Sick New World Festival Paints the Town Black in Las Vegas

ARCHWAY_VALERIAAVALOS_SICKNEWWORLD2024_-10 — Photo by Valeria Avalos

Sick New World launched its fiery second round this past weekend at the Las Vegas Festival Grounds after an extremelely well-received debut last year. Jam-packed with a heavy roster that called for five stages, this festival hit the head on the nail for every metal fan under the sun. The weather was beautiful — a breezy 78 degrees with the sun subsiding in late afternoon. Mother nature must be a metalhead, because she surely wanted everyone to enjoy this to the highest possible extent.

Each stage seemed to carry a light theme, catering to fans of all subgenres. The Spiral Stage’s lineup was loaded with classic favorites like Powerman 5000 and Static-X, as well as modern front-runners like Motionless In White, Dayseeker, Wage War and Black Veil Brides. The Diablo Stage was, by far, the most rowdy of them all — a space cut out for the hardcore kids. With acts like Loathe, Drain and Code Orange, I don’t think we’ve seen so many crowdsurfers at once in a long time. With the exception of Knocked Loose, who played the Siren Stage — that spot hosted heavier, more industrial-like artists such as VNV Nation and Combichrist.

Both mainstages, Red and Gold, were an eclectic blend of metal subgenres from across the board. The Red Stage oozed girl power early on with a resurgence of Kittie and BABYMETAL. Primus took the stage after a snowstorm on their route delayed the arrival of their gear, forcing them to pick up instruments at a local music shop along the way. Frontman Les Claypool announced the band would be auctioning off their instruments (still with the tags attached!) to benefit charity after the festival. A Perfect Circle easily earned a fan favorite spot at this stage as they played their hit “Judith” and brought out VOWWS for a collaboration on “Stars.”

Danny Elfman flooded us with waves of nostalgia while playing tracks from his band Oingo Boingo. With a full live band and orchestra, he treated us to some of his most recognizable and iconic cinematic scores from The Simpsons, Wednesday, Beetlejuice, The Nightmare Before Christmas, Batman, and more. Danny also debuted “Monkeys On The Loose” for the first time live. Slipknot was the most anticipated artist of the night, showing off the rebirth of their classic red jumpsuits from back in the day. They rocked a 12-song setlist and confirmed the newest addition to their band with drummer Eloy Casagrande.

The Gold Stage was collectively the most popular in terms of fanbases and dedication to holding spaces in the crowd all day long. Even the earliest playing bands like Spiritbox, Ice Nine Kills and Lamb of God, had fans at barricade shouting every word. One of the strongest fanbases were those of Bad Omens, who blew us away with a surprise appearance from Poppy, joining them onstage for “V.A.N” while sending the crowd into a spiral. Bring Me The Horizon arguably has a fanbase equally as dedicated — they brought out BABYMETAL to duet on their joint song, “KINGSLAYER” which has only been performed together once before. Frontman Oli Sykes got up close with fans in the front row, elevating their experience times ten.

*Bring Me The Horizon by Nikki Phillips*

Alice In Chains also played the Gold Stage, drawing in a huge crowd as this was (so far), their only scheduled performance for 2024. System Of A Down performed an impressive 27 song set including a few unexpected deep cuts like “Kill Rock-n-Roll” and “Bubbles.” Bassist Shavo Odadijian’s young son came onstage during his show to give his dad a hug, overflowing with pride watching his father in this moment. The crowd itself had many younger fans, all children of System’s OG fans — it was inspiring to see a band’s legacy being passed down through future generations.

Check in soon for our next feature on all of the surprise moments from Sick New World including collaborations, unexpected guests and so much more. Take a peek at part 1 of our photo gallery below and be sure to check out our socials for more content! For full sets of individual bands, keep an eye on our Instagram!

All photos by Nikki Phillips unless otherwise credited. Please do not repost without crediting both her and Concert Crap.