Korn
Korn wrapped up their fall North American tour on Friday with a blistering set in Oakland, California that featured their self-titled release in its entirety along with an encore of select favorites. With the eve of Halloween converging with a Friday night, the crowd was already feisty and filling the floor as opening act Islander ripped through their short set sporting taco costumes and sombreros, tossing the occasional taco into the crowd. By the time Suicide Silence took the stage, the general admission floor was busting at the seams … as much in anticipation of frontman Eddie Hermida’s return to the Bay for a hometown show as for Korn’s impending headline set.
When drummer Ray Luzier took the stage wearing a giant Olaf the snowman costume and started the familiar tink-tinking from the intro to Blind, you could almost feel the crowd stop breathing as they expectantly waited for Jonathan Davis to formally kick off the mayhem with, “ARE YOU READY?!” As expected, the entire room erupted and the pit turned into a seething mass.
Ray wasn’t the only band member to get into the Halloween spirit; although Munky Shaffer quickly ditched his gas mask and the Olaf costume disappeared after two songs, Head Welch (as Manga Girl) and Fieldy Arvizu (as himself from the Issues alternative album cover) kept in character through a half dozen songs, eventually reappearing in stage wear after Davis’ bagpipe intro to Shoots and Ladders.
After wrapping their Korn album run-through with Daddy, Korn returned to the stage along with Davis’ iconic H.R. Giger mic stand (which had been noticeably absent from the first portion of the set) for a collection of their later hits before wrapping the evening with Freak on a Leash and leaving their instruments to feedback back on stage as the crowd continued to cheer and the band said their goodbyes. 20+ years after the release of their self-titled debut, Korn stills knows how to command a stage and leave a crowd hot, sweaty and sated.
Setlist:
- Blind
- Ball Tongue
- Need To (with “Alive” chorus as second chorus)
- Clown
- Divine
- Faget
- Shoots and Ladders
- Predictable
- Fake
- Lies
- Helmet in the Bush
- Daddy
–Encore–
- Falling Away From Me
- Here to Stay
- Coming Undone
- Spike in My Veins
- Freak on a Leash
Supporting acts: Suicide Silence | Islander
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