TVD Live Shots: Sick New World Festival, 4/27

LAS VEGAS, NV | After a hugely successful first year, Sick New World returned to the Las Vegas Festival Grounds April 27 and brought with it a massive lineup from across the nu metal and rock worlds. System of a Down returned to the festival as the day’s headliner, and the list of artists included Bring Me the Horizon, Alice in Chains, Sleep Token, Danny Elfman, A Perfect Circle, and Slipknot, among others. Las Vegas lucked out on the weather. After a stormy Friday, the high Saturday was a lovely 78 degrees, which made the one-day marathon a lot easier to enjoy.

Scheduling over 60 bands to appear in just one day meant choices needed to be made by all in attendance. In 2023, the bands were spread across four stages; this year, a fifth stage was added. Bands not performing on the main Red and Gold stages seemed grouped more or less thematically—hardcore on one stage (Diablo), newer bands on another stage (Spiral), and industrial/electronic bands on yet another (Siren).

The scheduling overlaps and distances between the stages, coupled with the huge crowd, often made it tough to see (and photograph) bands; nonetheless, fans in attendance endeavored to pack in as much as possible. As a side note, festival organizers also made sure there were plenty of food and beverage vendors and made sure the fairgrounds had free water stations set up throughout so everyone could stay hydrated. Perhaps more impressive were the bathrooms, which managed to stay stocked and maintained all day, no easy feat with a crowd of this size.

The day got started early, with traffic snarled around Circus Circus Hotel and Casino and long lines forming at the festival grounds long before gates opened at 11AM. The first band, nu metal pioneers Nonpoint, took the stage at 11:10 am, when most people were still making their way through security.

An early day highlight was the return of Kittie. In 2017, the band went on an indefinite hiatus. However, fueled by renewed (i.e. Gen Z) interest in nu metal bands, Kittie performed its first new song since 2011 at Sick New World in 2023. The 2024 crowd enthusiastically welcomed Kittie back in 2024; Sick New World was the band’s first gig of the year.

Canadian alt metal band Spiritbox was another early day highlight. The quartet, led by acclaimed vocalist Courtney LaPlante, only had a thirty-minute set but brought the goods to their fans who had gathered early along the barriers. Their seven-song set leaned heavily on songs from their 2023 EP, The Fear of Fear, and included the Grammy-nominated “Jaded.”

The Diablo stage might have been the one for the hardcore bands, but its lineup also included the Drop Nineteens. The ’90s shoegaze masters appeared on the Diablo’s rotating stage to cheers from the anticipating crowd and did not disappoint. LA-based hardcore quintet Zulu crushed their short set, demonstrating their abilities to bring together hardcore punk and themes of protest and progressive politics, while having a blast doing so. It’s easy to see how they’ve received praise from the likes of publications such as Revolver and the New York Times.

The Siren Stage’s lineup included Front Line Assembly, Lords of Acid, and Belgian electronic band Front 242, which has just started a farewell tour. Having seen VOWWS in Baltimore as support for Twin Temple, I had hoped to catch them again at Sick New World; alas, I was unable to due to conflicting set times. Experimental rock band Swans headlined the Siren stage.

The Spiral Stage drew rowdy and enthusiastic crowds; its lineup featured bands like Fear Factory, Powerman 5000, Motionless in White, Sevendust, and Jinjer. Welsh metal/reggae band Skindred sounded fantastic and Jinjer drew a massive crowd. It was a bold move scheduling buzz band of the moment Sleep Token at the same time as festival headliners System of a Down; nonetheless their set (their first North American date of 2024) was still heavily attended by festivalgoers, with lots of fans sticking around to hear the set as many others were filing out of the fairgrounds, completely exhausted from the day.

Highlights from the Red stage included A Perfect Circle and Primus. These bands are currently on tour together, they had just finished two nights at Red Rocks Ampitheater in Colorado the night before Sick New World. While the men made it to Las Vegas, their gear did not (due to weather issues), so both Primus and A Perfect Circle had to scramble to buy or borrow guitars and other equipment so the show could go on.

These guys are all pros and, outside of the tags dangling from Les Claypool’s Fender, and A Perfect Circle’s missing keyboards, nothing about the performances gave away their shared predicament. Claypool announced that the instruments Primus used at Sick New World would be auctioned off after the festival, with proceeds going to charity. A Perfect Circle had one of the cooler sets of the day; Maynard Keenan seemed to be having a decent amount of fun, snapping a photo of the crowd before getting started on their 10 song setlist.

Also on the Red Stage was Slipknot, who donned their old red jumpsuits and masks to honor the 25th anniversary of their self-titled first album. The setlist was consistent with the idea of looking back, as their 12 song set leaned primarily on tracks from their first two albums, Slipknot and Iowa. It was my first time seeing Slipknot and it was extremely impressive.

Highlights from the Gold Stage included Ice Nine Kills and Alice in Chains. Ice Nine Kills played a short set early in the day. It was fun to revisit their pop culture influenced brand of metal after photographing them in November on their coheadlining tour with In this Moment.

Sick New World was, as of this writing, Alice in Chains’ only scheduled gig for 2024; I hope that changes soon because they sounded fantastic. I had not seen them since they toured South America in 2018 with Judas Priest, so I was very happy to get to see them, as well as photograph them. They played 90s classics like “Rooster” and “Would?” again demonstrating that their body of work really stands the test of time.

Lamb of God’s intense performance was a shock for a midafternoon set time, and the crowd got so rowdy during Bring Me the Horizon’s performance that the show had to be paused to make sure festivalgoers remained safe. Babymetal joined BMTH later in the set to perform “Kingslayer.”

By the time festival headliners System of a Down finally took the stage at 10:35PM, the crowd was going nuts; the Armenian-American band returned for a second headlining gig at Sick New World and by the looks of it, was hugely successful. In roughly 90 minutes, SOAD managed to pack in 27 songs, including a few that had not been played in many years. This was the band’s first gig in 11 months, and as of right now, they only have one additional date scheduled in 2024, so fans seemed to relish the opportunity to see them perform.

In my book, the high point of the entire festival was having the privilege of photographing Danny Elfman and seeing him perform up close; seeing his name in the lineup is what sealed the deal for me and moved me to say yes to the opportunity to cover Sick New World. Elfman is of course the former Oingo Boingo frontman who is, in 2024, undoubtedly one of the all-time greatest composers of film scores.

As an old Gen Xer, I listened to Oingo Boingo as a kid, and then as a teenager fell in love with his work on films like Pee Wee’s Big Adventure, Batman (featuring the best Batman, Michael Keaton), and The Simpsons. His genius extends beyond the worlds of director Tim Burton and The Simpsons; he’s worked on thrillers, family films, and horror. It’s a body of work that is truly a gift to anyone who loves music and loves film. How lucky are we that Tim Burton persuaded Elfman to score Pee Wee’s Big Adventure nearly 40 years ago?

Elfman showed up with a small orchestra in tow, who assisted in treating the crowd to a 20-song set list, which spanned his career. It featured selections from his 2021 solo album Big Mess to the theme to The Simpsons, Batman, and Beetlejuice, along with many others. Old Oingo Boingo tunes made appearances as well; I’d forgotten how much I loved “Dead Man’s Party.” I found myself remembering all the words and singing along to myself while I made the trek along the staff path to the main stages’ photo pits. What a great song.

While we waited for Elfman to take the stage, another photographer and I noticed a tall, red-haired gentleman enter the pit area. He was accompanied by a young woman; they wore matching Danny Elfman t-shirts. He bore such a resemblance to Elfman that it was jarring; the other photographer and I determined him to be Danny’s brother, Richard. Richard Elfman, along with Danny, cofounded the Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo, a performance art troupe that later became the Oingo Boingo that we knew and loved in the ’80s. I wanted to say something to him about how happy I was to finally see Danny perform, but I couldn’t work up the nerve. Instead, he and I simply exchanged excited smiles a few times; I think he got the idea. He too was stoked to see his brother perform.

Danny Elfman has only a handful of events scheduled in 2024; seeing him at Sick New World is something I will never forget.

KITTIE