Korn – Live Review – Scarborough Open Air Theatre
By Charlotte Oliver, August 2024
Fresh from a string of dates in Europe, Californian nu-metal legends Korn thundered into Scarborough’s Open Air Theatre last night to a capacity crowd who were absolutely ready to rock.
In the first support slot was the mighty Loathe, a heavy metal band from Liverpool who brought the energy, heavy grooves and ground-shaking bass drops that had the crowd moshing early on.
Next up was Wargasm, a spiky electronic rock duo from London made up of Sam Matlock (son of Sex Pistols guitarist Glen Matlock) and Milkie Way (Rachel Hastings). These two forces of nature screamed and swore their way through an electrifying set that had the crowd meekly obeying their exhortations to widen the mosh pit and provided the perfect angry soundtrack to accompany it.
“Faultless”
By the time Korn came to the stage, the atmosphere was so charged it could have powered Scarborough for a week. Vocalist Jonathan Davis’ arrival was met with deafening cheers that turned the volume up to 11 where it stayed for the rest of the night. Opening with ‘Rotting In Vain’ was the perfect way to kick off their set and 8000 people forcefully nodding their heads in rapture with the bone-rattling beat. The venue system’s capacity to transmit bass is impressive and really came into its own with this triple-bill of bottom-heavy bands, making for a deeply visceral experience.
For the next 90 minutes, Korn powered through their finest hits, including ‘A.D.I.D.A.S.’, ‘Falling Away From Me’ and ‘Coming Undone’, each greeted with an appreciative roar by the crowd and wild abandon with each bass drop. The band’s energy was awesome and Davis, as ever, faultless in his vocal performance – unsurprising perhaps, given that the band has been going now for 30 years, as Davis himself pointed out with pride.
“Deep joy”
The show itself was spectacular, with varied and powerful lighting design, only increasing in its effect as night and heavy rain fell. The set featured a backdrop screen and front-drop of prison bars with another invisible screen, giving two surfaces to project onto and creating the impression of moving images (flames, mountains, possibly blood, etc.) spilling into the audience.
After a tantalising wait, the encore began with ‘Shoots And Ladders’, featuring Davis’ bagpipe solo. The entrance of the bass after the pipes was a moment of deep joy that will live with me for a long time and was clearly felt by everyone there. This was followed up by ‘Twist’, ‘Divine’ and ‘Freak On A Leash’, all classics that inevitably left the crowd wanting more. Sadly, though, time was up. After flinging a few affectionate insults our way Korn went on their way, leaving us, the audience, absolutely buzzing.
images: Cuffe & Taylor
