Return of The Dread Tour – KORN, ROB ZOMBIE, IN THIS MOMENT

This summer heated up as Metal Icons – Rob Zombie and Korn teamed up for a co-headlining tour – “The Return of The Dreads Tour” featuring Korn, Rob Zombie and In This Moment. What a fun tour with a great line-up! Musician Photo Journal caught the tour when they rocked the Lakeside Amphitheater in Syracuse NY.

First up was In This Moment. This band has come a long way since we first saw them in 2009, opening for Mudvayne. With five studio albums, one live album and roughly fifteen singles, it’s been fun to see how this band has grown.

As a whole, In This Moment has a strong stage presence with a solid sound to boot. Visually, vocalist Maria Brinks’s reminds me of a female Alice Copper especially when she sings at her pink podium, the spiders and severed head in hand.

With multiple outfit changes, mask, props and the Blood Girls Dancers, Maria and her band mates : Chris Howorth (lead guitars), Travis Weitzel (bass guitar), Randy Weitzel (guitar) and Kent Dimmel (drums) really have taken things to a new level of entertainment.

In This Moment is currently on tour in support of their album, “Black Widow.” They will be heading to Japan this September 2016. Rumor has it that a new album is in the works for 2017.

Next to take the stage was Rob Zombie with a larger than life, stage show… In true Rob Zombie style, the stage set was over the top! The huge funhouse/horror show monster faces, the enormous boom box radio that was branded “Satan-o-sonic” with a cassette tape inside labeled “Dead City Radio,” the nosferatu mic stands and of course the “Giants” that join them on stage – the giant devil, the giant evil dancing robot martian and at the end Rob’s “podium” of a giant metal demon sculpture (it has a sci-fi/steampunk

feel) that he sings from the top. I wish I had a photo to share cause words don’t do it justice!

Their setlist was a nice blend of old and new songs from Rob Zombie’s latest album, “The Electric Warlock Acid Witch Satanic Orgy Celebration Dispenser.” They played the classic songs like “Living Dead Girl” and “Superbeast.” They even dipped into White Zombie days with “More Human Than Human” and “Thunder Kiss ’65.” As for the newer songs, “In the Age of the Consecrated Vampire We All Get High,” “Dead City Radio and the New Gods of Supertown,” “The Hideous Exhibitions of a Dedicated Gore Whore.” Just before “Well, Everybody’s Fucking in a U.F.O,”

Sheri Moon Zombie joined the band on stage with blow-up Alien sex Dolls that were suppose to race as they crowd surf from the front to the back and then return to the stage… Unfortunately, one greedy fan tried keeping the doll and well it didn’t work out like it was supposed to.

Rob Zombie will be hitting the road again soon for a theatre headlining run, with DJ Fisher opening up. Rob will be playing songs he hasn’t played in almost 20 yrs this tour! They will be playing at The Palace Theatre on Wednesday, Sept 14, 2016. Watch for the tour to come towards you! He also has his latest movie 31 hitting movie theatres near you.

Last to take the stage was KORN. They came out hitting hard with “Right Now.” They were solid and tight as ever!

Korn kicked off their set with a nice blend of hits including “Here to Stay,” “Y’all Want a Single” and “Coming Undone” They even played new songs, “Rotting In Vain” and “Insane” off their upcoming new album, “The Serenity of Suffering” which really took me back to the early days!

Mid set, Jonathan pulled out the bagpipes for “Shoots And Ladders.” No matter if it was 1995 in a small club, Woodstock in 1999 or Syracuse in 2016, the crowd always erupts during that song!!! The crowd sizes may change, but that exploding energy of fans remain the same!

The second half of their set was packed with the early Classic KORN tunes, “Blind,” “Twist,” “Got The Life,” “Falling Away From Me” and closing out the night with “Freak On A Leash.”

Watch for KORN to come to your town, as they will continue to hit the road in North America with their “Live! Korn 20th Anniversary Tour”

The Return of The Dreads tour really took you back in time with those older favorite songs, yet each band also was fresh and new with their latest tunes. All three bands sounded amazing and gave a killer performance. You really could not have asked for a better show!!