It’s been nearly 20 years since Korn and Limp Bizkit toured the UK together. Back in 1997, Korn were on their way to superstardom thanks to the stellar success of their first two albums, Korn and Life Is Peachy. By contrast, Limp Bizkit were virtual unknowns, still waiting for their debut album Three Dollar Bill Y’All to drop. The next thing you know, both bands were duking it out for the title of Big Daddies Of Nu Metal and steeling themselves for a whole lot of craziness.
Two decades on, they have joined forces for a six-date co-headlining tour in December – their first UK dates since 1997. Not only is this shaping up to be a proper blockbuster tour but it also rubber-stamps the nu metal revival. With that in mind, here’s what we want – no, demand – to see for this 10-headed juggernaut.
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1) A killer collaboration
The last time Korn were onstage at Wembley Arena was early last year, and during their support slot with Slipknot, they got Corey Taylor and a few other masked ‘Knot men up for a raucous run through The Beastie Boys’ Sabotage. And we’d like another one please.
It’s not beyond the realms of possibility. Fred Durst appeared on the admittedly cringeworthy All In The Family from Korn’s Follow The Leader album, and Korn’s Jonathan Davis returned the favour by appearing on Nobody Like You from Limp Bizkit’s Significant Other. And on that original ’97 tour, Korn were joined by Durst and DJ Lethal for and encore of Ice Cube’s Wicked.
2) Limp Bizkit to pull their fingers out and play some new music
It goes without saying that Korn will be unveiling songs from their new album The Serenity Of Suffering on the tour. But what about Bizkit? It’s been five years since Gold Cobra and since then, aside from the singles Ready To Go and Endless Slaughter, nada. Their (alleged) seventh album, Stampede Of The Disco Elephants, has turned into the Chinese Democracy of nu metal.
As exciting as it was when they made their triumphant comeback at Download in 2009, they need show that there’s more to them than being a nostalgia act. Let’s hope a listen to Korn’s most recent albums galvanises them into action.
3) A game-changing stage set
Remember the Korn Kage, an iron railing backdrop filled with rabid fans? Or Limp Bizkit’s gigantic onstage toilet, from which they emerged every night on the 1998 Ozzfest? It would be great if both bands decided to recreate the visual excess of nu metal’s boom years and pulled out all the stops on the stage set front. The fucked-up fairground on the front of Korn’s album, say. Hell, we’ll settle for a giant toilet as a cheeky nod to the past. But this is a big occasion, and we want it to feel like one.
4) A classic album from start to finish
Everybody is doing it, from Behemoth to Slipknot. Even Korn played their debut album in full across Europe last year. This time it’s the anniversary of Life Is Peachy, a record that doesn’t get the love it deserves. Why not do the whole thing? Or – forgetting the whole nostalgia thing for a second – who wouldn’t pay good money to hear Limp Bizkit dust down rarely-aired tracks like Full Nelson or Getcha Groove On as they blast through the Chocolate Starfish… album?
It doesn’t even have to be that obvious. How about Korn’s vastly underrated Untouchables or The Path Of Totality in full (a dubstep party to Bleeding Out and Let’s Go breaking out at Wembley wouldn’t go amiss). But please, Limp Bizkit, don’t go anywhere near Results May Vary. That’s all we ask.
5) Wes Borland being the full Wes Borland
With Brian ‘Head’ Welch back in the fold Korn look like the band that we first fell in love with again. But there’s always been tension within the Bizkit ranks between Durst and guitarist Wes Borland. At last year’s Hellfest festival in France and there was a clear disconnect onstage. Borland has gone off and worked on his Queen Kwong project as his main band trundle along. Let’s hope that break has re-invigorated him, given that his mad professor guitar work and deliberately bonkers stage persona is a massive part of what makes the band. We want the full Borland/Durst axis up on that stage. No phoning it in, please.
- All day I dream about success: how Korn dragged nu metal into the big time
- Revenge of the freaks: how nu metal took over the world
- Limp Bizkit: The Gospel According To Fred Durst
- The Top 10 Essential Nu Metal Albums
6) A full Family Values-style bill
If anything truly defined nu metal in the 1990s, it was Korn’s Family Values tour. A multi-headed beast that was the scene’s Woodstock, Ozzfest and Lollapalooza rolled into one, the inaugural jaunt featured both Korn and Limp Bizkit. And it never came to the UK.
So this is the time to make up for that. There’s room aplenty on the bill, and plenty of Korn and Limp Bizkit’s contemporaries are still doing the rounds: (hed)pe, Americian Head Charge, POD, a reformed Mudvanye. Or why not go the whole nine yards and get the gang from the original bill back together: Ice Cube, Incubus, Rammstein and Orgy. Actually, perhaps Orgy can sit this one out…
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