Korn and Alice in Chains

(Originally Published on South Florida Insider)

The Combo of Two Hard Hitting 90’s Alternative Heavyweights Delivers a Knockout Punch to South Florida – Review of the Korn/Alice In Chains Concert at the Coral Sky Amphitheater in West Palm Beach, FL

Story by: Gleb Barabanov

The Nineties were alive in West Palm this past Sunday as the killer co-headlining combination of Korn and Alice in Chains made their way to the beautiful Coral Sky Amphitheater. Supported by Metalcore favorites Underoath and rock-rap group H09909, the night was packed to the brim with amazing music.

First up to the plate were H09909, who I had never heard of before that night. They put on a pretty good show, and their songs had a very “new school Rage Against the Machine” feel. They had a pretty short set but I’m sure we’ll be seeing a lot more of them after this tour. Tampa, Florida locals Underoath were the next band to perform, and by the time they got to the stage the lawn was starting to get pretty packed. Kicking off their time on stage with On My Teeth, their set consisted mainly of songs from their brand new album ERASE ME, which is their first album since they re-united. After playing a few more news songs, as well as a few older ones such as Breathing in a New Mentality and Writing on the Walls, the band departed the stage and the main attractions were set to begin.

After a short break and with the gorgeous sunset at their backs, Alice in Chains took to the stage and kicked off their set with a pair of stone-cold classics: Angry Chair and Man in the Box. Even though nobody can replace Layne since his unfortunate passing, new singer William DuVall is the next best thing, and he imitates Layne’s classic drawl so well that when you close your eyes you almost can’t tell the difference. They knew that their audience would consist of a lot of their older fans, and consequently their setlist that night consisted mainly of older “Greatest Hits” including Them Bones, Dam that River, and even an acoustic version of Nutshell a la their MTV Unplugged album. After a few more songs including some jams from their latest album Rainier Fog, they finished their time on stage with Would?, and what is perhaps their most well known song, Rooster.

As the techs finished up setting the stage, fog began to pour in and the lights dimmed. With an amazing setup of LED lights and strobes behind them, Jonathan Davis and the rest of the band assembled onto the stage and broke into their first song, Here To Stay. I was super excited to see that Korn also played a setlist consisting mostly of their older stuff, and they played four songs from my favorite album by them, Issues. Playing songs from all across their extensive catalogue, including Shoots and Ladders during which Jonathan broke into a Bagpipe solo, the band kept the crowd jumping the entire time. After a massive 15 song setlist including my favorite song Freak on a Leash and a stunning 4 song encore consisting of all crowd favorites, the amazing night came to a close as the band left the stage. Here’s hoping Jonathan and the gang comes back for another round in South Florida soon!