KoЯn, a classic nu-metal band from the ’90s, played a show at Pine Knob on September 27th for their 30th anniversary tour, sporting a French classic death metal band, Gojira, and a new and upcoming heavy metal band, Spiritbox. As of 2021, KoЯn has sold over 40 million records worldwide, and has had fourteen songs on the Billboard 200.

Aside from the heavy traffic due to a crash near the venue that caused nearly half of the audience to miss Spiritbox, the show up for Gojira and KoЯn were impressive; packing the venue completely, including the lawn and walkways.

The audience was somewhat upset with the balance of the entire setlist, Spiritbox having half as many tracks as Gojira, including their drum solo, having expected the openers to have equal-length sets, though they were pleased with KoЯn’s. Despite the earlier issues, the general energy of the crowd was high, especially once it started to get darker and the concert experience got more intense with the flashing lights and heavy bass. 

KoЯn’s set was highly anticipated the entire night. Fans were excited to hear ‘Hey Daddy’ for the first time since 1999 and ‘Dead Bodies Everywhere’ publicly since 2019. Despite this being their 30th year, they still performed perfectly, with KoЯn’s lead singer, Jonathan Davis, even playing the bagpipes himself at the beginning of ‘Shoots and Ladders.’ 

Midway through KoЯn’s setlist, they played the last few minutes of their hidden track, ‘Daddy’, a 17-minute track. KoЯn has refused to play this track fully due to the horrific nature of it, being about child sexual assault, and how deeply tied to the lyrics Davis is, aside from the 2015 tour celebrating their self-titled album’s 20th anniversary where the song would be played last and end early at 4 minutes with Davis sobbing on stage.  

The crowd got especially rowdy during the beginning of ‘Blind,’ known for its history of starting up impressive mosh pits, allowing old and new fans to connect in the same high-energy fashion. 

Despite the bands age, overall energy and quality coming from the performance was impressive and a great way to lead what is most likely the last of KoЯn’s larger tours for the next few years as they’ll be headlining for plenty of festivals, such as Good Things Festival and Welcome To Rockville 2025.