The Return of the Dreads tour brings out the gore-whores to party!
▣Xfinity Center, Mansfield, MA ▣Sunday, August 28th 2016
Two of the most influential heavy metals bands Korn and Rob Zombie are back on tour. Korn supporting a new album coming out October 21st titled The Serenity of Suffering. Rob Zombie, who currently has a movie in theaters, making this the perfect time to bring back The Return of the Dreads tour. The tour also feature special guests, the new queen of metal, Maria Brink and her band In This Moment. The Black Widows touch would make for a perfect evening.
In this Moment would go on first and the crowd was ready for them to set tonight’s mood. You could feel the heavy bass coming from the speakers and shake the floor, as the dancers got in place and ready for their start. But when Maria Brink made her entrance, you could definitely hear they had a good following here at the Xfinity Center and they were eager for them to begin their set. The Black Widow was all in black, including a big hat and long gold finger tips. She was joined on stage by Chris Howorth on lead guitar, Randy Weizeld on rhythm guitar, Travis Johnson on bass and Ken Diimmel on drums. The crowd gave her and the guys from In This Moment a warm welcome.
They started to intoxicate Boston with their opening song, Sick Like Me. Maria swayed back and forthv in tune with her dancers, she dominated the stage and was fierce. As the guys shreaded on their guitars, Ken’s heavy drums filled the venue. The sexy vixen would continue their set with Black Widow, before a very hot performance of Adrenalize Me, as Maria and her dancers came out on stage in black bunny mask for a cabaret number that had jaws dropping at the Xfinity Center.
In this Moment sounded amazing and they were so much fun to watch. The Black Widow would go onto sing Burn, Sex Metal Barbie and Whore before closing their set with Blood. If they didn’t have a lot of fans before they started their set tonight, they would now. In This Moments entire production was perfect and I couldn’t wait to see them again!
The chanting of “Daddy” filled the air as they were getting the stage set for Massachusetts’ own Rob Zombie. The girls, or as he likes to describe them ‘Gore-Whores’, were excited for his set to begin. The Last of the Demons Defeated came on as the guys took the stage. His set looked like a scene from a horror/comic book. Large monster faces, the biggest boom box you have ever seen. There were huge screens behind the stage that constantly played zombie clips, old Godzilla movies and from his movies. Piggy, John 5 and Ginger Fish were all in make up and were a site to see. They would continued their opening with Dead City Radio and The Gods of Supertown, leading to Superbeast, the fan favorite that had this crowd jumping out of their seats. Rob was on top of the box speakers dancing and singing as the guys shredded their instruments.
They would do one more before going into a cover of Tone-Loc’s, Wild Thing. Not the same lyrics but the music and beats were all there as Rob shouted into the crowd “If you want to fucking party, let me hear you say I want to fucking party!” The crowd shouted it back to him and the party continued as the guys went into Living Dead Girl. The inflatable large green aliens flew on top of the crowd as the guys played Well, Everybody’s Fucking in a UFO. A John 5 solo would send Rob for a walk all around the Xfinity Center as fans gathered around and followed his every step. He finally made it to the stage just as John began to play the Star-Spangled Banner Intro, leading to We’re an American Band, the Grand Funk Railroad cover the guys would close with.
For the encore, he played for us a clip of his new movie 31 and would go on to play Thunder Kiss ’65 from his White Zombie days. For the last song of the night, he would ask the crowd to put their cell phones away, as large balloons bounced off the crowd, he went into Dragula. And there wasn’t a song more appropriate from his discography to close his set. At the end of the song he thank his New England crowd, took a bow and exited the stage. Piggy and John 5 stuck around and thanked the crowd also, flicked guitar picks into the air, bowed and also made their exit. He promised us a Fucking Good Time…I think he accomplished that and more.
Now it was Korn’s turn to blow the roof of this place, and they would do just that! With his famous girl microphone stand in place and a screen as a backdrop that just read the date 10/21/16, which is the date the new album The Serenity of Suffering is being released. Blue lights came on and sirens started to go off as the first guys are seen getting into place. First on stage was drummer Ray Luzier and James “Munky ” Shaffer on guitar. They would be followed close behind by Reginald “Fildy” Arvizu, Brian “Head” Welch, and finally making his entrance would be Jonathan Davis. They would start their set with Right Now. What an explosive way to start, the guys were on fire right out of the gate!
The fan fueled Korn ,continuing with Here to Stay as Davis would continuously test the Boston crowds vocals. The bass from Fildy was so heavy and Luzier’s drumming rumbled the Xfinity Center. For their next one, Davis would ask the crowd if they could sing a new one, and they were all in for new music as they would go start to play Insane. They sang Somebody Someone and Coming Undone before Davis approached the crowd and asked them if they wanted to get crazy. He spoke to the Boston crowd “Get your middle finger up in the air like this, GET THEM UP! And on the count of three I want to hear FUCK THAT! Are you ready?! FUCK THAT!” the crowd yelled it back and Davis said “I thought I was in Boston? Now crazier, FUCK THAT!’ this time it would work and the guys would take this crowd to Y’All Want a Single, and I am sure that the chanting of “Fuck That” could be heard for miles. The moshing and crowd surfing continued as they went onto playing their next one, Make Me Bad.
Another one from their new album The Serenity of Suffering, Rotting in Vain, would continue to set the tone but when Davis came out playing the bag pipes, the crowd went insane. What is it about that instrument that we love so much? They sounded amazing as he led them into Shoots and Ladders. By the time the next one Blind came on, he would turn this place up side down. They played Twist and Got the Life before closing with fan favorites Falling Away from Me and Freak On a Leash, sending the crowd into complete pandemonium. There was no encore, but they didn’t need one, their set was that good. Davis sounded amazing live and the guys were all on point. I don’t think their set could have been any better than it was.
What a great way to end the night. Korn’s set would meet more than expectations as they were flawless. Rob Zombie was very entertaining, his production and set was a horror fan’s dream. In This Moment was fantastic! Maria Brink turned heads with her voice and stage presence. Amazing performances by all three bands at the Xfinty Center, made for a night that the fans would soon not forget.
Review & Photos: Carlos Londono
Check out the band websites for more info!
In This Moment
Rob Zombie
Korn
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