It was another beautiful day in Toyota Park for the second day of the Chicago Open Air Festival, but that didn’t stop thousands of metal fans from donning all-black ensembles. (Burning your skin on chains and leather that got hot in the sunshine is totally metal, right?)
While no artists disappointed, one of our favorite sets of the day was definitely Gojira, who hail from France and was the first French-language metal band to have a song on the US charts. They performed an assortment of mostly newer songs to an absolutely packed second stage, which made me wonder why they didn’t play at the main stage. Some other fun highlights was Breaking Benjamin nerding out and performing a version of the “Imperial March” from Star Wars (and lead singer/guitarist Benjamin Burley was sure to show the crowd his Darth Vader guitar body) and a medley of cover songs. Chicago hometown boys, Disturbed, also brought down the house with their popular songs, stage pyrotechnics and a powerful cover of Simon & Garfunkel’s “The Sound of Silence,” which had everyone illuminating the arena with their lighters and cell phone flashlights.
Another favorite set was Korn, who has always had a special bond with Chicago. Korn lead singer Jonathan Davis told the crowd the band considers Chicago to be “a second home town” and proved that to us by premiering a new song, “Rotting in Vain,” for the Chicago Open Air fans. Overall, they were definitely a crowd pleaser, playing their jams “Freak on a Leash,” “Falling Away From Me,” and, of course, “Got The Life,” which brought Michael and me back to our angsty middle school days in the best way.
Check out the Gozamos photos from day 2 of Chicago Open Air, featuring pics from Gojira, Breaking Benjamin, Korn and Disturbed! Be sure to follow Gozamos’ coverage of the festival on Instagram (@gozamos), SnapChat (GozamosChi) and Facebook (Gozamos).
All photos by Michael De Anda Muñiz.