Attending 2024’s Sick New World Festival was one of the most exciting experiences of my adult life. It was an 80-degree day with a perfect lineup. What more can a fan ask for? The festival was extremely organized and well run. The bands seemed to be having the time of their lives. This clearly wasn’t just another stop on the rock festival circuit. This felt monumentous. Every aspect of the day had a grandiose feel to it. Sick New World is (one of, if not) the best, punk rock and heavy metal festivals currently.
Most people compare Sick New World to its sister festival, When We Were Young. While yes, they are managed by the same team, take place at the exact location, and have very similar business styles, I believe they cannot be compared. When We Were Young is more based on nostalgia. It’s literally in the name. Most of the bands on that bill already had their heyday. The 2024 lineup is actually just bands playing all their older records in full. There is nothing wrong with this. The festival plays classic bands that serve a purpose in their community. There will always be a space for those bands, and When We Were Young will always continue to have the coolest lineup.
The key difference with Sick New Word is that these are all the bands that are making a splash in the community NOW. Bad Omens’ newest record, “The Death of Peace of Mind,” is not only their biggest but also one of the most successful rock albums of recent memory. Sleep Token have ascended into amphitheater headliner status, something extremely rare in this genre. The last rock artist to really start playing areas of this size was Rise Against in the early 2010s. Knocked Loose is slowly becoming the biggest hardcore punk band to ever exist, playing Coachella and getting mainstream attention. They’re the face of the genre right now. In a different scene, Lorna Shore has become the most well known deathcore band in history. Will Ramos is appearing on covers of Rocksound and getting talked about in Loudwire the same way they talk about Corey Taylor. Ice Nine Kills are currently opening support for Metallica and proving they’re also the future of metalcore music. Most of the bands on the bill, have had their most recent album be their most successful. It’s not nostalgia bait; it’s the heartbeat of heavy music today.
A highlight set that needs to be discussed is the carnage that was Bring Me The Horizon’s set. The band brought their A-game in a massive way. As someone who has consistently seen the band for over 10 years, their set at Sick New World was a moment in time. It felt like their entire career had been building to that show. The band had Babymetal appear for guest vocals on their song “Kingslayer,” and every single person was on their feet. Video screens featured an AI named Eve trying to destroy humankind between songs. It added flair and personality. I felt like I was living inside an action movie by moshing. I would fly out to Las Vegas just to see that single set again.
Knocked Loose was so intense there were four mosh pits all going off simultaneously. The guitar tones sounded exactly like they did on the studio albums. The band connected with the fans live in such a strong way. Everyone was pointing screaming lyrics at Bryan and the band was giving the energy right back at them. They brought Poppy out to play the live debut of “Suffocate”. Knocked Loose should be a household name at this point.
Ice Nine Kills also played their first show of 2024 at Sick New World. This being my 18th time seeing the band, it’s safe to say I was excited. It was astounding, as usual. The band had a massive inflatable Silence Killer behind them as they performed. During “Meat & Great,” they rolled out a chained Hannibal Lecter, and fans got to watch him escape. Spencer did his classic American Psycho during “Hip To Be Scared” when he murdered Paul on the breakdown. It was a spectacle, it was extremely heavy, and more than anything, it was unapologetically Ice Nine Kills.
The festival also needs to work on its entrance. It had a capacity of 80,000 with only 4 gates to get into the festival. I waited outside for an hour and a half before I was finally allowed in. It was a brutal experience. This can be easily remedied with more entrances. It can also be fixed by having entrances in different locations. Everyone had to enter in the same parking lot area behind Circus Circus Hotel. Another possible solution to this would be having doors open much earlier. The doors opened at 10:30 am, and the first artist started at 11:15. Spacing out the time when doors open may allow for a more gentle flow of people.
A critique we’ve seen a lot about Sick New World is that the band’s set times were too short. While we understand the frustration fans have, we firmly disagree. Did Lorna Shore only play “Sun // Eater” and the “Pain Remains” trilogy? Yes. But in the span of 2 hours, you have seen four headliner-sized bands for the price of one. If fans go choose to see the smaller artists on the Diablo and Siren stages, that turnaround is even faster. In 3 hours (from 6-9pm) fans could mosh out to Drain, Vein.Fm, Code Orange, Better Lovers, Static Dress, and Incendiary. That’s a bucket list lineup right there; it’s just the last quarter of your night at Sick New World Festival. I did not understood the vision until I saw it with my own two eyes. It’s a sacrifice for the length of the set in exchange for the volume of artists. If the lineup is as good as it was this year, that’s a worthy trade-off.
There were no wait times to get food or beer. The food was delicious, and the alcohol was strong. The festival merch line moved quickly and efficiently. The artist merch line had a two-hour wait, but if you flew to Las Vegas to buy band merch, reevaluate your life! There were four bands playing at the same time! Go crowdsurf or run around in a circle pit! The bands have merch online after the festival anyway.
Overall, the title says it best. Sick New World is Coachella for heavy music fans. It’s THE festival for anyone who grew up playing guitar and trying to learn to scream. It was a mass congregation of every hardcore punk fan in the world. At the festival, I ran into people from Brazil, Canada, and every part of the United States. Sick New World 2024 is in the history books.