Pissing with Korn

These days Korn are dismissingly lumped in the clichéd, repetitive genre of nu-metal. A little unfairly since this genre consists largely of bands imitating the bands who made their careers imitating Korn. While it has been an influence in the shaping of this genre, Korn’s early music was something new on a dying heavy scene. They chose to create their own sound rather than imitate another. It’s been five years since the band last came to Australia, and three albums in that time. These albums have varied from decent, to plain ordinary. Unfortunately all of them seem to have been created on auto-pilot rather than forging the unbeaten path which made this band so great in the first place. But for those of us who remember having our definition of heavy music changed by Korn (1994) or Life is Peachy (1996), a few dud albums weren’t going to stop us descending on Rod Laver Arena and moshing our little hearts out. The addition of Fear Factory and Static-X to the bill merely clinched the deal.

Most people would associate Fear Factory with Dino Cazares. So the pressure was on for them to prove that they can still pull it off without him. New bassist Byron Stroud (from Strapping Young Lad) was a welcome addition, allowing Christian Olde Wolbers to move from bass to replace the departed guitarist. Although they put on a solid set, and played everything spot on, it must be said that at the end of Fear Factory, I couldn’t help but feel disappointed. Two main factors contributed to this: volume level, and crowd interaction. Neither of these can be (entirely) blamed on the band, but nonetheless they were a significant barrier to my enjoyment. Although the volume was far too loud by the time Korn were to arrive on stage, Fear Factory were forced to play at what must have been half that, making those of us who couldn’t reach the front feel largely detached from their performance. The lack of crowd interaction therefore cannot be blamed on Fear Factory, but the way they dealt with it can. Singer Burton C. Bell chose to berate the audience for their lack of interest, telling us to wake up, and rechristening our town “Mel-bored”. It is one of rocks oldest tricks for the singer to yell at the crowd for not being excited enough, in order to whip them into a frenzy. Only in Bell’s case he really seemed disappointed and annoyed with the crowds response… and didn’t let up, or show any sign of satisfaction no matter how hard we yelled. His cause would’ve been better served by playing to those faithful who were screaming themselves hoarse, and winning over the rest of the with their blistering songs, instead of drawing attention to the weakness, and in turn pissing off some of us who had been really looking forward to seeing the band. This disappointment was doubled by the fact that I had been so blown away by the bands performance two weeks earlier as surprise openers at the Big Day Out, where they tore through their set and had the crowd captivated. Ah well, I suppose everyone’s allowed to have their off days. Fear Factory will be back in power, just not tonight.

Next up were Static-X, with an accompanying increase in volume. They also benefited hugely from some backdrops, stage costumes, and far more active lighting than Fear Factory. Their set ranged widely from their debut Wisconsin Death Trip (1999), through the two follow-ups, but Static-X were still the newcomers of the night. Nevertheless, Static-X have also had some line-up changes since their last album, but guitarist Tripp Eisen (Dope, Murderdolls) seems to have found a home. Not only can he play guitar, he can entertain. Running around the stage and pulling poses, clearly belonging to this band. Wayne Static’s voice if anything is harder in concert than on CD, and the hair remains as immovable as ever. Highlights of the set were mainly older songs such as opener Push It, Love Dump, Cold and Black and White, but songs off the new album were also given an airing. In the live arena, songs such as title track Shadow Zone and Destroy All, carry a heavier feeling than on record.

Up next were the band of the night. Korn powered through a set which seemed to show that they knew why their fans were there. Newer songs were delivered with a power which seems to have been lost in production on the album, but the set relied mostly on older tracks. Indeed they played as many songs off their debut as they did the current effort. This may have only been four songs a piece, but with six albums to choose from, most of the others got only two. Highlights included Shoots and Ladders (which ended in a brief section of Metallica’s One), Clown, A.D.I.D.A.S., Falling Away From Me, Freak On a Leash and the uncontrollable rhythm of Faget. Lowlights included the horribly predictable current single Y’all Want a Single, and surprisingly Blind, which sounds like they’ve gotten bored with it over these years. As with Static-X before them, Korn’s arrival heralded an increase in the volume. Now I love live music. And I know that live music needs to be loud to reach it’s full potential. But I also know that you cannot listen to music, let alone enjoy it when your ears are in pain. Somehow we managed to go from being too soft, to being far too loud in the one night. Static-X seemed to be the happy medium, and I think the staff at Rod Laver should seriously consider keeping volume at this level in future gigs. Overall though, Korn delivered a great set. Their enthusiasm throughout the night matched that of the crowd, and when Faget hit they really did remind us why we’ve been there with them for so long.

My night was not over yet though. Around 1am I arrived on Chapel st to meet a friend who had just finished work for some drinks. His place of work was directly across from Strike Bowling bar where it turns out Korn had taken up residence in the private room, but were making frequent trips through the rest of the premises. So we took up residence on the couches to sit back and wait. The place was pretty empty, as you would expect on a Monday night. But word had obviously got out, as there were a few tell tale Korn shirts floating around. I managed to have a chat with Tony Campos from Static-X as well as Tripp Eisen. Both of these guys were quite friendly walking around unescorted and generally enjoying themselves. Tripp in particular seemed very drunk, and spent most of the time in a Captain America mask, but stopped to have a fairly decent chat (in length… questionable in content. His response to a mention of his work in Dope consisted of “Dopey-dope”, but he seemed to have some real pride when I told him how much I loved the Murderdolls album). A few glimpses were made of Korn members, but they were escorted everywhere by some pretty huge security (who showed one guy in no uncertain terms what happens if you try to get too close). But even the most seasoned of rock stars and drinkers (of which Korn surely qualify as both) need to go to the toilet. I was on one of my own journeys to the toilet when who should walk up the stall next to me but Fieldy, the man with the lowest pants in rock. I decided against having a talk to him while he went about his business, and instead headed back out to the main bar to wait for him to leave. While still in the bathroom I did however overhear his conversation with a friend about how they should both ditch their girlfriends and hook up with some 34 year olds. So all you young fans, sorry.

On his exit Fieldy turned out to be pretty cool. He ignored his bodyguards suggestion to just move on, and stopped to have a talk to a few of us fans, holding out his fist to anyone who approached him and demanding they “pound it” before showing off his tatts and signing a few things. A fine concert, with the night perfectly rounded off by meeting the people who made it happen. Goodnight.