Metal heads from all over the Pacific Northwest gathered in Auburn, Washington, on July 27. It was a very hot day, but no one minded as we were about to see In This Moment, KoRn, and Rob Zombie for the “Return of the Dreads Tour.” I personally have not ever seen this place so packed. In a festival like this, with three bands that could easily be the headliner, its no surprise that they decided to repeat this tour.
Starting off the show was Los Angeles natives, In This Moment. If you haven’t seen In This Moment live, I highly suggest you do. I don’t care if you don’t really like their music because, to be honest, I wasn’t a big fan when I saw them open for Disturbed back in 2009. But as sometimes bands do, every time I see them live they capture a little more of my attention, and now I can call myself a fan.
Maria Brink lures you in with her amazing singing talent and her electric performance. She is by far the star of the show. With the added visuals of her support dancers and her numerous costume changes, the fans are thoroughly entertained both musically and visually, from start to finish.
In This Moment’s set list consist of songs from their 2012 “Blood” album and their more recent 2014 “Black Widow” album. One of my personal favorite songs live is their “Sex Metal Barbie.” This song provides a great combination of rap flow with catchy groovy parts; your body is her captive, and you just can’t help to dance. They ended their set with heavy hitters, ”Whore” and “Blood.”
Next up was a band you might have heard of, from a little town called Bakersfield, California; The mighty KoRn! This band is near and dear to my heart. It was my husband who first turned me on to KoRn, and they are the sole reason that I began to love metal. I could listen and watch them play for hours because each band member has perfected their craft, making their live performance so entertaining. I can’t help but to smile in delight the entire set. Fieldy slapping the bass, the recently returned Head (which makes KoRn complete again) has so much fun on stage. Munky seems to have renewed excitement on stage now that Head is back. And, as always, Jonathan brings so much emotion to each song and successfully takes you on a journey with him. Rounding out this perfect combination is Ray on drums. He sometimes catches me off guard with his brilliance, and I stand awe of his maddening skills on that huge drum set.
KoRn has quite the library of songs to choose from for their set list and they do a wonderful job mixing old with the new. KoRn played their newest song “Rotting In Vain,” which appears on their upcoming album “The Serenity Of Suffering,” which will be out in October of this year.
I believe this show marks my ninth time seeing KoRn, and this was by far one of their best shows. It seems to me, each member has a rejuvenated sense of enjoyment for playing live. Between songs they talked and laughed with each other. At one point, Jonathan brought two of his sons on stage and they headband in style with their dad. It was truly amazing to watch.
Each band member convincingly appears as if they are having the time of their lives and it is infectious right down to the crowd. Jonathan gives a shout out to In This Moment and Rob Zombie at the end of their set, which shows the camaraderie that must take place back stage.
Ending the night was the very fun Rob Zombie supported by John 5, Piggy D, and Ginger Fish. The stage was set up 1970’s style, with a huge boombox and some psychedelic faces. Rob’s outfit was 100 percent 1970’s, flashy, with lots of fringe. Of course their set list consisted of staple songs such as: “Superbeast” and “Living Dead Girl.” Rob was busting a move throughout the entire performance. I have a new bucket list goal… to dance with Rob Zombie!
Their cover of “Wild Thing” and “Well, Everybody’s Fucking in a U.F.O.” (off their newest album “The Electric Warlock Acid Witch Satanic Orgy Celebration Dispenser”) was great. “In the Age of the Consecrated Vampire We All Get High” and “The Hideous Exhibitions of a Dedicated Gore Whore,” from the same album, was just as good.
Rob Zombie brought patriotism to the crowd with their rendition of our national anthem, followed perfectly with their cover of “American Band.”
Rob Zombie ended this amazing night with an encore performance of “Dragula.” As you would expect, this very popular song had the crowd singing in unison with new revived energy.
These bands don’t mess around when putting on their live shows. I can attest to the fact that it is an extraordinary tour, full of amazing talent from start to finish.
Trust me, if they do another Return of the Dreads tour, I’ll be first in line.
