Earth got sandwiched between the sh*t and the Mace.
Scott Alderman
“Clown, Fran, and Sonny were cruising around Float-Rite Park, when out of nowhere, Clown got clotheslined by a security guard, and the cart flipped on its side. Then the security guard Maced them at close distance while they were still on the ground. Within seconds they were all rolling on the ground, gasping for breath. Fran said it was the closest he ever felt to dying. They got Clown close up, right in the face, and he was vomiting, snot pouring from his nose. He was having serious trouble breathing, so paramedics put him on oxygen and got him back to his bus. We weren’t sure if he would be able to play that night, or whether he should. The head of the venue’s security had Maced the leader of the headline band a few hours before the show, and we weren’t sure if it would be safe for them to play.
“I’m not in this f*cking thing to cancel,” Zukoski [Paul Zukoski, the tour’s finance manager back in New Jersey] bellowed over the phone when we filled him in on the situation. “We’re going to get paid tonight, so work it out.” We met with the promoter, and the security team, and our tour manager Ronnie told me not to engage with the head of security.
“I know you want to rip into that guy, but we need to just keep our mouths shut, play, get paid, and get out of here,” Ronnie said seriously. “These motherfuckers are crazy. You don’t want to mess with these people.” He shook his head. “Wisconsin, man.” The head of security had a strange, smug look when we met to get assurances that the band would not be bothered again. They said Clown was driving recklessly, ignoring instructions, and made obscene gestures, which I knew was bullsh*t. Who did what didn’t matter at this point, and Ronnie tried to keep everyone focused. The promoter asked that the band not mention the incident from the stage. We agreed, and asked that the head of security be nowhere near the band for the rest of the night. So they played — Clown didn’t want to cancel, either — but we had our people positioned around the band during their set in case sh*t broke loose. I saw the head of security lurking around, but decided not to confront him.
The show was brutal. It was the only show where event staff pushed the fans back into the moshpit. Typically, they pull them into a space in front of the stage, and let them walk around back into the crowd (or to EMS if they got beat up). But at this event staff were pushing them all back in, and it was causing a weird dynamic, like water crashing against a dam. It was tense, and I wouldn’t have any sense of relief until we were all out of there and on the highway. … I found out later that Clown’s Macing was retribution for an incident that had occurred when Slipknot played the venue with Ozzfest the previous year. The band had been unhappy with how they were treated, and one of them took a sh”t on the dressing room floor. The Macing was payback; Tattoo the Earth got sandwiched between the sh*t and the Mace.”
The synopsis for the book reads: “Caravan of Pain is a rip-roaring music business underdog tale: compelling, hysterical, and cautionary. Its unique peek inside the world of music festivals, metal, and tattooing gives the reader a front row seat to a watershed time in our culture at the turn of the millennium. Told with candor and humor … and illustrated with memorabilia and never-before-seen photos, Caravan of Pain is a story of inspiration, persistence, and the dark side of following a dream.”
