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Korn Brings Back The Heavy
Vancouver
August 1, 2000
Sick and Twisted tour with Korn, Powerman 5000 and Papa Roach
GM Place, Sunday July 30
With a rigorous 300-days-a-year touring schedule, Korn deserve their reputation as a fans' band.
But it takes more than hard work and loud guitars to make it in the super-rock thrash metal arena and Korn have entered this realm without compromising their musical integrity or their fan loyalty. It showed last night at GM Place when they launched into a two-hour sonic assault that defied the senses and appeased even their harshest critics.
Touring in support of their latest album "Issues" Korn was accompanied by Papa Roach and Powerman 5000. Papa Roach are four young lads with a wee bit of talent and a whole lot of volume. It just goes to show that high decibels doesn't equal quality music. Papa Roach would do well to turn it down a bit and work on their dynamics before they start thrashing with the big boys.
 The crowd intensity meter was instantly elevated however when Powerman 5000 took the stage. Jumping up and down faster than the Olympic pogo team, Powerman 5000 tore through songs such as "Blast off to no where" from their latest album Tonight the Stars Revolt! The young neo-metal quintet sounded like a polka ditty being mega-phoned through a chainsaw, and they had the stage presence to match. Clad in a leather jump suit and dawning biker goggles, front man Spider One did justice to a punk version of Radio Head's "Creep." Of course being Rob Zombie's younger brother probably didn't hurt when they were auditioning for the part.
 Crowd anticipation was high by the time Korn took the stage. The mosh pit was throbbing like a can of worms, and when the band kicked into "Falling Away from me," a sea of sweaty youth surged forward, grasping for a piece of Korn. The stage was circular and exposed from the back, where a crowd of lucky concert goers got to watch up close. It made for an intimate atmosphere and with the gothic looking 'castle set', I felt like we were being thrust into a bad horror flick. Large candelabras spewed flames so high, even Kiss would be impressed. At one point a massive chandelier was lowered from the ceiling and four alien mannequin's tied up in straight jackets, started spinning around like a carousel gone mad. In fine Pink Floyd fashion, Korn also let a huge blow up doll navigate itself around the packed arena.
But theatrics aside, Korn's music is some of the best angst ridden agro-rock around. With songs like "Got the Life" and "A.D.I.D.A.S" (all day I dream about sex) Korn's message is crystal clear on the live stage: we know your pain. Lead singer Jonathan Davis fired up the bagpipes for a heavy version of "Shoots and Ladders," and busted out some weird tribal rapping as they broke into a melody of Twist and Chi in the middle of "Freaks on a Leash."
Davis has a great pair of lungs and proved it by embarking on one of the scariest screams I've ever heard. By the time Korn played "Dead Bodies Everywhere," the crowd was quite literally going off.
For an encore, Korn brought out the big guns and launched into their smash hit "Blind." Driving guitars and heavy beats brought the finale to a nice climax and before you could say 'kill me' ...it was over. If audience energy is any indication of how a show rated, I'd say the Korn show was quite high. Most of the kids I saw when I was leaving had a certain gleam in their eye; Like they'd just been on the best ride of their life.
And after all, Korn is good for you.
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