KORN & EVANESCENCE

Xfinity Center
Mansfield, Massachusetts
August 26, 2022

Photos & Review by Michael LaFleche

MANSFIELD, Mass. – Friday night in late August is what concert season is all about at the Xfinity Center. A delayed start with thunderstorm-soaked, nu-metal fans did not douse the energy that had been building during the tailgating festivities. The atmosphere was electric in the sky as well as on the stage with KoRn & Evanescence, bands that have steered an entire generation of metal fans and formed the foundation of what is popular today in metal.

The opening acts were cut short during the chaos that occurs on a Friday night with Cape Cod traffic, massive thunderstorms and other huge concert up the road for country music fans. But inside the amphitheater all of that was forgotten when Amy Lee and the band with Evanescence took to the stage opening with the energetic “Broken Pieces Shine.” Amy’s operatic voice sounds perfect to the point that I forgot I was at a concert and instead listening with high quality audiophile headphones. The rest of the band wove their sounds into the powerful music that powered us through our teenage years and angst ridden years that I recall when remembering these songs.

The band is made of the legendary Amy Lee opening the heavens or summoning hell depending on the song. Rounding out the band is Troy McLawhorn on guitars, Tim McCord, a recent addition, also on guitars, the energetic basketball jersey wearing Will Hunt on drums and excellent bass player Emma Anzai also joining the band way up on a platform looking over the stage.

The set had all the songs you hear on the radio and some deeper cuts. The second song was “Made of Stone,” followed by “Take Cover.” “Going Under,” seeming anthemic in its sound really got the theater moving with everybody singing back to Amy approvingly. “Call When You’re Sober” always a fun and pointed song that gets the emotions riled up was followed by a number of other tuneful and angst ridden tracks like “Wasted on You,” “Lithium” and “Better Without You.’ A medley of tunes also was belted out with Lose Control / Part of Me / Never Go Back.

The crowd went into a frenzy with the sing that made the band famous, “Bring Me to Life.” It Sounds even better than when I first heard it 20 years ago. The only thing that can come after a hit like that is another, “My Immortal” and the curtain closed with “Blind Belief.”

Overall it was a great set by Amy and Evanescence and a big treat for the storm weary fans.

EVANESCENCE photo gallery

But the energy shifted to another level, as the still a freak-laded crowd was ready to hear KoRn hit them right in the root chakra. Unapologetically Jonathan Davis and KoRn hit the stage playing behind a digital curtainwall to start the first two songs of the show, creating a fun, holographic look, and gets the crowd into a fever pitch with opening songs “Rotting in Vain,” and the hormone driven “A.D.I.D.A.S.” which we all recall grooving to in our youths, but somehow made me feel a few years younger, along with Jonathan, who defies age and stereotype.

KoRn and its music really have it’s in own genre in my opinion, with the hardcore metal, sexual and freaking atmosphere that they ooze of. If you have not been to a KoRn show or listened to any of their music, imagine Rick James fronting Megadeth with Bootsy Collin’s style bass grooves. But I would be shocked if you didn’t know at least a few KoRn songs.

Jonathan Davis of course is the lead singer and involved with many other aspects of the band, and James “Munky” Shaffer on guitars followed up by the most important instrument for KoRn, the heavy bass driven lines delivered by Suicidal Tendencies’ Ra Díaz playing bass on this tour with Reginald “Fieldy” Arvizu, the longtime Korn bassist taking a break right now. Brian “Head” Welch was here though on more guitar, with longtime drummer Ray Luzier

The band really sounded great, also with a feeling of studio perfection in their tightness. Next songs were “Here to Stay,” “Start the Healing” a medley of Ball Tongue / Need To / Divine wrapped up by “Idiosyncrasy.” The fan favorite “Porno Creep” was followed by the entire crowd chanting “I can see, I can see that I’m going Blind” over and over. KoRn fans are really a great crowd to be a part of, always reminding us that they are still freaks. (This is a term of endearment, do not misunderstand)

Of course as the set went on, the hits kept coming. “Falling Away From Me,” “Alone I Break” and the high dance energy of “Got the Life” got everybody in the front pit area really engaged to say the least. Wrapping up the end of the set was “Let the Dark Do the Rest” the contagiously “Y’All Want a Single” with the brutally heavy bass and anti-establishing music industry anthem with the most F-bombs ever lobbed into a song.

The band was not done yet after leaving the stage. They came back out to the familiar war gunfire of One’s intro by Metallica, with “Shoots and Ladders.” This was followed by the haunting “Twist.” But the highlight of the night was “Freak on a Leash” with Evanescence’s Amy Lee. Amy has joined Jonathan many times now for this performance remembering back to an MTV unplugged performance many years ago, but this was most certainly not unplugged. Amy uses a softer tone along with Jonathan wails to create a masterfully executed closer to the show.

I was really surprised at how much I enjoyed this show, the bands were exciting, played masterfully and took great care to give the fans the show they demand. You should take a few outs out of you day if they are in your area, it is a spectacle and a great time.

KoRn photo gallery