Photos and review by: Alan Ralph @ARPhotoSF
After the first couple months of 2020, as the music industry began to shutdown due to a worldwide pandemic, Korn was one of the few bands still on the road that was lucky enough to not have had the remainder of their tour cancelled. Staind didn’t have to worry at all about that, as they have been on an extended hiatus, aside from a handful of shows and festivals here and there that they reconvened for. This show at MidFlorida Credit Union Amphitheatre was the second stop of their current summer tour together as co-headliners.
Spinning Platters had to get creative at the last minute to photograph and review this show as our press request was not replied to due to a publicist change (Korn) and press access was retracted due to growing COVID concerns (Staind). Thankfully, Live Nation had their annual summer $20 lawn ticket special the week prior, and since our metal music writer + photographer (who has been in Florida for most of 2021) is a seasoned concert veteran, he was smart enough to know to bring a decent camera without a detachable lens (Nikon Coolpix P80), and was cunning enough to know how to sneak on down to the main floor in order to get these photos (they are definitely not as good as what we usually get from the Canon DSLR)!
Over the past seven years, Staind have not performed together very often, but it was hard to tell from their tight hour long set. Along with Korn but not as part of this tour, they recently had a couple of warmup festival shows (at Rock Fest and Upheaval) to dust off their instruments and re-attain their live presence and energy. It was noticeable, however, that singer and rhythm guitarist Aaron Lewis seemed quite subdued, especially compared to fill-in drummer Chad Szeliga (Breaking Benjamin, Black Label Society), bassist Johnny April, and guitarist Mike Mushok, who was the most active and animated throughout the entire set. At times, Aaron may have screamed out some lyrics as if he was singing in a death metal band, but when he walked away from the micstand, he paced the stage ever-so-slowly and it just felt sluggish. Still, there was a mosh pit during most of the set, and we even saw one guy crowd-surf!
Since they have not released any new music since 2011, as Aaron was focused mainly on his solo career during the past decade, the setlist consisted mainly of their rock radio hits going all the way back to songs they released in 1999.
1. Eyes Wide Open (2011)
2. Open Your Eyes (2001)
3. Not Again (2011)
4. Fade (2001)
5. Raw (1999)
6. Right Here (2005)
7. Crawl (1999)
8. Outside (2001)
9. Paper Wings (2011)
10. So Far Away (2003)
11. For You (2001)
12. It’s Been Awhile (2001)
13. Mudshovel (1999)
As the intermission went on, and the place filled in completely, at 9:15pm when the intro music started and everyone was ready for Korn to drop the Kabuki screen… all 16,000 fans erupted! Although Florida has been mostly opened during these past 18-months, there have not been very many large-scale metal shows like this one, and the crowd released an energy that has not been felt since March 2020.
Korn was ready too! Jonathan Davis headbanged behind his beloved custom H.R. Giger microphone stand, Brian ‘Head’ Welch and James ‘Munky’ Shaffer thrashed about and provided their signature guitar riffs, Ray Luzier held down the drums on a giant drum riser above everyone else, and Ra Diaz (Suicidal Tendencies) filled-in to handle the bass lines normally given by the fingers of Reginald ‘Fieldy’ Arvizu, who recently announced that he needs time off because he has been struggling with personal issues over the past year. The whole band killed it, and Ra was an exceptional addition.
Click on any photo below the setlist for a slideshow of full-size images.
Korn Setlist:
1. Insane
2. Falling Away From Me
3. Here to Stay
4. Victimized
5. Got the Life
6. Cold
7. Shoots and Ladders
8. Coming Undone
9. You’ll Never Find Me
10. Can You Hear Me
11. Clown
12. Dirty
13. Freak on a Leash
Encore:
14. It’s On / Trash / Did My Time
15. Twist
16. A.D.I.D.A.S. (shortened version)
17. Blind
Although the vast majority of our coverage is in the San Francisco Bay Area, we are extremely thankful to have been invited to attend and review a variety of shows down in Florida, including Foreigner, Styx, Sammy Hagar, Teenage Bottlerocket, and Brad Paisley. Korn + Staind will be the last stop on our Florida tour, as our metal music writer + photographer will soon be rejoining Spinning Platters back at our home base!
Bay Area readers and fans can see Korn + Staind on September 11 at Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View.
Korn performed only six shows worldwide in 2018, and Spinning Platters was at one of them… Follow the Leader 20th Anniversary!
See more photos of all of your favorite Metal musicians at Alan Ralph‘s photo portfolio.
