Everything is bigger in Texas, they say. At Sick New World Texas, it’s almost a mission statement. Housed in Fort Worth’s enormous Texas Motor Speedway stadium, the Lone Star State’s edition of the annual megafest, like its twin in Las Vegas, crams a non-stop parade of bands – 49, in this case – into a single day, with a line-up that feels like several different gatherings happening at the same time.
The place is big, the burgers are big, the drinks are even bigger. The pits are huge, the crowds are massive. If you feel spoiled for highlights during the scorching-hit day – and Knocked Loose’s fire-tastic showing is a clear winner here, with sets from Speed, Amira Elfeky, Showing Teeth, Haywire, and industrial legends Filter bringing up the rear – then the evening’s entertainment is positively greedy. One after the other, there’s three headline-worthy sets, from a sublime Evanescence, to Slayer proving Reign In Blood is still the last word in viciousness for its 40th birthday, and Deftones swinging for the moon itself.
Somehow, after all this, it’s still possible to feel like the main event, a cut above. Hello, System Of A Down. Benefitting they may be from being the only band of the day with no competition, they are still very much the band many are here for today on their own. These people are richly rewarded with an opening triple-jab of B.Y.O.B., Prison Song and a gloriously manic Suite-Pee. For the next twenty-four songs, even during the less openly violent songs, it’s completely full-throttle.