Photo Credit: Cuffe and Taylor/The Piece Hall
One of the biggest shocks of the annual summer concert series at Halifax’s premier outdoor venue The Piece Hall, was the reveal that nu-metal superstars KORN will be travelling to West Yorkshire to celebrate their 30th anniversary as a band. The Bakersfield band continue to influence thousands of artists across the globe, and one of those was opening act and one of the strongest in the game right now, LOATHE, who emerged almost 10 years ago and quickly became a staple in the new wave of UK metal.
The already packed crowd greeted the Liverpool quartet with a huge cheer as they made their grand entrance to the stage, treating it like it was their own headline performance. Beginning the show with the horrifying ‘Gored‘, the front section was immediately transformed into a battlefield. Frontman Kadeem utilised his space as he danced around the stage, feeding off the already positive reaction from the Halifax audience. Swiftly moving on, the Scouse band’s ‘White Hot‘ and ‘Dance on My Skin‘ maintained the high energy levels across the expansive courtyard, while ‘Two Way Mirror‘ had virtually the whole standing section singing along to this more subdued anthem, whilst ‘Heavy is the Head That Falls With the Weight of A Thousand Thoughts‘ served as the bands conclusion on the night.
From one heavy act to the other, the legendary Californian nu-metal icons finally made their way on to The Piece Hall’s stage, kicking off with ‘Rotting in Vain‘. Loathe certainly warmed up the crowd, and this Halifax bunch were a different breed as they scrambled enough energy to give KORN their welcomed return to the UK they continue to look forward to. It didn’t take long for fan favourite ‘A.D.I.D.A.S’ to make an appearance in the set, all whilst frontman Jonathan Davis donned the bands collaboration tracksuit they recently released with the German three-striped brand.
As ‘Good God’ and ‘Blind’ continued the full throttle songs going, ‘Coming Undone’ featured a snippet of Queen’s iconic ‘We Will Rock You’ chorus that had the whole place singing and clapping along, before resuming back to the metallic anthem. Heading into their fourteenth track of the night, ‘Y’All Want A Single’ served as the bands final song as they exited the stage. The venue fell into silence, and with the anticipation of the bands return looming, it wasn’t long until KORN made their way back for one last push into the night.
‘Shoots and Ladders’ kicked things back off, and once again the band brought in a snippet from another classic, this time it was Metallica’s ‘One’ to get the metal heads in attendance head banging and shouting the words as loudly as possible. ‘Twist’ and ‘Divine’ soon followed, whilst the intense ‘Freak On A Leash’ finally came to end the night in style. The whole place quickly turned into a warzone once the gut wrenching breakdown kicked in, with several mosh pits forming down the front, to the stone benches at the back that had fans stood overseeing the carnage unfold one last time.
The rare appearance from KORN in Halifax will be one to remember for sure, with an audience so dedicated to welcoming the nu-metal legends back each time they cross the pond, this was one of the most electrifying performances from the band yet.
Taped Magazine 