SICK NEW WORLD 2026
Las Vegas Has Become A Yearly Expedition For
Rock, Metal, and Debauchery
After a hiatus, Sick New World has returned to Las Vegas in 2026, once again featuring System Of A Down, a plethora of heavy bands from the past several decades to new groups, and a massive amount of energy drinks fueling people to the point of burnout by 4PM. The way festivals were intended to be for 2026.
Sick New World 2026 was a return to form for the festival that I think people realized just how much it was missed last year. Korn and Evanescence both debuting new songs live for the first time, End It encouraging GA fans to crash into VIP because “Security can’t stop you all!”, Danny Elfman once again stealing the show with an epic performance and this time with guest musicians, there was a lot to take in.
System Of A Down
Velvet Hammer Management along with other reports are saying there were more than 60,000 people in attendance, not including staff, bands, crew, and more. The Las Vegas Festival Grounds were swarmed with people singing “Ya’ll Want A Single” in unison. It was the perfect Saturday night in Vegas if I’ve ever heard one.
The only complaint was that we couldn’t be in more than one place at a time, which is the plight of any festival goer with so much going on. The overlap of Korn, Danny Elfman, and Underoath I believe gave some fans a personal crisis leading to a gametime decision. That being said, Sick New World and Velvet Hammer Management stepped things up with security and festival layout this year. The improvement in flow and design from Sick New World 2024 to 2026 felt refined and there significantly issues with stage sound, crowd flow, etc.
So what does all that mean? It means we can talk about some of the best performances we saw throughout the 12-hour festival day covering a lot of great material. Below you can find us talking with members of Kittie, Filter, and Sleep Theory in an interview video.
Sick New World 2026 Highlights (that we saw):
–Korn performing “Reward The Scars” for the first time live
–Evanescence performing “Who Will You Follow” for the first time live
–Danny Elfman having Josh Freese and Reba Myers in his band performing everything from Oingo Boingo to the ’89 Batman Theme
–Knocked Loose getting the fancy people in VIP to open a wall of death
–Deafheaven opening with “Doberman” off of last year’s excellent Lonely People With Power
–End It frontman Akil Godsey encouraging the GA fans to rush over the VIP barricade at once because security can’t stop them all, and if they have health insurance (unlike End It), then the fans will be fine
–Chained Saint performing to a big crowd in the morning while still having to deal with homework next week (teachers are so unfair)
–Ministry performing a set with anti-Trump imagery less than an hour after the White House Correspondent Sh88ting (it was awkward but somehow perfectly aligned for Al Jourgensen)
–Bring Me The Horizon killing it with Oli “Slim Shady” Sykes debuting the new haircut
–System Of A Down remembering how to still deliver decades into an amazing career
The up close experience for the barricade riders was worth it as the weather held out perfectly until after 10:30PM when rain finally trickled down onto the black wearing masses. We want to thank whatever God above is in charge of the weather machine for having Las Vegas not be unbearably hot for a long day outside.
You can check out the galleries below to see photos of different bands
that performed at Sick New World 2026.
Evanescence
Read More about Evanescence at Sick New World 2026
Danny Elfman
Knocked Loose
Ministry
Deafheaven
Kittie
Filter
Failure
End It
Chained Saint
Along with Sick New World venturing to Texas this October, we want the Vegas excursion to continue to be an annual experience. It’s understandable that not everything can be played out in today’s industry and economy, but heavy music is finally making a comeback after so many years of feeling left behind. Sick New World is proving people are willing to experience it all in person.
INTERVIEWS AND COVERAGE WILL BE POSTED ON THIS PAGE AS IT’S FINISHED! RETURN BACK FOR MORE!
