Korn Blows Fans Away in San Antonio
Show review via C.L. Wages - @see_doubleuu
This past week I attended a Korn concert (Monday, October 21, 2024 in San Antonio, Texas). In most aspects, it was your typical heavy metal show.
Starting from the beginning, I arrived at the venue at the time of opening the doors, and I was alone. In some of my experiences at concerts I have been able to form a faux friend group to stand with, however due to the nature and popularity of this show, everyone already had a group that they were going with and I wasn’t approached as much as expected.
That isn’t to say the population wasn’t nice, though.
I saw some of the most respectful and kind interactions happen at merchandise booths at this show, than I’ve seen anywhere else. Speaking of merchandise, prices at some of these shows can feel a little outrageous, because realistically, who wants to spend $55 dollars on a t-shirt? Not me. I did however end up purchasing a tour shirt for $45. I was not surprised by this price, do I think it was too expensive? Yes, but it was on par to what I’ve seen at shows before. (Not to mention, at the Journey/Def Leppard show I reviewed earlier this year, t-shirts were $55, which I found a little ridiculous for a Hanes t-shirt with screen printing. The Korn shirt I bought was comfort colors, a favorite of mine).
The start of the show was kicked off by supporting band number one, Spirit Box, and I’ll be completely honest, I didn’t get to see much of their set due to long lines for merchandise. As for the sound quality, it was pretty clear and they seemed to have put on sort of a fantastic light show if the flashes I saw from the stage can speak to anything. They had about a 30 minute set, and they truly made the most of it.
Supporting band number 2, Gojira, walked on the stage and blew all of us away. They were loud, and crazy, and really fun. If you’ve never heard of Gojira, they’re definitely worth a listen, hailing from France they’re anything but delicate, and really know how to bring the metal genre to life. Their set lasted about 45 minutes, and they really packed it in. There were so many others in the crowd around me that I talked to that had never heard of them, and by the end of their set, I could tell Gojira had a couple hundred new fans.
The only thing I will say, is that for their openers set they didn’t have much of a stage presence, they relied heavily on the graphics on the stage screen. Albeit, the graphics were very cool, and super entertaining, however I do wish the band had more of a presence. (I think they are more present when it’s their show, my concert buddy says “They can’t show up Korn.” I agree).
Korn came on, and well, they were krazy (pardon the pun). Celebrating 30 years of the band, they really gave it their all for this show. One might think “Shouldn’t they be tired?” But you’d be wrong. As long as they have been playing, they still have yet to phone it in. I could tell they were high energy, and just super ready to be back on yet another stage to play for us. They came on around 9:30 pm, and they played until about 11:00. Their set was a bit surprising at the length, I was expecting around a 2 hour set, and while this was only 30 minutes shorter, it still caught me by surprise.
In all, Korn put on a great show, lots of crowd interaction, riffing, and just a general sense of being happy to play for all those who showed up for them. At one point the lead singer came out with bagpipes, which if I’m not mistaken, is a tradition at their shows. Being my first Korn show, I thought this was awesome. I truly love it when bands have these little traditions and silly little things they like to do at every show. It reminds the audience that they’re all still people, and people love traditions.
As for the sound quality, it can be summed up into one main word and that word is LOUD. Now don’t get me wrong, and don’t think I’m not with the times, I love a good loud show, however when it comes to affecting the sound quality, that’s when I get a little concerned. Unfortunately, that was the case for Korn. They still played really well, and we all had a great time, however, it got to the point where the mixing was a little muddled, and I think that was due to the fact that the sound engineers were trying to make it as loud as possible. For a band that’s as talented and experienced as Korn, I don’t think the volume was set properly, although that’s just my opinion. As someone with a musical ear, I would have much rather have it turned down and blended a little better, in a way that showcases the extreme talent of this band. Towards the end of the show, they did the classic “fake ending” and encore during which they played some of their more popular songs like Falling Away From Me. It was cool to watch the crowd come to life with just a few notes being played. Finally when the house lights came on, the crowd was ushered out to the tune of Low Rider, which was quite entertaining to me.
Over all, this was a very well rounded and nicely structured show. Each band played skillfully, and seemed excited to be there. I love it when the bands truly seem excited to play, I’ve seen too many shows where the band seems lackluster and bored. This show was anything but that, and the crowd's energy reflected it. To sum it up, I would see each of these artists again, whether it be in this format or some other format. I look forward to the next opportunity I’ll get to see them.
