The band Korn, playing in Bakersfield for the first time without Brian “Head” Welch, began its “See You on the Other Side” tour on Feb. 24 at Rabobank Arena.

At about 6 p.m., a line of excited fans surrounded Rabobank before the show.

Longtime fan Jerome Deaver said he has viewed Korn in concert five times. When asked how he felt about Welch not performing in the concert, Deaver responded that he doesn’t feel “too bad” about it and wishes that Welch is ” having a better life.”

Bakersfield College student Julio Suazo, a journalism major, hoped that the concert would be the same without Welch. “Hopefully, it will be the same,” she said. “I liked [Head] Welch a lot.”

Another BC student, Maria Pantoja, a physical education major, has viewed Korn in concert three different times. “I can’t say how the concert is going to be without him,” said Pantoja when asked how she felt the show would go without Welch.

The concert began with 10 Years, followed by Mudvayne. As the lights dimmed to set the stage for Korn, the audience began to chant “Korn.” When the band members revealed themselves to the audience, cheers and screams filled the arena.

After playing about a dozen songs, Korn said goodnight, but the fans weren’t ready to leave. After about a minute and a half of the audience asking for more, Korn came back out with more songs, which included the “one that started it all,” according to Jonathan Davis, lead singer of the band. The song is titled “Blind.” At the end of the concert, Davis thanked the crowd and the opening bands for a good night. Davis also said, “it was good to be home.”

Earlier in the day, the city of Bakersfield held a rally for the band in which the members of Korn received a plaque memorializing the beginning of the tour in their hometown of Bakersfield.

Mayor Harvey Hall presented the band with a proclamation declaring Feb. 24 Korn day in the city of Bakersfield.

All four Korn band members – Davis, James Shaffer, Reginald Arvizu and David Silveria – were present during the ceremony. A street leading to a docking area for Rabobank Arena was renamed Korn Row in recognition of the fact that no other band has performed as many times as Korn has at Rabobank.

During this presentation, some people in the crowd were heard shouting comments such as “Give them a real street” and “Rename Buck Owens Boulevard.” These comments even prompted one Korn band member to say “that they’ll work on getting a real street one day.”