“A Night Where the Earth Shook and the Fire Spoke.”
📍 Rogers Arena – Vancouver, BC
LOATHE — Beauty in the Chaos
Opening the night was LOATHE, draped in distortion, atmosphere, and tension. They kicked things off with “Revenant” and “Aggressive Evolution,” immediately wrapping the crowd in their layered blend of metalcore, shoegaze, and pure sonic emotion. By the time “Dance on My Skin” and “Screaming” hit, their sound had turned cavernous—equal parts melody and menace.
The band’s intensity peaked during “Heavy Is the Head That Falls With the Weight of a Thousand Thoughts” and “Is It Really You?”, moments where you could feel the entire arena sway between stillness and eruption. Unfortunately, some idiot in the crowd decided to throw a bottle of water at the vocalist mid-set — a classless act that could’ve derailed the moment. But it didn’t. LOATHE responded the only way true artists do: by pouring that anger back into their performance. “Gored” closed their set like a sonic explosion — cathartic, chaotic, and defiant.
LOATHE may have been the openers, but they commanded attention like headliners. A band with presence, patience, and the kind of depth that rewards both pain and passion.
GOJIRA — The Fire That Breathes
Then came GOJIRA, and with them came the fire. Their set opened with “Only Pain” and “The Axe,” unleashing a wall of sound that hit as hard as the pyro igniting behind them. The heat rolled through the arena with every detonation — you could feel it even from the cheap seats.
“Backbone” and “Stranded” carried the weight of the earth itself, their groove-heavy riffs shaking the rafters while the crowd roared in primal unison. When “Flying Whales” arrived, it was a transcendent moment — serene one minute, apocalyptic the next. “The Cell,” “Born for One Thing,” and “Silvera” showcased the band’s perfect blend of precision and emotion, while “Amazonia” brought the set to a blazing, anthemic close.
GOJIRA doesn’t just perform — they command. Their music is an elemental force, and on this night, the fire wasn’t just on stage. It was alive in every person standing before it.
KORN — The Exorcism of Sound
When the lights fell and Jonathan Davis’ voice growled “Are you ready?!” into the darkness, it felt like an invocation. KORN exploded into “Blind” and the entire arena detonated in response. “Twist,” “Here to Stay,” and “Got the Life” followed in relentless succession, blending nostalgia with the raw power that defined an entire generation of heavy music.
The setlist hit like a greatest-hits sermon: “Shoots and Ladders” twisted seamlessly into Metallica’s “One,” “Coming Undone” merged with “We Will Rock You,” and “A.D.I.D.A.S.” and “Y’all Want a Single” turned the arena into a rebellious choir screaming “F** that!”* in perfect time.
Their encore opened with “4U,” a touching Ozzy Osbourne tribute, before unleashing the emotional trifecta of “Falling Away From Me,” “Divine,” and “Freak on a Leash.” Davis’ bagpipes wailed through the air, Fieldy’s bass growled from below, and the crowd matched every scream and whisper like it was therapy.
KORN didn’t just headline—they exorcised. Every ounce of pain, nostalgia, and fury was left on that stage.
🔥 Final Thoughts
LOATHE brought the darkness.
GOJIRA brought the fire.
KORN brought the catharsis.
Three bands, one sold-out arena, and a night where sound and emotion collided until nothing was left standing but the echo of it all.
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