Has it really been 20 years already?
Yes it has, and man does it make me feel old saying that. I first heard of the guys who hail from Bakersfield, California in 1994 when I was at the tender age of 20 when my buddy Dennis Stover kept telling me “bro, you gotta listen to these guys, their sound is something you haven’t heard before.”
He was right about that, I really never heard a band that sounded like Korn up until that time. They sure made an impact on me and the music I would start listening to. I grabbed the debut CD which was self titled and popped it in my discman that I used to have in my car, yes a Discman (don’t judge). The first track started and I was like “what the f*ck is this”?
The song was “Blind” and when lead singer Jonathan Davis started with “are you ready?”, well just say that that was the beginning of a new era of music for me. I’ve seen Korn now probably five times now, the last being in 2010 when I had the chance to photograph them for the first time. I was stoked to hear that they were playing Carolina Rebellion this year and with original guitarist Brian “Head” Welch returning to the fray.
Korn had the headlining spot Saturday on a night where the likes of Marilyn Manson, Rise Against and a dozen or so more acts tore it up on the other three stages prior to the main stage headliners.
The sun had gone down, the weather was just right and approximately one hundred thousand attendees were awaiting the gods from Cali to appear. The other photographers and I were whisked down to the photo pit moments before the guys took the stage.
The throng of fans were waiting and became impatient, they started chanting “Korn, Korn, Korn” and then it happened, that moment when the cymbals started as “Blind” was the first song. The lights were dim at first and as Davis belted out “Are You Ready”? the stage hands pulled down the black screen that was covering the stage.
no images were found
The mob of fans lost it and started thrashing, moshing and body surfing. We in the photo pit had to dodge those bodies that were flung over the barricades but it was well worth the risk to photograph and listen to Korn so close.
The backdrop behind the guys was the image from the debut self titled album of the shadow of the little girl sitting on the swing with a shadow of a guy behind her but with a little change. Near the bottom right corner it said “20 Years of Korn”, thank you again guys for making me feel old.
Korn played their entire debut album from beginning to end. Unfortunately, us photographers only get to stay in the pit for the first three songs so I had to listen to the rest of the set from beyond the stage area.
I’ll tell you this, Korn sounded as good that night as they did fifteen years ago. They killed it throughout the set playing to the thousands and thousands of fans into the dark of night.
