Korn and Evanescence Storm Through Mansfield, MA – August 26, 2022

It was a wild and stormy night this past Friday, as massive thunderstorms rolled through Southern New England. The opening of gates was held off as guests and staff at the Xfinity Center were told to shelter in place, in order to let the storms pass safely through. Originally scheduled to open at 4:30, the doors didn’t open until 7:00. Unfortunately, this meant that Jeris Johnson’s set had to be cut, and Palaye Royale only got to play for 20 minutes, right as the doors were opened. With these adjustments, Korn and Evanescence were still able to play nearly their full sets.

Evanescence

Last year, Evanescence released The Bitter Truth, their first album of all-original material in roughly a decade. In that decade, the band has stayed busy, but they experimented a bit. When we last saw them, in 2018, they were touring off their album Synthesis, which saw orchestral reimaginings of classic Evanescence songs. To fit with that theme, the band was playing with an orchestra backing them up. While it was a cool night of music, that’s not necessarily what people think of when they think of Evanescence, so with their new album, they returned to the heavy style of their past.

The Bitter Truth was featured heavily in the show, right from the start with “Broken Pieces Shine.” This set the tone for the rest of the show, which struck a great balance of new songs and old hits. Favorites like “Call Me When You’re Sober” and “Going Under” got big reactions early in the night, while the final trio of the set, “Bring Me to Life,” “My Immortal,” and “Blind Belief” really finished the night strong. If any fans were disappointed by the orchestral versions we caught a few years ago, tonight the songs were played how you remember them, with Amy Lee and the rest of the band putting on great performances.

Korn

A large video screen covers the front of the stage as Korn takes the stage with the song “Rotting in Vain.” Videos playing behind the band show a stormy mountain scene, while lightning crashes all around the screen in front of them. They next play their classic hit, “A.D.I.D.A.S.,” and video continues to play in front of the band, showing various eyeballs swirling around the screen. As the song ends, the screen lifts, and we get a good look at Jonathan Davis and company. The first notes of “Here to Stay” kick in, and that was when the crowd erupted.

The power brought by guitarists Head and Munky, drummer Ray Luzier, and Ra Diaz, still filling in for Fieldy on bass, was undeniable. All the Korn hits you expected to hear, like “Blind,” “Got the Life,” and “Falling Away From Me” were huge highlights. For the old school Korn fans, they played a medley of “Ball Tongue,” “Need To,” and “Divine,” all off of their 1994 self-titled debut album.

When the band returned from their encore, they played the live staple of “Shoots and Ladders,” with frontman Jonathan Davis on bagpipes, into “Twist.” From there, the night was finished off with a special treat, as Evanescence frontwoman Amy Lee joined the band to sing Korn’s mega-hit, “Freak on a Leash.”

This tour wasn’t the first time that Evanescence and Korn have toured together, but after the show tonight, it’s easy to see that the bands compliment each other well, and this tour gave fans the perfect combination of nu-metal that made it worth waiting out the storms.