Korn Manchester review: ‘Another chapter to their iconic Halloween legacy’
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“Manchester, Happy Halloween, motherf***ers. This is my favourite holiday, y’all,” Korn frontman Jonathan Davis declared as the Bakersfield icons added another chapter to their iconic Halloween legacy at the AO Arena on Saturday night.
The Halloween show in Manchester, which saw numerous fans in attendance dressed as pieces of corn, marked Korn’s first set in the city since their co-headlining run with Limp Bizkit in 2016. It was a performance that felt even more fitting given Korn’s history with Davis’ favourite holiday. In 1999, Korn starred in one of the most famous animated crossover events of the nu-metal era, voicing themselves in a South Park episode that parodied classic Scooby-Doo cartoons.
The episode served as a massive pop-culture moment for the show and band alike, with the then five-piece, debuting their hit single, ‘Falling Away From Me’ exactly one day before it was officially released to rock radio stations ahead of the release of their hotly anticipated fourth studio album, ‘Issues’. Halloween is a holiday with a lot of history and happy memories for Korn and Saturday night in Manchester served as another historical moment as they opened their first performance in the city in a decade, with a barrage of chugging guitars from James "Munky" Shaffer and Brian "Head" Welch and Ray Luzier’s powerhouse drumming on ‘It’s On’.
The crushing riffage of ‘Here To Stay’ caused the AO Arena to erupt as the audience belted the lyrics back to Davis. Luzier’s driving drumming was complemented by Head and Munky’s distorted guitars on ‘Got The Life’. “October is a special month for us,” Davis remarked after a pulsating rendition of ‘Rotting In Vain’, “We’re celebrating the 30th anniversary of ‘Life Is Peachy. Some of you motherf***ers weren’t born when the record came out. How many of you would like to hear some old-school Life Is Peachy s**t?.
Davis and the audience got what they wished for as Korn blitzed into ‘Twist’, blending Davis’ guttural growls and soaring melodic singing, crunchy guitars from Munky and Head. Luzier’s intricate drumming and Roberto “Ra” Díaz’s thick bass line. A.D.I.D.A.S., sparked a mass singalong with Davis embracing the role of conductor and felt even more celebratory given how it’s a song that now also serves as a celebration of the band's 30-year legacy and its undeniable influence on streetwear history.
In the 1990s Davis’ embrace of Adidas actively introduced the three-stripe tracksuits into nu-metal fashion, permanently fusing heavy music with sportswear. Decades later, the massive cultural impact of that era forced a full-circle moment, where Adidas partnered directly with the band to create an official Korn x Adidas collaboration, underlining how Korn’s influence stretches beyond music.
The nu-metal grit of ‘Kill You’ paved the way for a quick exit before Davis subsequently returned with bagpipes, performing the bagpipe-driven introduction of ‘Shoots and Ladders’, providing a calm before the storm until the gritty guitar chugs of Munky and Head and Luzier’s powerful drumming took centre stage.
“Manchester, help me out?” Davis asked on ‘Coming Undone’, resulting in the audience belting the chorus back to him. ‘Make Me Bad’ provided the perfect blend of restraint and bite, with moments of the former providing the perfect amount of space for Davis’ vocals to soar inside AO Arena and the moment of bite gave the moment of contrast, creating a big wall of sound before a rendition of ‘Y’all Want A Single’, which saw Munky and Ra singing the lower harmonies, with Davis playing conductor. Korn brought the performance to a close soon after with a four-punch combo of ‘Falling Away From Me’, performed almost 27 years to the day since it was debuted on ‘South Park’, ‘Blind’, which saw a member of the audience dancing with an inflatable zimmer frame, the chugging guitars, hard-hitting drumming and driving bass line of ‘Twisted Transistor’ and the big singalong of ‘Freak on a Leash.
“We promise we’ll come back soon,” Davis announced before exiting the stage for a final time and judging by the reaction inside the AO Arena, the 20,000+ in attendance will be eager to welcome them back with open arms at any time.
Korn will continue their UK and Ireland tour with a performance at Dublin’s 3Arena tomorrow before heading to the O2 Arena in London. Tickets are available here.