Source: Promo
When the news that Korn and Limp Bizkit were doing a co-headline tour together, a collective cry of happiness went up around the greebo community. For miles around, you could hear the rummaging through wardrobes for big shirts and wallet chains; red baseballs caps were hastily dusted off; men in their middle-ages looked forlornly at photos of when they had long hair and their biggest worry was a bully in the playground, not one in The White House. All of those feelings and more were unleashed upon Wembley Arena.
Limp Bizkit have always been a bit of a joke – no one really takes them that seriously, and why the hell would you? When Fred Durst walked out on stage with baggy red tracksuit trousers and a bucket hat, not a single person in the audience thought: “Here comes a man with some poignant things to say.” The show that Bizkit put on, however, was no joke. It was a hell of a lot of fun though. For just over an hour, Limp Bizkit brought the party to Wembley in the most ridiculous way possible, slamming out banger after banger and inciting front-to-back moshing at every opportunity. Even when they stopped to dick around (e.g. playing ‘Turn Down For What‘ apropos of absolutely nothing) their on-stage charisma and dry sense of humour made even them calling out Daniel P Carter hilarious.
Source: Promo Image
If you were to talk about bands who never quite seemed to get the dues they were owed, Korn would be right up there. They’ve been mainstays of our scene for over 20 years now, and the fact that it only now seems like they’re the size to play Wembley seems criminal. Nevertheless, they rose to the occasion with all the flare and drama that they have become renowned for in their live shows.
Our one criticism of Korn would be their choice in set list. Having just watched Limp Bizkit play a set mainly consisting of all of the songs everyone wanted to hear from them, it did seem a little dissatisfying when Korn launched into songs off of the new album. Not to slight The Serenity Of Suffering, it is a good album, but even Korn’s incredible live shows couldn’t detract from the fact that the new songs just don’t stand up to the old ones when placed next to each other.
Still, with a performance of ‘Word Up‘ that they haven’t played since 2004 and snippets of covers of ‘One‘ by Metallica and ‘We Will Rock You‘ by Queen, a bloody good time was had by all, not least those in the band.
What Korn and Limp Bizkit brought to Wembley was more than nostalgia. It was a reminder that these two bands have been with us since some in the crowd were teenagers, and made us remember all of those times spent listening to them in our rooms, feeling the teenage angst pouring out of us. Neither of them will be around forever – but we’re bloody glad we’ve had them for now.
