Lights go out. The melodic picking of guitar strings can be heard from a distance as a deep blue curtain slowly rises revealing eight distinctive silhouettes. The spotlight shines on a gargantuan drum set. The crowd screams as guitar and drums unite into heavy metal bliss. Out of nowhere the final figure appears as Slipknot's frontman, Corey Taylor, takes the stage. "Go!!!"
Those who attended the Prepare for Hell Tour as it passed though Lexington on Saturday were treated to a show that will not soon be forgotten. In a word, the show was aggressive. Nu-metal powerhouses Slipknot and Korn left fans wondering what hit them. Both bands have their own unique sound that has made them so popular though the years. However, they both share one thing. The energy they put into the music has the power to make fans go absolutely nuts.
Korn, celebrating twenty years since their self-titled album, played lots of songs from their earlier albums as well as off their new album The Paradigm Shift. Brian "Head" Welch has returned to the Korn, and it felt like he never left. Lead vocalist Jonathan Davis put on a phenomenal performance. His vocals were undoubtedly powerful and left the crowd begging for more. I've never seen so much head banging from a band. Korn's hip-hop grooves started the party as Slipknot prepared to rip Lexington apart.
Slipknot fans could not bear waiting any longer as the band prepared to take the stage. Despite not touching the U.S. on tour in years, the crowd was quick to forgive as they began fist pumping and moshing. At one point, Corey Taylor apologized for not coming back. Promising to keep coming back, the crowd erupted in cheers. Slipknots thrashing music, combined with the double threat singing and screaming of Corey, made for a moving performance. The stage production featured fire, spinning drumsets, and frightening masks. At times, Corey was left speechless from the energy and cheers from the crowd. If you are a metal fan, you will not want to miss this show next time around.
I had the rare opportunity to interview Korn's drummer, Ray Luzier. Continue reading below to learn about the future of Korn and an update of the tour:
In 2013 The Paradigm Shift was released. This past summer you reissued the the album as a World Tour Edition with a few more songs including “Hater", what do the next few years hold for Korn?
We were excited about The World Tour Edition because a lot of the fans wanted to hear some more live stuff. We tracked in Moscow, London, Denver, and other parts of the world. It was really cool to put Hater down. We had two songs left from the Paradigm Shift to put on there. We will start writing a new record very soon. In February, we will begin playing our self titled album on tour to celebrate 20 years.
How do you hold The Paradigm Shift up against your previous albums?
Everything is so different in Korn. It’s cool being in a band that’s not afraid to take chances. Other bands find a formula that fits them and they stick to it. Fans love it, and I do too. But Korn is willing to go off the deep end and do a whole dubstep record. That was a big risk. Jonathan brought it to the table and we just embraced it. At the end of the day, it still sounds like a Korn record. We could do a country record, and it would still sound like Korn because of Jonathan Davis. No one plays guitar like Head or Munky. And no one plays bass like Fieldy. They always have their signature tuning and riffs. Korn carved through the middle of everything else that was going on in the music world and continues to be unique.
Korn has released 11 studio albums to date. What keeps you coming back for more?
We are lifers. This is all we do. In fact we can’t get enough. Jonathan was on his bus the other day writing music. We are all about family and music now. Sometimes Korn isn’t even enough, so we all have side projects. We are in our 40’s now and more alive than ever. Sometimes people get bored and lose the fire, but we are strong and still believe in it.
This is the first time Korn has toured with Slipknot, how has the experience been so far?
It’s been awesome. They’ve been friends of ours for awhile, and they asked us out on this. It’s hard to say no when you have 3 metal bands in arenas in 2014. That's really hard to believe, but we are doing it. They are packing places out, and it’s crazy how nuts the crowd is every day. Korn has been hitting some of the markets a lot this year. We were in Denver four times. And you wonder how many times someone can see a band, but they are still packing them out. Slipknot is another band that wanted to be unique. They still going so strong. I’m really happy to be apart of it.
What is your favorite thing about playing in front of huge arenas of fans?
Korn has played everything from thousand seaters to stadiums. There is a certain intimacy in the smaller places, but there is nothing like hitting a kick drum, plucking a guitar string, or hearing Jon’s voice coming through an arena. You are appealing to 25-thousand people at one time, and there is something very powerful about that. There is an energy that you cannot reproduce. It’s a moment captured. Live entertainment can never go away. People can steal records, but you can never replace that live element of being one with the band. When you hear the crowd cheering like that, its an adrenaline rush like no other.
I peeked at the setlist, you are playing plenty of older songs. What is your favorite song to play live on this tour and why?
It’s hard to pick a setlist. Munky mostly puts it together. We always get the die-hards complaining that we are not playing enough old obscure stuff and you get the fans that just got into Korn two albums ago and they are like, “What's all this old stuff?" I love playing “Love and Meth” off of The Paradigm Shift because it’s a good banger live. Also, "Good God" because its that old Korn sound. It’s loose, in your face, and the crowd goes nuts.
Describe your audition and entry into Korn.
At the beginning of 2007 I knew Korn was having drummer troubles and my band Army of Anyone at the time was managed by the same manager as Korn. I asked the manager what was going on with them. I knew they dug Army of Anyone record and he said I should go check them out. I started learning songs. I also do drum clinics worldwide so I was on a clinic on the west coast. Korn’s was on their last show with Joey Jordison when he was filling in as the drummer. Instead of learning 6 or 7 songs, I learned 33 Korn songs. I was already a fan. I auditioned in an empty arena and played 6 songs. At the end they said, “Welcome to Korn. We’ll see you in Dublin.”
Your drum set is huge. What is your single favorite piece of percussion on your set?
My signature is the center china cymbal. I saw Motley Crue when I was a kid. Tommy Lee had 2 red chinas up really high on each side. I saved up and bought two red ones just like him. Well eventually one cracked. I play ambidextrous, and I wanted to hit it with both hands. So i took the one I had left and put it in the center. I was 12 or 13 at the time. It’s never moved since then. I have a lot of effects cymbals for different colors. There is nothing on my kit I don’t use.
How did Korn come about to be named Korn?
I wasn’t in the band when that went down obviously. There are so many stories floating around about it. Head said that they were all naming names one day. Someone said we should call it Corn. Jonathan wrote the logo with his left hand. He spelled it with a “K” and he accidentally wrote the “R” backwards. They all were laughing and then stopped because they thought it looked cool.
What would you say to the fans coming out to see Korn live?
Stay tuned on Korn.com. We have lots of cool stuff we do on the tours featured on the website. We have VIP packages and give-aways too.
