What magic remains once an album reaches 20 years? What residue can a band hope to ignite two decades after the initial hype and adoration? For Korn, and their legion of rabid fans, there was an answer of endurance for their sold out show at the House of Blues. Somehow we have made it into 2015, and Korn has as well.
With swirling dreadlocks, steampunk mic stands, and industrial canister spotlights, Korn’s staging evoked 1994 without becoming nostalgic. The songs off their 1994 eponymous disk, delivered with frenetic energy and obliterating strobe effect, reminded of the band’s paradoxical hard and soft appeal. Even as James Shaffer whipped his coiled hair and flashed bandaged fingers across his guitar, and Reggie Arvizu played his bass perpendicular to the stage, and Brian Welch glowered under thick trestles lobbed heavenward, it was Jonathan Davis and his stereotype shattering lyrics, “I’m just a pretty boy, whatever you call it/You wouldn’t know a real man if you saw it,” that gave/give Korn some distinction from the 90’s nu-metal scene.
And when the encore concluded with “Freak on a Leash,” and the photo pit became an extended mosh pit, Korn could triumphantly bask in the accomplishment of holding their band, and fans, together for 20 years strong.
