When I thought things couldn’t get better after the Beartooth show, I was graced with the opportunity to shoot a band that I not only very much enjoy but have been listening to since I was in second grade – not even joking. Korn was a monumental catalyst for my jump into rock and nu-metal. Korn & Staind were both bands I grew up listening to and the moment I found out I was approved to shoot, I called my mom and told her the big news. It was truly a full circle moment for me, and I could not wait to for the day to come.

On the day of the show, I woke up and could barely focus on work, but I just knew it was going to be a killer night. Fast forward 8 hours and I am picking up my press pass for the show while waiting for the house photographer to come escort me to the photo lounge. Staind is about to go on, so we grab our things and head to the sound board area. It was my first time ever shooting from this far, so I got me a 600mm lens that did the trick! See the photos below!

While getting my gear ready, Staind took the stage, and the crowd goes wild. Out the gate they come in heavy. Aaron Lewis was super calm and collected on stage. It was a different vibe compared the words he was singing and screaming but I appreciated it. One of the things I didn’t realize when I was watching them perform was how much they screamed in their songs. I guess it just never dawned on me that they were a super heavy band. Of course, I was stoked to hear all of the hits like “It’s Been Awhile”, “So Far Away”, “Mudshovel”, and “Outside”. I felt like I was in my mom’s old jeep as a child jamming again. Mad respect to them being able to keep their sound so crisp all these years. Solid performance all around.

Next up, the main act, Korn. I purposely didn’t look up the setlist for this show just so I was surprised by the songs they were about to play. I had heard whims of them playing “Trash”, which is my favorite song by them, and I was getting super amped waiting for it. The curtain hanging up in front of the whole stage had the Korn logo planted and they were teasing the crowd. The moment the curtain drops, they open with “Insane” and we were off to the races. I was in awe. I had never seen Korn live before and I really had a hard time focusing on taking photos. Based on the setlist from the night I read that there were songs they never really played all that often which was cool to be part of. They performed songs from all over their discography. Jonathan Davis was still recovering from having Covid and had a breathing machine and throne on stage with him. At times he was sitting down singing because he didn’t have the energy. Such a trooper.

“Falling Away From Me”, “Shoots and Ladders”, “Coming Undone”, and “Freak on a Leash” were all played during the main set. As we all know, Korn wasn’t going to leave the stage without an encore and boy did they give us one. When they came back on stage, they played a mashup of “It’s On”, “Trash”, and “Did My Time” and let me tell you, to hear “Trash” live was pure bliss. They played a few more and closed with their first track from the self-titled album, Blind. The crowd went absolutely wild.

Overall, it was one hell of a show. If you can, catch them before the tour ends because it was a night to remember for sure!