Southern California shook again this year and this time the epicenter hit Los Angeles during The Epicenter Festival held at The Forum.
Excited to welcome the event back to LA, hard-rock fans swarmed the renovated venue on the warm evening of Saturday, March 14th, 2015. The sixth annual festival presented a lineup of several heavy acts including Limp Bizkit and Korn as the headliners.
The first brief tremble of the night was courtesy of the American rapper, Hopsin. Next, and bringing a punk-tornado into the crowd was Los Angeles’ very own Suicidal Tendencies. They gave a final whirl closing their set with “Pledge Your Allegiance.” P.O.D hit the stage hard and ended with the beautiful hit “Youth of the Nation” while the crowd harmonized in a chorus.
On stage next, the only 2015 Southern California reunion brought Everlast and House of Pain together. Taking the crowd to a different beat, they spit some hip-hop jams and toned it down for the brutally realistic “What It’s Like” but soon pumped the energy back up with all-time anthem “Jump Around.”
For one of their rare live appearances, next came Limp Bizkit. Front-man Fred Durst bounced onto the stage wearing a Suicidal Tendencies jacket and a full-grown scruffy beard ready to unleash. The boys of Limp Bizkit all projected high energy including guitarist Wes Borland, who was wearing a pseudo-tourist ensemble; complete with pale white makeup and a speedo bathing suit under his tropical-print robe. Their eleven song set included covers of Metallica and Rage Against the Machine, but also hits like “My Way” and “Take a Look Around.”
Despite the welcomed angry lyrics, Fred Durst flashed a smile constantly and even crossed and stood on the divider ramp to engage with his audience up-close and personal. Middle fingers in the air were a persistent gesture between the band and their fans, along with crowd surfing and even break-dancers on stage.
A candle-covered stage under a self-titled album-cover-artwork backdrop welcomed the beloved Korn to end the festival. Almost all members appeared on stage rocking long dreadlocks that were violently tossed back and forth throughout their set.
To celebrate their 20th anniversary, they were scheduled to perform their self-titled 1994 debut album in its entirety and they did not disappoint. Beginning their set with “Blind,” Jonathan Davis belched and roared effortlessly along with his epileptic movements.
The album’s hits came back to back, including “Shoots and Ladders,” “Predictable,” and an emotional version of “Daddy.” A sinister vibe was projected from the stage along with awesome head banging and an encore brought the night to an end with “Falling Away From Me” and “Freak on a Leash.”
Limp Bizkit and Korn had not joined forces since the 1999 Family Values Tour, so it was a superb way of reuniting along with the other great acts of the night.
