Sidewave acts in their masses saturated the streets of Melbourne this week and on this particular evening, Korn and Rob Zombie’s sold out event was having its turn at The Palace.
Momentarily upon arrival, face-paint, gothic associated attire and a sea of dreadlocks were evident. The the venue filled quickly, together with the booze in the hands of those that clearly had no commitments the following day.
Ohio’s Mushroomhead graced the stage with their interesting assortment of blood-soaked, beast-like outfits and masks. Smashing through a set of classics from XX to their more recent tracks, the nine piece reluctantly left stage leaving fans in awe of their debut Australian performance.
From general observation it seemed as though the majority of ticket-holders were there to experience the animation and abstract stage persona of Rob Zombie and his crew. If you haven’t had the Zombie experience then be prepared for a memorable slap in the face. This individual’s connection and interaction with not only the crowd but his passion for music, is unsurpassed. He certainly performed to all expectations this particular evening.
Rolling straight into ‘Dead City Radio’ and ‘Super Beast’, Zombie energetically continued through with ‘Scum Of The Earth’ whilst guitarist John 5 randomly began to drool on the stage. Ginger Fish impressed onlookers with his drum solo that was momentarily replaced by White Zombie’s classic ‘More Human Than Human’. As this pushed the crowd into a severe frenzy of hair thrashing and air fisting, further energy was released when ‘Sick Bubblegum’ was voiced whilst accompanied by a continuous flow of giant inflated balloons off stage. ‘Thunder Kiss 65’ maintained the frenzy as John 5 shredded away on his axe, taking the attention away from Zombie who proceeded to walk around the back of the unbeknownst crowd with a flashlight in hand. After a solid hour of entertainment and visual entrapment, their set came to an unforgettable end with ‘Dragula’.
The 21 year old Californian nu-metal masters have undoubtedly paved the way for many other influenced artists and it’s seemingly evident that they still have the gift of the gab when it comes to live performances.
No technical delays of sorts where had as headliners Korn hit the stage as scheduled. The man behind the throat, Jonathan Davis, roared into his custom mic stand with ‘Falling Away From Me’. It certainly didn’t take long for the crowd to open their pores and sweat it out yet again when string instrumentalists ‘Fieldy’, ‘Munky’ and 2013’s reunited ‘Head’ synchronically thrashed their locks around to the self titled favourite ‘Twist’, which also did exactly as titled to the crowd. ‘Got The Life’ was thrown in the mix only to encourage the pits enthusiasm further. ‘Dead Bodies Everywhere’, ‘Spike In My Veins’ and a crowd pleaser ‘Shoots And Ladders’ that knowingly opens with Davis’ infamous bagpiping, caught the attention of everyone. Sporadic crowd surfing increased but disappointingly was not encouraged at the venue as Korn’s set was coming to a closure. The Palace’s audio system was given a ruthless workout when ‘Freak On A Leash’ and ‘Blind’ ended the heavily applauded set.
With appreciation shown by all fans, amalgamation of performance individuality, impressive lighting structure and crisp audio fulfilled an evening of pure enjoyment. Get on the wagon of all of these artists at Soundwave if you haven’t already!
– Photos by John Raptis
