Korn's misery loves company

TAMPA -- Korn, the godfathers of nu-metal -- the now common hybrid of hard rock and rap -- made fans pump fists in the air Thursday at the nearly packed St. Pete Times Forum. Woe to those without earplugs because the SoCal quintet brought along two equally heavy opening acts, Disturbed and Trust Company.

In the mid '90s, Korn was among the first to merge hard rock with hip hop beats and the staccato delivery of singer Jonathan Davis. Unlike acts that came after it -- Limp Bizkit, Insane Clown Posse -- there's nothing fun about Korn. Its music celebrates misery -- and sex, the scarier the better.

A former mortuary worker, Davis writes obsessively of family dysfunction and his own tortured childhood. It's Davis, not silly Marilyn Manson, who's the spokesman for sullen, Goth-garbed youth. Young people continue to gobble up the band's formula of bludgeoning music and Davis' wailing about being an outcast -- still? After selling all those records? Hmmmm. While not a hit with the critics, Untouchables, the band's latest, sold a half million copies in its first week.

At Thursday's show ghoulish Davis, clad in a black kimono get-up, spun his dreadlocks around singing tunes fans knew well: Freak on a Leash, new single Here to Stay, and A.D.I.D.A.S., not an ode to sneakers, but an acronym for "All Day I Dream About Sex." (How could fans not sing along on that chorus?)

Davis himself never really raps, rather he "sings" -- wails, really. (Late in the show, Davis also busted out the bagpipes.) Watching Davis and his bandmates moshing in mayhem could infuse even the crowd's stodgiest. Korn's true star is drummer David Silveria, who bashed his kit with abandon, and also finesse.

Disturbed's set, too, was a bludgeoning angst-a-thon. Singer David Draiman made mincemeat of his throat on songs such as Prayer from the band's recent Dream, as well as tunes from 2000's The Sickness. Sounding like a sped-up Black Sabbath, Disturbed's tunes are oddly melodic. With his shaved head, pierced chin and those tusks through his lips, Draiman looks as menacing as he sounds. No tattoos, you noticed? Draiman was born into an Orthodox Jewish family and though he's renounced Judaism, he's said in interviews he'd still like to be buried in the family plot in Jerusalem.

Draiman's a compelling frontman, with a ferocious bark that caterwauls between a demonic, low rumble and shrill shrieks that would impress Bruce Dickinson of Iron Maiden.

Trust Company's set was tight and energetic, but the band gets docked points in the originality department.

-- To contact Gina Vivinetto, e-mail gina@sptimes.com .

© 2006 • All Rights Reserved • St. Petersburg Times
490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111

Contact the Times | Privacy Policy
Standard of Accuracy | Terms, Conditions & Copyright