Megadeth, Spiritbox Lead Knotfest Australia Sideshows

Knotfest Australia has announced its sideshows that will correspond with the inaugural festival curated by Slipknot.

From 21 to 28 March, heavy music will take over the East Coast of Australia, with the biggest sideshow heading to Adelaide. The early bird pre-sale begins on Wednesday, 8 February at 9 am local time. Sign up here for a reminder when tickets go on sale. General tickets go on sale Friday, 10 February at 9 am local time via Destroy All Lines.

Megadeth will be joined by special guests In Flames for two nights in Adelaide and Melbourne. Few can match the power and complexity that LA metal lords Megadeth bring in a live setting. Spanning over four decades of existence, Megadeth’s legacy pioneering the thrash metal genre into the global zeitgeist has garnered multiple platinum albums, with over 38 million units sold worldwide, as well as a sea of Grammy Award nominations, including a win in 2017 for Best Metal Performance for their track Dystopia. Their 16th album, The Sick, The Dying…And The Dead was released last year.

In perhaps one of the most anticipated sideshows, Canadian metal band Spiritbox will play an exclusive sideshow in Melbourne with Make Them Suffer and Reliqa. Their debut album, Eternal Blue, topped the rock charts in the United States and Canada, breaking the top 10 in Australia and the top 20 in the UK and Germany. 

Viking metal outfit Amon Amarth and US band Trivium will put on co-headline shows of epic proportions in Melbourne and Brisbane. UK metallers Malevolence are on the bill as special guests, and after drawing the "biggest circle pit" audiences have ever seen, they're an opening act not to be missed.

Popular genre-benders Bad Omens are hitting Brisbane and Sydney. The quartet materialise with ghostly atmospherics, memorable hooks, and the tingles of sensual high-register harmonies uplifted by cinematic production, racking up millions of streams and earning critical acclaim. 

Hardcore punk quartet Knocked Loose will make their long-awaited return to Australian stages following their previous visit in January 2020. The Kentucky quartet will celebrate their stunning and visionary conceptual six-song EP, A Tear in the Fabric of Life, released in 2021. After their Australian visit, Knocked Loose are hitting the stages of prestigious festivals such as Coachella, Bonnaroo, Welcome To Rockville and Bloodstock, to name a few. 

Story Of The Year can be caught in Melbourne, Brisbane and Sydney. The band's debut album, Page Avenue, was one of the first of its kind to sell a million copies. Until the Day I Die endures as both an anthem and a mission statement. Tours with Linkin Park, My Chemical Romance, Deftones, and The Used cemented Story Of The Year’s reputation as a stunning and engaging live act.

View the Knotfest Australia sideshows' dates and venues below.

KNOTFEST SIDESHOWS

DATES AND VENUES

MEGADETH
WITH SPECIAL GUESTS IN FLAMES

Tuesday 21 March - Entertainment Centre Theatre, Adelaide
Wednesday 22 March - Margaret Court Arena, Melbourne 

AMON AMARTH + TRIVIUM CO-HEADLINE
WITH SPECIAL GUESTS MALEVOLENCE

Thursday 23 March – The Forum, Melbourne
Tuesday 28 March – Eatons Hill Hotel, Brisbane 

SPIRITBOX
WITH MAKE THEM SUFFER + RELIQA

Tuesday 21 March - The Forum, Melbourne 

BAD OMENS

Tuesday 21 March – The Triffid, Brisbane
Wednesday 22 March – Factory Theatre, Sydney 

KNOCKED LOOSE

Thursday 23 March - Colonial Hotel, Melbourne
Monday 27 March - Princess Theatre, Brisbane 

STORY OF THE YEAR

Wednesday 22 March - Stay Gold, Melbourne
Monday 27 March - The Brightside, Brisbane
Tuesday 28 March - Crowbar, Sydney

KNOTFEST AUSTRALIA 2023
LINE UP:

Slipknot | Parkway Drive | Megadeth | Trivium | Northlane | Amon Amarth
In Flames Knocked Loose | Spiritbox | Story Of The Year | Alpha Wolf
Void Of Vision | Bad Omens | Malevolence

DATES AND VENUES:
Friday 24 March 2023 - Flemington Racecourse, Melbourne SOLD OUT
Saturday 25 March 2023 - Centennial Park, Sydney
Sunday 26 March 2023 - RNA Showgrounds, Brisbane