Korn at the Liverpool Echo Arena. January 2015. Photograph by Ian D. Hall.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

A stray and uncharted asteroid ripping into the moon with the precision of the 8 ball being placed head on into the side pocket would, not makes as much noise as the cacophony of sound that greeted Korn as the Prepare For Hell tour wound its way to the Liverpool’s Echo Arena.

It was almost as if the fans of the band and of the genre had been starved of having the strength of quality of the music that Korn were able, and willing to provide.

The thought of watching Korn on stage at the Echo Arena is arguably a surreal experience at the best of times. In the head-banging grey matter and flashes of hair being thrown about wildly, as if a shampoo advert was taking place in every single seat, the audience was going ballistic with unrestricted emotion as each song was being played out. If the thought of this happening, even a year ago, was too have entered the minds of any metal fan, they would have dismissed it as folly; such nights do not happen in the grand old lady of Liverpool.

Front man Jonathan Davis especially looked in fine form and gave a scintillating display of vocal dexterity, which for many in the crowd was going to be a highlight as they openly nodded their approval throughout the second part of the evening. That highlight was added to with the appearance of the much valued bagpipes towards the end of Korn’s industrious and highly valued set. It may not have caught the vast majority of the crowd out but it did wonders to imagine Jonathan Davis standing heroically astride on the Runcorn Bridge and giving the almightiest of lung-busting warnings that dissenters were on the march.

Arguably it could be seen as being the hardest stage slot of the evening for some. To go on second out of three is to understand, no matter how good you are, the crowd have had their musical diversion with the first support act and as they gear up for the main band they came to see, they still have to wade through another set. In Korn though any wading going on is left to the wildlife that found itself battling the cold coming up the Mersey River and the holders of the other Metal trade, Bootle’s and Liverpool Docks.

With a set that included songs such as Here To Stay, Love & Meth, the tremendous Good God, the sublime Freak on a Leash and the song that started off the fascination for the band, Blind, the only way they could go beyond the normal call of duty was to give a stirring rendition of the closing section of Metallica’s great anti-war track One. The pounding heart missed a couple of beats, the shiver of expectancy grew wild and in that moment any excuse aside from size of the band, of any group not visiting Liverpool, was firmly and with much alluded pomp, thrown completely out of the window.

The middle act they may have been, but for Korn, they truly stood shoulder to shoulder as headliner’s Slipknot with their debut performance at the Echo Arena.

Loud, overwhelmingly boisterous and a great pleasure to witness, Korn really know how to make an audience sweat for their musical supper.

Ian D. Hall