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Korn + Stillwell - 6/20/2011 - The Circus - Helsinki

A long but fast moving queue was filling up half of the Kamppi market place as I parked my sweet power-bike next to a fairly new club called The Circus in the very heart of Helsinki. The romanian beggars are following the queue in hopes of getting empty cans or bottles. As a venue The Circus was somewhat unexpected, since it is considered as a teenager hell. However, it consumes more people than Nosturi, which is usually THE venue for bigger bands. Many of us would have expected Korn to perform on even a bigger stage, such as the Hartwall Arena which is an indoor ice ring. Why The Circus is a question that remains a mystery to most of us. Korn has been keeping it down for a few years now, at least here in the north which could be the answer for choosing a smaller venue.
As I walked in I noticed that the place was actually really fancy. Disco balls shining everywhere! There were dozens of security men, more than I had ever seen on a club gig, which tells that there really is someone really important in the house. A few fans are dressed in kilts to honour Jonathan Davis, who, as we all know, is fond of playing the bagpipe and often wears a kilt on stage.
The front row fills up quickly as the biggest fans are eager to see their idol as close as possible. Korn’s big drumset is covered with a black sheet, all you could see was a piece of Pearl’s custom set with curvy hardwear.
The clock hits eight and the first band, Stillwell walks to the stage. This band is clearly more unknown to the finnish fans, as they got their first album out in Finland only on the same day. Their first song, ”Magnetic Daze” didn’t wake anyone up, and the microphones were squealing a few times. The audience was silent, and I already thought this would turn out to be a disaster. Christian street metal for evil finns. Thank (the) god(s) I was wrong. The second song ”They All Had Their Hands Up” woke the people up, and they all had their hands up! At least most of them. The sounds were well balanced after that little feedback in the mic. The rest of the setlist was: ”Golden Ticket”, ”Boom” (by P.O.D. since the drummer Wuv is a P.O.D member), ”It’s All Good”, ”Street Metal”, ”You Can’t Stop Me”, ”On and Poppin’”.
After Stillwell, a dj table was carried on stage and a weird dj-guy started playing short bits of metal hits from Rammstein, Marilyn Manson and other dance monsters. The guy was dressed in a red training jacket and jeans which made him hilarious. He had his own little show, and his identity remains a mystery. People seemed to like this little guy though. Weird. But funny.

Finally the famous female figured microphone is carried in, still covered with a black sheet. Someone drills it down so it won’t fall. The lights are dimmed and they reveal the microphone. The fans are yelling ambitiously as they see the chrome lady. Also the drumset is revealed. Some years ago when Korn had a concert in Finland, the fans had to wait for them for two hours before they came out and played. This time they started 15 minutes earlier than announced! Amazing! I almost felt special. The fans go crazy as Jonathan Davis comes to the stage. Finally the moment has come. The band opens up with ”Blind”, an old hit. The vocals were too silent at first, but later on this is fixed.
After Korn played ”Here To Stay” and ”Pop a Pill”. The show seems intensive with all the strobe lights. Then Jonathan left the stage for a calm and short jam session-like moment. As he comes back after some minutes, the audience goes crazy. He has a bagpipe. ”Shoots and Ladders” starts. The whole bagpipe part is accompanied by the honouring yells from the audience. This is what everyone wanted to see and hear. The sound was beautiful and strong. I got goosebumps, and I believe I wasn’t the only one. Most of the songs were also sung by the audience along with the man! As a death metal lover I was a little held back at first, but these were songs I listened many many years ago eagerly, and hearing them was nostalgic, and so I had to sing too. After one hour of playing the band thanked the audience and left the stage. As if they were going to end the gig there!
Of course they came back, and hanged up a finnish flag with a black Korn logo. The encore performance started with ”Falling Away From Me”, one of their biggest hits, even though almost all of the songs in the setlist were hits. After this they played a medley of songs like ”Coming Undone”, ”We Will Rock you”, ”Twisted Transistor”, ”Make Me Bad”, ”Thoughtless”, ”Did My Time” and ”Clown”. This was a little disappointment to me, since those songs were the ones I would have wanted to hear the most. Especially ”Twisted Transistor”, which they ended before the best part, the chorus! Surely the time was running out as the bands had a boat to catch, but still... Maybe those songs were also getting boring to them, since those are the ones they probably play the most. But it was a good idea from them to play even little bits of the biggest hits, just to get the atmosphere up. After the concert the band was giving out picks, drum sticks and a few drum heads with autographs on them. All this would have called for an afterparty, but since it was monday, everyone left home quickly, boring! I must say that the concert left me a little cold, but all and all it was a good experience and I was happy with what I saw and heard. Thank you Korn and Stillwell!


Setlist Korn:
01) Blind
02) Here to Stay
03) Pop a Pill
04) Freak on a Leash
05) Shoots and Ladders / One
06) 4 U
07) Got the Life
08) Oildale (Leave Me Alone)
09) Right Now
10) Ball Tongue
11) Somebody Someone
12) Get Up
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13) Falling Away From Me
14) Medley (Coming Undone / We Will Rock You / Twisted Transistor / Make Me Bad / Thoughtless / Did My Time / Clown)
15) Y’All Want a Single

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