Sick New World Festival is a one day metal festival based in Las Vegas, NV. It was introduced in 2023, with its debut on May 13. At its first show, there were a whopping 51 bands that performed in a single day on just 4 stages. Despite the many criticisms of the festival, they have announced a second festival date for April 27, 2024. Sick New World is already an iconic music festival with only one event so far, with many more to come.

First, let’s talk about the first Sick New World. When it was announced, people were very excited about it because of all of the high profile bands that would be there. The headliners were System of a Down, Korn, Deftones, Incubus, and Evanescence. Some of the other well known bands were Turnstile, Chevelle, Mr Bungle, Death Grips, Papa Roach, Flyleaf with Lacey Sturm, Soulfly, P.O.D., and Alien Ant Farm. There were many other bands on other stages throughout the day. There were 4 stages: the purple stage, the green stage, the spiral stage, and the sick stage. The purple and green stages were the main stages that held the headliners. The spiral stage held the more goth bands like The Sisters Of Mercy, Ministry, She Wants Revenge, and The Birthday Massacre. The sick stage held the emo/heavier bands like Cradle Of Filth, 100 Gecs, Kittie, Coal Chamber, and Spiritbox. 

There were multiple criticisms and critiques of the first Sick New World. One of the main criticisms was the fact that the festival was only 1 day. People couldn’t see all the bands that they wanted to because of overlap. Lots of people suggested that the next SNW be 2 days, especially since the price was very high for a single day. The tickets started at $350 for General Admission, and got more expensive with GA+ and VIP. The price of the ticket was bad enough, not including the cost of food, gas, and a Vegas hotel. Another major criticism was the location of the festival. It was in Las Vegas in the summer heat. The Festival Grounds are on black asphalt, so people were feeling the heat all day. There were lots of people passing out from heat exhaustion, and filling up the med tents. The water situation was heavily complained about, too. You were not allowed to bring in your own water, only an empty plastic water bottle. You were allowed to fill it up inside the festival grounds, but there were only 2 spots to get water from for 12,000 people. The lines for water were crazy long, and people were passing out waiting to get water in the heat. While I was waiting for water, I passed out from the heat and had to get taken to a med tent, resulting in missing Evanescence. 

Knowing all of this about the first Sick New World, let’s talk about the second Sick New World in 2024. The lineup is a lot different than last year, including more than 70 bands. The headliners this year are System of a Down, Slipknot, A Perfect Circle, Danny Elfman, Alice In Chains, and Bring Me The Horizon. The headliners are mostly the same genre and vibe as last year, but the other bands are a lot of different genres. Some bands include Duster, Have A Nice Life, The Garden, Primus, Lorna Shore, Motionless In White, Slowdive, Baby Metal, Kittie, and Skindred. People are confused about the mix of genres for this year’s festival, because imagining Duster and Lorna Shore at the same festival seems kind of silly. People are hoping that all the problems from last year will be fixed, although the announcement for the festival still says that it will be a 1 day festival.