Brutal Pits, Kind People: Sick New World Makes Its Debut in Texas

Texas Motor Speedway, Fort Worth — October 24, 2026

There's a spot at the top of the stairs descending into Sick New World Texas where the entire festival just unravels beneath you, like a treasure map draw in black eyeliner, sprawling across the speedway, daring you to find your way in. Four stages. A sea of band tees and ripped tights. Concrete jam-packed with metalheads of all ages, from first timers to lifers who've been waiting for this lineup for years.

From up here you can feel it before you hear it, a low thump of bass crawling up through the soles of your shoes from a stage you can quite pinpoint yet. And all that stands between you and it is a staircase. A long one, the kind that looks like it descends deep in to the Inferno, a carnival of chaos, the grounds you've been waiting eagerly for for months.

You start down, and every step turns the volume up. Somewhere around the halfway mark it hits you: this is really happening, and by the bottom you're not looking at the festival anymore. You're IN it. You've become part of the carnival.

Going down was the best entrance I've made in a fest all year. Coming back up after a full day of moshing, screaming, and dancing along to songs I learned off the backs of burned CDs from questionable origins? That was a different story. But we'll get to that. First, let's talk about Sick New World Texas's grand entrance on the Texas scene.

Where This Thing Came From

If you're new here, Sick New World is Live Nation's one day heavy music mega-fest, basically the reunion of your Myspace most played artists with a much bigger stage and the smell of fest foods floating in the air around you. It launched at the Las Vegas Festival Grounds in 2023 with System of a Down headlining, and local reports estimating roughly 85,000 people came out to rock. In 2025 the festival went a little quiet and in 2026 it returned with TWO editions: Las Vegas on April 25th, and now Texas on October 24th, 2026. System of a Down headlined both, with Deftones co-headlining the Texas date here in Fort Worth.

The Lay Of the Land

Four stages, two weight classes. Blue and Gold held some big damn names, and Spiral and Diablo played host to more intimate crowds – each of them though, were full of people ready to rumble at each set. As I explored the grounds, taking in all the sights and finding my way between sets, I needed to be mindful of my step. This festival was 100% sold out & there were an estimated 80,000 people in attendance this inaugural year.

The schedule itself left me racing around the speedway. For me, and a lot of people I spoke to, we had hella schedule conflicts. This lineup was ABSOLUTELY LOADED with crazy talent that no one wanted to miss any moment of. Like, what do you MEAN I had to choose between Peeling Flesh and Kittie?! The little bridges set up between some spaces took some strategy and patience to navigate as they'd get congested every time a larger set finished up (especially between the Gold and Blue stages.) Everyone got where they needed to go, but just in case make sure you plan in advance the amount of time its gonna take you to get where ya need to go.

Then there was the merch line, which had its own zip code. Every time I checked in with people waiting, it was packed, and they told me the wait ran three to four hours for almost the entire day. The festival merch looked popular. The grey hoodie with the little stitched-on ghost demons was goddamn adorable, and I’m still a little sad I didn’t bring one home.

The Heartbeat

Sick New World Texas ran on adrenaline and anticipation. Everybody was in motion, racing from stage to stage to catch a few songs from a favorite band before bolting to the next one, with crowd surfers soaring above head at any given moment. Nobody looked happier than the people partying out here on the festival grounds.

Knocked Loose was the wildest scene I witnessed all day. Vocalist Bryan Garris kept egging on more chaos, and the crowd was happy to oblige. Wave after wave of dedicated fans shouted every lyric word for word, circle pits kicked up so much dirt you could watch it rise off the ground, and bodies kept coming over the top of the crowd. Then, on their third song, “Don’t Reach for Me,” the pyro went off. Goddamn holy hell, it took the phrase “face-melting” about as literally as a concert can within reason.

At one point, a cluster of fans crossed their arms overhead in X’s, and vocalist Bryan Garris stopped the set to make sure everyone was okay. His message was simple: “I need you to take care of each other.” Then he counted to four and told everyone he could see to move however they wanted, whether that meant head-banging, moshing, or shoving a friend, right as “Where Light Divides the Holler” hit. The whole crowd went ballistic all at once.

Sweet Dreams Were Made at Sick New World with Marilyn Manson

I remember watching Marilyn Manson on MTV as a kid, back when I was just beginning to learn what goth and alternative music sounded like. Between the music videos and interviews, he was someone I couldn't look away from. At an age when I was figuring out my own tastes and identity, seeing someone express themselves so openly meant something to me. You could dress differently, listen to music outside of the mainstream, and find people who understood you. Getting to photograph Marilyn Manson at Sick New World brought me back to those early discoveries.

The Antichrist Superstar opened with "Angel With the Scabbed Wings," "Disposable Teens," and "This Is the New Shit," and the crowd was loving every second of it! Those first three songs flew by, and it was incredible seeing how into the music each member was while a sea of raised horn gestures were raised behind me. Before I knew it, I was making my way back toward the general admission area with a new goal in mind: finding the nearest bacon-wrapped hot dog. Looking back toward the stage, I was suprised by how much the audience had grown, with fans stretching farther out and getting down to "The Dope Show."

Marilyn Manson closed out with the unmistakable "The Beautiful People," which had me jumping up and down, remembering all those nights hearing it on WWE Smackdown. For a few minutes, I was that kid in front of the television again, except now I was surrounded by thousands of people singing along. Hands down, one of my favorite sets of the day.

Off the Stage and Onto the Interview Couch

While Ryan covered the sets from the pit, I split my time between the crowd and the interview couches. Each conversation has its own full interview, so think of this as the trailer.

Sitting down with Addison (Showing Teeth) felt like catching up with an old friend. The conversation never needed a warm up, the laughs kept coming, and by the end she was obliging me by screaming into my mic (a personal highlight of the day for me.) She'd opened the Spiral stage at 11:35am earlier in the day and we chatted a little about her start in the car at a church parking lot (any church parking lot as long as it wasn't a Sunday or Wednesday, the street lights make for great lighting!)

The heart of our talk revolved around the women in the heavy music scene. She was blunt about how often female artists get questioned about whether they really wrote their own songs, how she spent years feeling like she didn't belong until she decided to tear it all down and build her own little pocket. Her advice to any young woman starting out was something that to be honest, I will carry with me for years to come:

"I'm proud of her (the hypothetical girl) for just trying. Be loud, don't waste a second on anyone who says you suck... you can figure it out as you go." – Addison, Showing Teeth.

Her debut EP, “A Fate Worse Than Loneliness,” is out now via Republic and Spinefarm. You can check out our full interview over on Youtube.

Then there was Kittie. Morgan Lander, Mercedes Lander, and Tara McLeod sat down with me right after their Spiral set, and the first thing they wanted to talk about was a banana and a dirty rubber chicken. They've been invited to every Sick New World on record and for a good reason – these girls get the crowd raging and ready to scream at one another (lovingly, of course.)

They had me at hello, honestly. They were the band that helped me channel my inner rage as a teenager, so having the chance to chat with them about their colorful history together & how times have shaped and changed their journey to their latest release "Fire" was life changing. They explained how writing together again felt like putting on familiar old sneakers and heading home, and it was incredible to watch how close these women were. They'd spent nearly all their adult lives together, growing and they clearly loved one another like sisters.

You can view our full interview over on Youtube.

Craig Johns Jr. and Mia Conte of the Los Angeles band The Dark.FM (rounded out by guitarist Alan Ashby of Of Mice & Men and bassist Nick Goins) sat down with me after their Diablo set. It was their second Sick New World this year after Vegas, and Craig was glad to be a part of the very first one in Texas. The heat didn’t faze them. After a summer of festivals, they’ve gotten used to playing “moody industrial music in 90 degrees in the sunshine.”

The best part was their take on building a community instead of a following: answer people, remember who showed up, send free merch to repeat customers, and say thank you when a release does better than expected. “We’re all just hanging out,” as one of them put it. When I asked who they’d love to collaborate with, they named Crystal Method and The Prodigy, so here's hoping they get their wish this coming year!

Check out our full interview over on Youtube, and make sure you go say hi to 'em when you get a chance.

Nostalgia Swept The Festival Grounds as Evanescence Took The Stage at Texas Motor Speedway

I raced over to catch Evanescence as night fell over Sick New World Texas, and Amy Lee's powerful vocals made me glad I'd hurried. Opening with "Sanctuary," "Tell Me When You've Had Enough." and "Afterlife." the band gave us plenty of reasons to stop and take it all in. After singing "Bring Me To Life" and "Going Under" at countless karaoke nights, I was finally hearing that voice in person. This was my first time seeing Evanescence, and getting to experience the music I'd spent so many nights singing with friends was something I was grateful to be there for.

The Prodigy Proves To Be Timeless As They Turn The Night Into An All Out Electro-Dance Party

By the time The Prodigy took the stage, Sick New World Texas had turned into an all-out rave. The pioneers of breakbeat and electronic punk opened with "Omen," "Voodoo People," and "Poison," and everyone was giving it their all, headbanging and dancing the night away. I'd heard their music through Enter the Matrix, The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift, and Charlie's Angels, so finally experiencing it live brought another kind of nostalgia to the night. Nearly three decades later, the songs from The Fat of the Land still pop off, and the crowd's reaction to "Smack My Bitch Up" made that clear. As they closed with "Breathe," I made the difficult decision to head toward Deftones to catch the tail end of their set, but you can bet that I was still dancing as The Prodigy's music faded into the distance.

The Family We Find in the Pit

So, honestly, this was our first Sick New World and we loved every minute of it. The fans were welcoming, and the pits (while brutal) made sure to take care of one another. People picked each other up, checked in honestly with one another, and made quick friends in the middle of the streams of chaos. It was controlled mayhem with a lot of heart in it.

Even the stairs turned into a bonding exercise. By the end of the day, most of us were hobbling up them together, sore from dancing and moshing, trading winces and grins. It was a good kind of hurt, the kind that comes with a story and a hoarse voice.

Real Talk: Getting Outta There

The exit was the one rough spot. There was no cell service at the venue, which isn’t unusual for a festival this size, but it meant rideshares couldn’t be called. Everyone was trying to leave at once, and the parking lot was a maze. If you go next year, plan your ride ahead of time, pick a meeting spot, download offline maps, and build in a cushion at the end of the night.

Final Thoughts, My Dudes

Sick New World Texas gave me sore legs, a bad case of hoodie envy, and a crowd that picked each other up for a full day of heavy music. If you missed the first one, you missed something special, and you’ll be hearing about it from everyone who went. Here’s hoping Fort Worth gets a year two!

More galleries featuring Underoath, Glassjaw, and Wage War below!