Sick New World 2026 returned again at the Las Vegas Festival Grounds with a stacked lineup that even I was fangirling over — four stages, endless food options, the coolest activations we’ve seen yet, and more. I like to call it When We Were Young’s “dark twin” as both festivals equally split my music taste down the center. The atmosphere this year was very easily navigable, with plenty of space of and a crowd to die for (no pun intended). The gothic, industrial and metal influences make this festival so special, bringing together so many people with like-minded interests, fashion and self-expression.
With a roster this good, it’s hard to “plan” your day. Trying to come up with a schedule sounds great on paper until you are being tempted between dozens of can’t-miss shows. Then it begins: the trade-offs, leave early or stay longer? Catch something new or stick with what you know? Most people ended up doing both — running back and forth to get the most out of their day. Once the fans started locking in for Bring Me The Horizon, KoRn, and System of a Down, many people had already chosen to secure a spot for their favorite band.
The Purple Stage got moving early without feeling like a typical opening block of artists. Speed of Light came in direct and set things in motion, definitely enough to get people going. Failure followed with familiar energy — both bands on the rise, definitely catching both our ears and our eyes.
By the time P.O.D. hit, fans had really packed in. P.O.D. kicked things off with “Boom,” immediately giving the crowd something familiar to reminisce on. Frontman Sonny Sandoval sounded just as we recall almost two decades ago, flowing through songs like “Southtown” and “Youth of the Nation.” With his signature dreads flying through the air, there wasn’t a dull moment in this set. Closing with their biggest hit “Alive,” P.O.D. hit exactly how we expected — and beyond. I was fortunate enough to bump into Sonny offstage and give him my highest praises for sounding so incredible after all of these years.
Over on the Green Stage, the early run had fans pumped up from the moment the first band stepped onstage. Violent Vira opened with “Tarantula Girl” and held a steady presence early in the day. Songs like “God Complex” carried well across the crowd, giving the set a darker edge without losing momentum. It felt controlled and confident for an earlier slot. Closing with “I Don’t Care,” the set stayed consistent from start to finish. I was impressed with the turnout for this younger band, who have clearly won the hearts of many over even at an early start.
Filter showed us something more familiar, gracing us with their nostalgic handful of songs. The crowd turned absolutely choral as thousands of voices echoed “Take A Picture” — a song that no millennial or Gen X could ever forget.
By the time Cypress Hill stepped in, the entire area seemed to swarm in. They were easily the biggest genre outlier on that stage — hip-hop cutting through a lineup built mostly around rock and metal — and it didn’t push people away, it pulled even more in. The turnout grew noticeably, and the set leaned into exactly what people came for, with songs like “Insane in the Brain” and a cover of “Jump Around” by House of Pain. The energy spiked and the atmosphere felt looser yet louder.
The Spiral Stage leaned heavily into the late ’90s and early 2000s, and the crowd reflected it almost immediately. It felt like one of the more nostalgia-driven parts of the festival, but not in a lazy way — people were fully there for it. Kittie hit early and didn’t feel like a throwback act, just loud and immediate, while Alien Ant Farm pulled one of the more reactive crowds once their set picked up. Orgy and Lords of Acid kept that stretch rooted in that era, leaning into the industrial and electronic side that still fits naturally with a lineup like this.
Even with a newer name like Sleep Theory in the mix, it didn’t break the flow — if anything, it made the whole stage feel more like a continuation of that sound rather than a contrast. It was one of the easier stages to stay at for a while without feeling like you were missing something completely different elsewhere. Sleep Theory is an artist I’ve had my eyes on for years, and finally got the chance to see live for a few short songs — definitely on my list to catch a full set in the future. They had the crowd completely engaged in the middle of the afternoon — the most I’d seen during that time block.
The Diablo stage stayed in that darker lane all day — gothic, industrial, and hardcore — and didn’t really drift from it. It had its own crowd pretty quickly, the kind of people who weren’t just passing through, but actually sticking around for a few sets in a row, if not the whole time. Early on, bands like Norma Jean, Speed, and HEALTH set the pace, each bringing a different edge to that heavier space without breaking the overall mood. That run carried straight into TERROR x Pain of Truth and Wage War, where things took a detour into the more hardcore side. From there, we curved back around with Poison the Well and Glassjaw, bringing in more of those punk-rooted elements without losing the momentum the stage had built all day.
Underoath closed it out, and their throwback screamo-driven set felt like a natural ending point — loud, emotional, and fully in line with everything that came before it. Our MySpace selves were rejoicing at throwback nostalgia we were able to witness first hand — microphones swinging and all.
Fans for AFI made a mad-dash for their spots as soon as festival gates opened. The band played late afternoon, but the crowd was dedicated to seeing their beloved frontman, Davey Havok. AFI kicked off with their classic “Girl’s Not Grey” and Davey carried the energy with a chaotic grace the only fans of him can ever truly understand. The band treated us to their bigger hit songs like “Love Like Winter” and “Silver and Cold” without missing a beat, pulling from different eras without it feeling disjointed — including “Behind The Clock” from their latest record. Davey climbed into the crowd, gifting many fans with a memory for life. They wrapped with the undeniable “Miss Murder.”
Knocked Loose wasted no time blowing the socks off of everyone. Opening with “Blinding Faith” and pushing straight into their beloved tracks, singer Bryan Garris kept the intensity high throughout, with “Suffocate” hitting hard in the middle of the set — though we were hopeful for a Poppy cameo, the performance still annihilated. Knocked Loose fans are some of the most day-ones ever with many dipping into the double digits to their concert roster. By the time they closed with “Everything Is Quiet Now,” at least a hundred crowd surfers had come over the barricade. If you weren’t crowd surfing at Knocked Loose, were you really even living?
Marilyn Manson slowly emerged onto the stage, his trenchcoat gently swaying in the breeze. He moved fluidly across the stage, opening with “Nod If You Understand” and had the crowd in the palm of his hand from the start. He looked refreshed and confident — vocally, he sounded just as strong as he did years ago. “The Dope Show” and “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)” landed without feeling overplayed, just sharp and direct. He closed with one of my favorite tracks of all time, “The Beautiful People.” Manson exceeded the already high expectations I had for him, I’m grateful to have been in the pit with him again.
In addition to Manson, whispers across the grounds spread noting Evanescence as a highly anticipated set. Front woman Amy Lee stepped out with “Afterlife,” giving us a strong opening before settling into a mix of newer material and long-time favorites. Songs like “Going Under” and “Call Me When You’re Sober” gave the set its backbone, while sending us back to the early 2000s. Her vocals soared as fans smiled in awe at her captivating stage presence. Naturally, they closed with “Bring Me To Life” and we wouldn’t have it any other way.
Perhaps one of the biggest crowds gathered for the ever-explosive Bring Me The Horizon. The band kicked off their Purple Stage set with “DArkSide,” sending the crowd into a frenzy immediately, as expected. Oli Sykes traded off between the band’s heavier moments and more melodic sections with an enthusiastic crowd in tow. Classics like “Shadow Moses” and “KINGSLAYER” had the crowd spinning mid-set. Oli teased the crowd by encouraging a bigger moshpit — and they delivered. They toned down the set with their emotional rip of “Doomed” before closing with their usual “Throne.” As expected, the band was fully dialed in from start to finish.
As the opening to “Blind” rolled in, fans went absolutely feral for KoRn. Lead singer Jonathan Davis didn’t waste time dipping into the crowd’s excitement and matching their energy. The set leaned into a heavier weight over speed, with “Here to Stay” and “Falling Away From Me” sitting right in that sludgy groove they’ve always owned with those defined basslines that no other band could ever imitate. Even the deeper cuts held attention without needing extra push. The barricade was lined with diehards mouthing every lyric as the stage lights flickered to compliment the darker feel of the moment. KoRn finished their set with “Freak on a Leash” with the ground rumbling.
Danny Elfman was a joy at Sick New World in 2024, so naturally I had to race over and catch his magical set. Danny boasts a live band oozing with talent which includes Robin Finck (Nine Inch Nails) and Ilan Rubin (Foo Fighters). He opened with “Sorry” and built a set that moved between his solo work, notorious film scores, and Oingo Boingo material (“Insects”) without feeling scattered. Recognizable moments like “The Beetlejuice” theme (Complete with “The Banana Boat” reference), “The Spiderman” theme, “The Batman” theme hit us right in the core memories almost instantly, but the set never leaned on the movie soundtracks too heavily. It carried its own rhythm the entire time, closing with “No One Lives Forever” (Oingo Boingo). That song choice felt like a natural finish that rounded out a mystical atmosphere.
System of a Down came out with “Suite-Pee” and kept things moving without much pause, despite the roaring welcome in front of them. Serj, Shavo, Darian and John all balanced the chaos and control that defines their live sets, letting songs like “Aerials” and “B.Y.O.B.” hit you straight in the chest. Before the crowd erupted for their much anticipated “Chop Suey!” about mid way through the set, I could see fans crowdsurfing forward, young kids on their parents’ shoulders — everything that signaled to me despite the craziness, this was a safe and inclusive environment for fans of all walks. System of a Down always performs with a strong stage presence, speaking on what matters to them most, all while delivering a vocally and instrumentally impressive show. Ending on “Sugar” was surely the best choice as the rain of the Vegas night began showering down on us.
By the end of the night, Sick New World 2026 felt less like a festival people simply just “attended” and more like a reunion, something I always feel is the common idea at niche-genre festivals. Between the industrial haze of the Diablo stage, the late ’90s and 2000s nostalgia running through Spiral, and massive sets from bands like Bring Me The Horizon, KoRn, System of a Down, Evanescence, Marilyn Manson, AFI, and Knocked Loose, the entire lineup managed stretch into every corner of metal cohesively. Even with four stages running nonstop, the atmosphere never tipped into chaos for the wrong reasons — people moved, stayed, doubled back, and packed themselves into crowds for artists they grew up with alongside newer names still building their place in the scene. I didn’t see a single fight from my view the entire night. From the weather to the music to the crowd and everything surrounding it, Sick New World once again proved why it has become one of the most distinctive heavy festivals in the country, pulling together multiple generations of music fans into one loud, exhausting, and genuinely memorable day at the Las Vegas Festival Grounds.
So… round 2? Sick New World hits Texas in October… are you in?
GALLERY: Sick New World at Las Vegas Festival Grounds (April 25, 2026) — All photos by Nikki Phillips unless otherwise credited.
Artist Portraits
System Of A Down
KoRn
Evanescence
Knocked Loose
MARILYN MANSON
AFI
POD
Danny Elfman
Additional artists
