Sick New World Las Vegas Was Sick

I love living in Las Vegas. Other cities freak out when a big music festival comes to their town. But for us, we call that Saturday. And the Sick New World festival this past weekend was another reminder of why locals love Sin City so much. 

There were Over 70 bands on five stages, but I was only able to see less than half of that. I'm only human, after all. 

I arrived while Helmet was rocking, and then watched Taproot kill it! However, I had one goal at that point in the day. I wanted to see Bad Omens play. So, I made my way through tens of thousands of my extended family to get to the gold and red Stages and locked down my spot.

I’m glad I did. Bad Omens were a highlight for me. They sounded incredible. Noah Sebastian is impressive, and the surprise guest appearance by Poppy for V.A.N. was the cherry on top. I highly suggest checking these guys out anytime you can. 

Poppy joined them before on stage but it was even better in Vegas.

Primus and A Perfect Circle were lucky they even made it to the stage. Both bands equipment didn't make it to the Sick New World Las Vegas show, due to bad weather. So, the band bought an entire set of instruments that day.

They told the crowd they were going to auction off the gear, but I haven't seen anything yet. However, if you are interested, check here for updates. Les and the band played some fun Primus tunes, like "Too Many Puppies" and "Wynona's Big Brown Beaver". 

A Perfect Circle ended up borrowing gear from other musicians, including Vegas' own Jason Hook, according to APC Facebook page. APC didn't have their piano, so they were short one song on their setlist. But they stretched their set with "Happy Birthday" songs to various people.

Related: 2024 Summer Music Festivals Costs Climbing At Shocking Rate

However, they did dive into my favorites on their setlist, including "Hollow" "The Outsider" and "Judith". They sounded incredible, even with other musicians' instruments. And Maynard was chipper, which is surprising, considering the situation. 

Alice in Chains was next, and they were excellent as usual. They played all the songs you would expect. Including "Would?", "Man in the Box" and" Rooster".

But I was all about the next musician to hit the Sick New World stage: Danny Elfman. 

The former Oingo Boingo legend, now known for his movie and TV scores, is as strange as ever. And thank God he is. The music he makes is unlike anyone else. Danny played his solo stuff, like "Sorry" and "Kick Me". But his setlist also included Oingo Boingo hits, like "Only a Lad", "Grey Matter" and "Dead Man's Party". 

Plus, he brought his orchestra with him. So, we were treated to the "Simpsons" theme, "Beetlejuice" and “Jacks Lament/This is Halloween” from Nightmare Before Christmas Live. It was Incredible. And the second highlight of the day for me.

But there was one artist that, for me, was the end all be all of the Sick New World Vegas show.

I have nothing but love for Bring Me The Horizon. They were excellent, Oli Sykes is a killer front man and Baby Metal joining them was a bonus, But no one killed it like Slipknot. Maybe I’m biased, because they are one of my favorite bands, but Corey and company put an exclamation mark on the night. They came out in their orange jumpsuits, masks reminiscent of early Slipknot.

And for a good reason. The band is celebrating the 25^th anniversary of their 1999 Self-titled debut. So, with that in mind, their 12 song setlist leaned heavily (excuse the pun) on songs from Slipknot and Iowa. They opened with “People = S---”, filled in the set with “Eyeless”, “Before I Forget” and “Wait and Bleed”. They closed it out with "Duality”, “Spit it out” and “Surfacing”. 

For me, that was the whole Sick New World festival. I love System of a Down, but I felt so content after Slipknot, that I decided to call it a day. A very Sick day. 

The festival that keeps on giving. Sick New World just wrapped their second edition to the mega alternative-metal fest featuring headliners: System of a Down, Slipknot, Bring Me The Horizon And Danny Elfman. 72 acts performed over a 12 hour period on back-to-back stages creating the ultimate viewing experience.

Instant nostalgia doesn't come close to what this festival represents for many hardcore music fans. Vegas locals are very familiar with Vans' Warped Tour and Xtreme Thing, RIP. This one day festival reminisces on stereotypical emotive subculture while highlighting genres of music that don't always get mainstream love. The Las Vegas Festival Grounds became a community hub for celebrating life in it's true glory.

10 feet tall devils and nightmare scene characters welcomed guests underneath the signature photo-arch. Devil doll-like blow up art installations were located amongst the black top for photo-opts. A foodie's paradise offered everything from pizza, burgers, rice bowls and beer in what the fest called Kulture City.

The hardest decision a festival goer has to make is deciding which artists to watch and on what stages. Diablo, Siren, Spiral, Gold and Red were the five options with a sick line-up of performances on each. Red and Gold were focused on the well-known acts where Siren and Spiral hosted medium to bigger name bands and Diablo which generally focused on growing baby bands.

Vegas is funny when it comes to weather. The end of April and start of May becomes hot and the morning to mid afternoon were nothing short of the Vegas heat. As the night rose, the weather cooled but we have no complaints. No wind, no rain and who's to say a little sun burnt never hurt.

Live Nation and C3 Presents highlighted metalcore roots for an unforgettable festival experience. Below we chose three artists/bands' performances that are still transcending time. Enjoy!

Mid-afternoon was nothing short of exciting with Bad Omens. The leader of the pack, Noah Sebastian, hit the stage at 4:10 p.m. on the Gold Stage with "ARTIFICAL SUICIDE." Bad Omens kept everyone on their toes as surprise singer, Poppy came out during "V.A.N." She moved melodically to the beat giving fans what they came for... A great show! Noah sang with grit and passion in his eyes during "Limits" (2019), "Dethrone" (2019), "Just Pretend" (2022). 

Danny Elfman is a genius and almost creature-like when LIVE on stage. His body posture bends to the music with harsh turns and wide arm flares. The facial expressions match with wide open eyes on loud moments to inward chest on softer moments. He entered the Red stage at 7:10 p.m. where he performed in front of a band, orchestra and choir. His catalog of songs performed consisted of Oingo Boingo's "Dead Man Party" (1985), "BeetleJuice" (1988), The Batman theme song (1989), The Simpsons theme song (1989) and of course, Nightmare Before Christmas' "This Is Halloween" and "Jack's Lament" (1993). One of our favorite songs that he performed was one of his new releases, "Happy." (2020)  

Oli Sykes, lead singer, came to play a hard show and one to be remembered. Bring Me The Horizon entered around 8:20 p.m. The introduction featured a futuristic robotic creature that hyped the fans. "DArkSide" opened the night from their 'POST HUMAN : NEx GEn album' with confetti pops and head bangs. Their eleven song setlist smashed with "Teardrops", "Shadow Moses", "Drone", "Throne" and LosT."

The final moments with the band were soul healing as some might say. During the end of "Can You Feel My Heart" he shouted to the crowd, "if you don't jump up and down, you're a certified d--khead." Most pits were now formed filled with sweat, body contact and freedom. One of the best performances of the festival. 

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