Recently, we’ve had a resurgence of bands who peaked their career back in the early 2000’s and that gives the opportunity to put great tour packages together to bring some of that nostalgia back and add a fresh new twist with an interesting setlist. Rob Zombie and Korn announced their so-called Return of the Dreads tour a few months back and contributor Karina Diane went deep into their show in Irvine, CA to look at the show these dreaded giants had to offer.
With summer in full, the show started early enough to catch some daylight and get a better view of the opening act, which was handled by In This Moment. Before the show, we came across Danny Nix and he came to show in company of his wife to enjoy the entire tour package but mainly to catch In This Moment. The couple have been following the band for many years and have caught them several times on stage making this just another night for rock. He expressed how they have a similar theatrical stage with their costumes and dancing to Rob Zombie, saying, while is dancing could be considered not-so-metal, this is actually “kick-ass, badass dancing.”
As a long time follower of these bands during the early 2000’s, Nix has his own ideas about metal at the time and weighted into Chester Bennington’s comments about them “keeping metal alive” at the time, saying:
I feel like metal has always been alive. It goes way back beyond bands like [Linkin Park] or Korn for me. Ozzy is actually one of my favorites, obviously, that for me kept metal alive. It’s just feel like a progression coming from Black Sabbath up to where we’re at today.
At the same time, he’s a big follower of Rob Zombie’s movie ventures and is proud of owning every single of his movies and is looking forward the release of 31 on September 16th.
On the other hand, we had Malti Khurana, who went to the show to catch the headliners only as she’s more inclined towards bands like Arch Enemy for a strong, female presence, rather than In This Moment and doesn’t really feel the thematic of their show.
To her, Korn and Rob Zombie are more deserving of the merit for keeping metal’s momentum for the past few years; Rob Zombie for his entire theatrical stage which she compares to Alice Cooper’s or Marylin Manson’s; and Korn being an influence for many younger bands surging from the 2000’s. She also likes some of Rob Zombie’s filmography but isn’t really much into the entire torture, exploitation themes of his movies but she will still go to the theaters with her boyfriend to watch it as soon as it comes out.
Heading into the venue, we came across Kyng’s bassist Tony Castañeda who came to see every single band, particularly the Maria Brink and company who he believed deserve to be where they’re at cause “everything successful thing it’s been coming to them” as he’s been there to witness their hard work during some tours they’ve done together. Castañeda is also fierce believer that no band deserves a merit of putting metal anywhere but the “fans and the fans alone.”
As a horror fan, Castañeda is looking forward to Rob Zombie’s new movie:
I love his movies. I think it’s awesome and I like the incorporation of the movies with horror and his stage props and he does an amazing job. He’s still doing it after all this year and that’s a good thing. [and] Of course I’m looking forward to 31.
With the show about to start, In This Moment delivered an energetic set that match the excitement from the crowd who couldn’t take their eyes away from the enormous stage. That’s where it was visible how the dancers and somehow different show they deliver works perfectly with their music.
If you haven’t experienced one of Rob Zombie’s show, no words will every be able to describe all that’s happening in front of your eyes and must be something that needs to be witness in full flesh. Zombie is a frontman with no boundaries and all his years of experience come to flourish every time he takes the stage. Even during a time like a guitar solo, most frontmen take a break and step to the back but not Zombie, as he decided to stroll around the Lodge Section to get an upclose look of his frantic fans.
After so many years of career, Zombie believes in traditional way to enjoy a show like his and took a moment to speak to the crowd and asked them to, despite the spectacular show happening in front of them, to put their cellphones away for a few minutes and enjoy the show “the old fashion way.” On the same note, Zombie describe the bittersweet feeling of playing that venue for the last time after 20 years.
The show was as good any fan would tell you, with some classic tracks and some covers like Tone‐Lōc’s “Wild Thing,” Grand Funk Railroad’s “We’re an American Band,” or John Stafford Smith’s “The Star-Spangled Banner.” After a while of giving everything possible on stage, the show culminated with a trailer of Rob Zombie’s 31 leading to the last track “Dragula.”
The final and most anticipated act was gearing up to take over the stage. Korn has gone through a lot in their 20+ years of career but that hasn’t stopped them to continue surprising their most avid or newest fans with their shows. A setlist flooded with most of their greatest hits was only surpassed by their newest track “Rotting In Vain” which was introduced by Sons of Anarchy’s Tommy Flannigan. On top of that, they decided to play “Shoots and Ladders” which features frontman Jonathan Davis playing his famous bag-pipes and a video snippet of Metallica’s “One.”
Something interesting that may have created a different wave of opinions was the presence of the band’s family and friends on the side of the stage. That’s a common practice by any band out there but it was interesting to see how guitarist Munky or Welch were distracted by their closest ones and giving them a good amount of attention instead of the crowd in front of them. Some of their younglings were also seen on stage for almost the entirety of the show and even took them away from the stage every now and then.
This year’s summer has been packed with great tours and ‘Return of the Dreads’ is no exception. The entire crowd left the venue exhausted and happy as Samantha explained to us. Her main interest was Korn and couldn’t stop praising their show, with just the expected wish of them playing for much longer. She also believes that Korn is a more important band in keeping metal alive as the show proved this night.
Check out the rest of the shows scheduled and make sure to get your tickets soon:
7/30 – Las Vegas, NV at Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino
8/2 – Austin, TX at Austin 360 Amphitheater
8/3 – The Woodlands, TX at Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion
8/4 – Dallas TX at Gexa Energy Pavilion
8/6 – Noblesville, IN at Klipsch Music Center
8/7 – Cincinnati, OH at Riverbend Music Center
8/9 – Maryland Heights, MO at Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre
8/10 – Kansas City, MO at Sandstone
8/21 – Clarkston, MI at DTE Energy Music Theatre
8/23 – West Toronto, ON at Molson Canadian Amphitheatre
8/24 – Cuyahoga Falls, OH at Blossom Music Center
8/25 – Burgettstown, PA First Niagara Pavilion
8/27 – Syracuse, NY at Lakeview Amphitheater
8/28 – Boston, MA at Xfinity Center
8/30 – Holmdel, NJ at PNC Bank Arts Center
9/1 – Hartford, CT at Xfinity Theatre
9/2 – Camden, NJ at BB&T Pavilion
9/3 – Bristow, VA at Jiffy Lube Live
