One of the top tours Ghost Cult covered this year was the Return Of The Dreads tour from Rob Zombie, Korn, and In This Moment. All three bands put on a big show and none bigger than Zombie who has projected his larger than life, splatter film inspired, b-movie femme fatal tunnel vision into our brains for over 25 years now. Often a big tour like this is fraught with egos and drama to match the spectacle, but by all accounts all these bands have been classy and great to each other, and to the fans every night.
In This Moment has really reimagined themselves the last part of their career as a big arena rock band. By Maria Brink fully embracing her inner theater kid that she always had a penchant for. She really sucks the crowd in with her performance, costume changes, use of props, and back up singers/dancers/actors and more. They are far removed from the tuneful metalcore of their early days, which is a blessing and curse in a way. Still, the audience reacts to songs like ‘Burn’, ‘Blood’ and ‘Whore’ big time.
Korn rode a huge wave of justified hype this summer ahead of their new album The Serenity Of Suffering (Roadrunner) and played a new song ‘Insane’ at this show. Still, fans come out for the Korn Klassics, especially since Brian “Head” Welch came back into the band a while back. They have been crushing it on the older material, and it just reminds you how deep their catalog is when you hear ‘Blind’ (not closing or opening but in the middle of the show!), ‘Somebody, Someone’, and ‘Shoots And Ladders’.
Of course Rob Zombie comes on and his show is always a feast for the senses and a blast to the eardrums especially. For those pining for White Zombie songs, you will get the obligatory ‘Thunder Kiss 65’ and more ‘Human Than Human’. However, Zombie’s newest creation: The Electric Warlock Acid Witch Satanic Orgy Celebration Dispenser (Zodiac Swan/Universal) is one of his strongest albums in ages. So the new music doesn’t interrupt the flow of the hits. His band is killer, the best it’s ever been with John 5 on guitar, Piggy D on bass and Ginger Fish behind the drums. Whether its playing odd covers like 90s party rap ‘Wild Thing’ by Tone‐Lōc, or shredding a rock/metal anthems to the screaming throngs, a Rob Zombie show is a summer rite of passage now. Shoutout to Emma Parsons Photography for these great shots of the show.
