Photo Credit: Victor Frankowski
Words by: Laviea Thomas
On Sunday, nu-metal legends Korn headlined their largest UK show to date at London’s Gunnersbury Park, celebrating the band’s 30th anniversary. Playing to a sold-out crowd of roughly 25,000 fans, the gig demonstrated just how far and wide their fanbase stretches. As one of the most influential bands in the nu-metal scene, Korn’s legacy is clearly set to endure.
Due to a change in the lineup, supporting acts Loathe and Wargasm took the stage earlier than originally scheduled. Hours before the show, Denzel Curry announced he was pulling out due to vocal strain. On his Instagram story, he stated, “To all my fans in London I apologize… I think everyone knows how crazy I go when performing but the back to back shows have taken a toll on me. I don’t want to risk further injury to it or give a half ass show… I’ll make it up to you…that much i do promise.”
Replacing Denzel’s slot was Canadian prog-metal project Spiritbox, who quickly raised the bar with a killer set. Frontwoman Courtney LaPlante, clad in a silver tracksuit, charismatically waltzed onto the stage, commanding attention. Opening with their adrenaline-pumping track “Cellar Door,” LaPlante immediately reminded us why she is the queen of gutturals.
Throughout the set, Spiritbox seamlessly integrated hard-hitting cuts like “Angel Eyes” and “Hysteria” with emotionally-charged releases such as “Blessed Be” and “Circle With Me.” As expected, LaPlante’s effortless execution of spellbinding vocals and cutthroat screams was as smooth as butter. Spiritbox energized the crowd with circle pits, spin kicks, and moshing from the start, delivering an electrifying performance.
The setup for Korn was nothing short of iconic, featuring a gothic metal chamber that separated the band from the stage. As the walls slowly lifted, guitarist James Shaffer unleashed an insane shred for the intro of the opening track, “Rotting in Vain,” from their 2016 album The Serenity of Suffering.
Frontman Jonathan Davis made a grand entrance in a green Adidas collaborative tracksuit, wielding a silver microphone shaped like a woman’s silhouette. He was met with an eruption of cheers. The rest of the band, dressed head-to-toe in their own merch, joined Davis on stage. While some might criticize another band for such overt branding, Korn somehow managed to pull it off without coming across as wanky. Ray Luzier, styled with gothic eye makeup, then spun his drumstick and led an exhilarating drum breakdown for “Start the Healing.”
Korn’s stage design was a defining feature of their performance. The gothic metal chamber walls and vivid screen production created a gripping and cryptic aura. Playing to what felt like an audience of die-hard fans, the crowd frequently mumbled along to the rhythms of each distinctive breakdown throughout the setlist.
After obliterating performances of “Start the Healing,” and “Good God,” Luzier teased fans with an epic drum solo, before the band transitioned into their 1994 classic “Blind.” By this point, crowd surfers were everywhere, and mini mosh pits were shown on the big screens.
Despite being a nostalgia-driven gig, Korn’s setlist flowed fluidly from one track to the next. Each Korn album has carried its own devastating story—whether it’s 1999’s Issues, with its hauntingly honest reflections on personal struggles, or 2019’s The Nothing, which delves into Jonathan Davis’s grief over his late wife. Sonically, Korn’s music has always remained cohesive, regardless of the trials or themes explored in their albums. Even if you weren’t familiar with every song, the band’s core sound is unmistakable, which allowed the music to resonate throughout their set.
From start to finish, Korn delivered nonstop hits, including the pop-infused “Got the Life” and the nu-metal classic “Falling Away from Me.” They then launched into their iconic mashup of “Coming Undone” with a snippet of Queen’s “We Will Rock You”—a slightly cheesy touch, but a Korn staple.
No Korn show is complete without Davis dramatically standing still on stage, soaking in the roaring cheers from the crowd. “This is fucking amazing y’all,” Davis exclaimed. “We fucking love you.”
Commanding the audience to raise their middle fingers, thousands of people held up “fuck you” signs and screamed along to the boisterous chorus of “Yall Want A Single.” Shortly after this high-energy number, Korn exited the stage, only to return for an encore amid the crowd’s enthusiastic cheers. Davis reappeared with a bagpipe for their colossal single “Snakes and Ladders,” which the band skillfully blended with Metallica’s gothica track “One.”
The set concluded with Korn’s holy trinity of songs: “Twist,” “Divine,” and “Freak on a Leash.” Each track received a seismic response, with stomping bodies, warm beers spraying overhead, and emotional screams filling the air.
Unlike most groups, Korn has remained grounded even after 30 years in the business and numerous lineup changes. Since the release of their debut single “Amongst the Greed” in 1992, they have maintained a loyal fanbase. Longevity in rock is rare, but Korn is clearly making their own rules.
Sunday’s show at Gunnersbury Park reaffirmed the band’s status as one of the most definitive bands in the metal scene. Without Korn, many of today’s groundbreaking metal and hip-hop fusion bands simply wouldn’t exist. As pioneers in blending such contrasting sounds and genres, Korn is undeniably the blueprint for this evolving genre.
