# Sick New World

Sick New World is an annual heavy metal music festival held at the Las Vegas Festival Grounds in Winchester, Nevada. The first edition took place in 2023. It is operated by Live Nation Entertainment, and is described as the "sister festival" to the pop-punk oriented When We Were Young festival which is run by the same company and takes place at the same location.

## History

The lineup for the inaugural Sick New World festival was revealed on November 7, 2022. Its lineup drew attention for its nu metal focus and featured System of a Down headlining in their only performance of 2023, alongside bands such as Korn, Deftones and Incubus on the main stages. Consequence noted the presence of other genres such as industrial with Ministry, Skinny Puppy and KMFDM, as well as the gothic rock of The Sisters of Mercy (who were playing their first US tour in 15 years), The 69 Eyes and Ville Valo. Stereogum said the festival brought together "some of the biggest names in Y2K-era nu-metal with others from the expanded alt-metal/heavy alternative world, topped off with some hip young acts from the hardcore and electronic worlds." The festival took place on May 8, 2023 at the Las Vegas Festival Grounds with artists performing on four stages: the main "Purple" and "Green" stages which alternate performances and the smaller "Spiral" and "Sick" stages which saw artists perform with no interruptions between sets.
The second edition took place on April 27, 2024 and was headlined by System of a Down and Slipknot. Other prominent bands included A Perfect Circle, Alice in Chains, Bring Me the Horizon, Danny Elfman, Swans, Slowdive and Primus. The festival included metalcore with Knocked Loose, Drain and Code Orange while expanding its genre offerings to shoegaze and slowcore, among others. The festival added a fifth stage, and the Las Vegas Weekly noted how the stages were loosely thematic, with the tented Diablo Stage hosting the hardcore-leaning bands, while the Siren Stage focused on the industrial and gothic artists.
The third edition was scheduled to take place on April 12, 2025, headlined by Metallica and Linkin Park. It also planned to feature the reunion of Acid Bath, who broke up in 1997. However, on November 29, 2024, the festival announced that its 2025 edition was canceled. Earlier that week, Tomahawk bassist Trevor Dunn claimed on a podcast that the festival would not happen, forcing the band to scrap its upcoming tour, which had been planned around the festival, for financial reasons.

## Lineups

| Year | Stage | Performers |
| 2023 | Purple Stage | System of a Down, Deftones, Evanescence, Chevelle, Death Grips, Flyleaf, P.O.D. |
| 2023 | Green Stage | Korn, Incubus, Turnstile, Mr. Bungle, Papa Roach, Soulfly, Alien Ant Farm |
| 2023 | Spiral Stage | The Sisters of Mercy, Ville Valo, Placebo, Ministry, She Wants Revenge, Skinny Puppy, KMFDM, Filter, Melvins, Stabbing Westward, Lacuna Coil, The Birthday Massacre, London After Midnight, The 69 Eyes, Orgy, Cold |
| 2023 | Sick Stage | Cradle of Filth, Prayers, Machine Girl, Health, Ho99o9, Fever 333, My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult, Loathe, 100 gecs, Hoobastank, Body Count, Spiritbox, Sevendust, Kittie, Coal Chamber, Panchiko, Superheaven, Fiddlehead, Narrow Head, Scene Queen, Scowl |
| 2024 | Gold Stage | System of a Down, Bring Me the Horizon, Alice in Chains, Bad Omens, Lamb of God, Ice Nine Kills, Spiritbox, Nonpoint |
| 2024 | Red Stage | Slipknot, Danny Elfman, A Perfect Circle, Primus, Babymetal, Lorna Shore, Kittie |
| 2024 | Spiral Stage | Sleep Token, Black Veil Brides, Wage War, Sevendust, Jinjer, Motionless in White, Static-X, Slaughter to Prevail, Dope, Dayseeker, Skindred, Taproot, Helmet, Powerman 5000, Fear Factory, Paleface Swiss, Wednesday 13, Violent Vira |
| 2024 | Siren Stage | Swans, Slowdive, Polyphia, The Garden, Duster, Knocked Loose, Have a Nice Life, Nitzer Ebb, Front 242, Front Line Assembly, VNV Nation, Lords of Acid, She Past Away, Combichrist, 3Teeth, Vowws, Kim Dracula, 6arelyhuman, Quannnic, Snow Strippers |
| 2024 | Diablo Stage | Incendiary, Static Dress, Better Lovers, Code Orange, Vein.fm, Drain, Kublai Khan, Loathe, Fleshwater, Sunami, Superheaven, Trash Talk, Drop Nineteens, Ultra Sunn, Gel, Zulu, Spy, Fury, Glare |
| 2025 | Cancelled | Metallica, Linkin Park, Queens of the Stone Age, Evanescence, Ministry, 311, AFI, The Sisters of Mercy, Gojira, Acid Bath, The Flaming Lips, Daron Malakian and Scars on Broadway, Down, Three Days Grace, Cannibal Corpse, Meshuggah, Tomahawk, Melvins, Testament, Mastodon, Refused, Filter, Cradle of Filth, Terror, Mayhem, X, Underoath, The Hives, Carcass, Kittie, Poison the Well, Mudvayne, Exodus, Machine Head, Arch Enemy, Twin Tribes, Quicksand, Sponge, Dir En Grey, Static-X, Erra, Stabbing Westward, Rendez-Vous, Dethklok, Orgy, Lacuna Coil, The Birthday Massacre, Nuovo Testamento, Scowl, Dope, Show Me the Body, Amira Elfeky, Lebanon Hanover, Napalm Death, Seven Hours After Violet, Vision Video |