Sick New World returned back to the Las Vegas Festival Grounds on April 27th for its second year! We know this lineup was absolutely sick, but a festival is so much more than just a killer lineup. We’ve been to festivals in different states and countries, so we’ve experienced a few. Good and bad, but Sick New World was definitely one of the better-run festivals that we’ve been to! The festival grounds are on concrete which heats up pretty quickly and with the beating sun, it can get miserable. Sick New World laid out artificial turf with shade in a lot of the stage areas, which seemed to help a lot and gave people a place to plop down later in the day. There were several huge shade tents with places to sit and misters with stage visibility. Security was constantly handing out water and there were plenty of hydration stations with no lines to get water. Hydration is key to keeping people from passing out and staying healthy at a fest so Sick New World won with that!
Some of the things may seem trivial to some, but if you have been to other festivals, you know it’s a big deal! There were flushable porta-potties with lights, we did not see a single overflowing trash can, huge maps and lineup boards in several places, and clear signage for medical and emergency exits. I could find help if I needed it and felt very safe. If you needed little breaks, you could walk around to check out the different tents. The Monster Energy trailer was giving out free cans so you could hang out in the shade for a bit and watch the Spiral Stage. Another little thing, I lost my brand new Apple Watch at some point during the day, probably during that Knocked Loose pit, but I had just accepted the fact that it was gone forever. I know, who brings a brand new Apple Watch to a festival!? I looked on their lost and found website that night and there my watch was! I’m amazed and grateful that somebody actually found it and turned it in! The process of getting it back on their website was extremely easy and three weeks later, I have my watch back!
Overall, Sick New World is an extremely well-run festival!
(K) Once we made it into the grounds, we of course took a few photos by the iconic Sick New World sign, met up with friends, and made a beeline towards the main stages to catch Lorna Shore! I honestly couldn’t think of a better way to kick off our day other than some Will Ramos screams! Will noted that it was a bit of a shorter set for them but we still got to hear “Sun//Eater” and the “Pain Remains” trilogy.
Next up on the Gold Stage was Ice Nine Kills. I’ve been so excited about this moment for a while because it’s been a whole year and a half since I last saw them! After seeing them 13 times in one year back in 2022, it was too long of a break. Moments before Ice Nine came out on stage, The Silence took the stage first. A giant inflatable figure of Ice Nine’s leading suspect emerged from behind the drumset! It looked so sick and I loved the extra touch to their set. I’ve always loved their productions that they put on because they always make it seem like you are right there in the movie. They kept it more lowkey, prop-wise, for this show but still brought out Hannibal Lecter for “Meat and Great” and some zombies before Resident Evil inspired “Rainy Day”.
Back on the Red stage, before heading over to the other side of the fest, we of course had to stay for a few songs of Baby Metal! I’ve been hearing a lot about them recently so I was excited to finally have the opportunity to see them. Their costumes and dance moves are so intriguing and really entertaining to watch. It was also really cool to see Baby Metal fans in the crowd doing the dances along with them!
We took a small break to just regroup and figure out our plan for the rest of the day. It was really nice to be able to sit in a nice shaded area, with seating, and misters all around.
It was the perfect way to cool down and reset on this hot day! While we were in the Spiral/Siren stage area, Combichrist caught my attention because apparently I knew and loved one of their songs and I had no idea it was theirs. It was a cool moment to accidentally catch!
She Past Away went on directly after! They were a band I discovered through our Sick New World playlist and quickly became obsessed with because their music is such a vibe. They’re a Turkish Indie band that reminds me of New Wave 80’s bands like New Order or The Cure. I loved seeing so many people in the crowd Goth dancing.
Needing a little bit of a sun break, we walked around to check out the different tents and things to see. The Monster Energy trailer was giving out free cans and had a sweet view of the Spiral stage where you could sit in the shade and still watch the bands. We were able to catch Taproot and Skindred from there. Taproot brought out Elias from Nonpoint during “Favourite Song” and then threw the mic out into the crowd a couple of times during “Poem” to let the crowd sing. Skindred was another band I accidentally caught but I ended up knowing and loving one of their songs and had no idea it was theirs! This is why I love festivals so much. During their last song, “Warning”, lead singer Benji Webbe asked everyone, yes he made sure everyone, to take their t-shirts off for a “helicopter”. I swear to god, the amount of t-shirts up in the air actually created a small breeze.
I’ve loved watching Dayseeker grow over the past few years, especially recently because they’ve just been blowing up! They had a couple of sound issues during their set, but it was so beautiful hearing the whole crowd singing the words when Rory’s mic went out.
I caught the very tail end of Slaughter to Prevail but made it just in time to hear “Viking”. Every time they play that song, frontman Alex the Terrible asks the crowd to be totally silent right before the breakdown. He drops the mic and screams without it. I’ve seen him do this a couple of times before when I was close to the stage. He was super loud then but this time, I was WAY in the back of the crowd and you could hear him just as loud as you could being up close. The man needs no mic! Everyone around me was in shock over how loud he was. They also live debuted their unreleased song, “Behelit”.
Motionless in White is one of my favorite bands ever, so I was so happy that Sick New World was the 15th time I’ve seen them! They opened with “Meltdown” which is the perfect way to get the energy going. Usually during “Slaughterhouse”, they bring out a guest to sing the second half of the song with. I’ve seen them play it with Brian Gerris (From Knocked Loose and on the original track), Chris Kelly (Currently Hillhaven and Alustrium, formally Ice Nine Kills), and Joe Cotela (Ded), but this was my first time hearing them play it with nobody! Knocked Loose was playing on the stage next to them with a slight overlap, so I understand why he couldn’t come over but it was definitely interesting hearing Chris Motionless sing it alone. At the end of their set, Chris said, “We promise to play one more song, only if everybody at this stage goes over to see Knocked Loose immediately next.”
Just like Chris asked, the entire Spiral stage migrated over to the Siren stage for Knocked Loose! The energy over there was immaculate. They definitely had one of the biggest pits of the day, with constant movement, crowd surfers, and people even being launched into the air, their set was one to remember. They even brought out Poppy for the live debut of their latest single “Suffocate”! I saw later that Will Ramos from Lorna Shore was actually in the pit too!
(H) Danny Elfman has been on my bucket list since middle school. Being a metalhead in the 80s, I couldn’t go to an Oingo Boingo show. Now, I get to see Danny Elfman before Slipknot and System of a Down!? He is absolutely brilliant with all that he has accomplished since Oingo Boingo days. I made it just in time to hear “This is Halloween”. I loved the big screens playing clips from the movies and to hear them live was like a fever dream. Hearing Beetlejuice, Edward Scissorhands, The Simpsons, Batman, and then all the Oingo Boingo songs was so amazing! The echoing of the orchestra throughout the festival grounds was magical!
Even though I just saw Wage War a few nights ago in Riverside, CA, I had to catch them again this night! They are so good, that I skipped out on Bring Me the Horizon and the beginning of Slipknot to watch their whole set. I was a little worn out from earlier mosh pits and carrying crowd surfers, so I stayed toward the back. I could still feel the energy from there.
It was fun to see people walking by realize it was Wage War on stage and they ran over screaming the lyrics.
Walking back over to the main stages, I saw that Beatbox had a cool spot with red carpet, backdrops, a bar, and artist galleries. There were artistic drumheads, paintings, and photography. Being a concert photographer, I was immediately drawn to the photography. Absolutely amazing shots by the one and only Steve Thrasher. If you haven’t seen his work, go check it out at www.steverthrasher.com !
(K) In the weeks leading up to Sick New World, I went back into my Bring Me The Horizon phase. I saw Bring Me The Horizon the night before at their official Sick New World sideshow and they put on such an amazing set! The side shows SNW put on are awesome because I was so excited that I got to see them two nights in a row! Since Baby Metal was also playing the fest, Bring Me brought them out for “Kingslayer” and that was iconic to say the least! During “Drown” frontman Oli Sykes always jumps down into the crowd and tries to hug and notice as many people as possible. Usually at their shows he only goes around the barricade but since it was a festival, he almost made it to the top of the crowd at this one!
Slipknot brought us back to 1999! With the red boiler suits and the old masks with a modern touch, we definitely time-traveled this night! I saw them a few times over the last couple of years when they had huge productions with hanging Kegs and large platforms to walk around on. For this show, they kept it more simple like it was 1999 and I loved it! This was also the festival debut of their new drummer Eloy Casagrande, formally Sepultura! I was lucky enough to see Eloy’s Slipknot debut a couple of days prior at their secret show in “The Middle of Fucking Nowhere” at Pappy and Harriets.
This was System of a Down’s second time headlining Sick New World! SOAD has been my all-time favorite band since middle school so it was actually a fever dream being able to see them second row at a HUGE festival. I’ve seen them a couple of times before but something about this performance was different. The band all seemed to be having the time of their lives and lead singer Serj Tankian was so happy! Serj even fell to his knees laughing when Daran Malakian caught him off guard during “Bubbles”. At the end of their set, bassist Shavo Odadjian’s son ran on stage and gave him the biggest hug! It was the sweetest moment. I couldn’t think of a better way to end this amazing day other than with System of a Down.
We had the best time at Sick New World 2024 and are already counting down the days until next year!
(K) - Kaiya’s Perspective
(H) - Heathers Prospective
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