Mudvayne Celebrates 25 Years of L.D. 50 at Old Stomping Grounds at Aragon Ballroom in Chicago

By: Arianna Karnezis

Many music fans will say that concerts are therapeutic, and some recent studies have said that going to concerts regularly will add years to your life. The same can and has been said by the musicians themselves, that performing for hundreds of thousands of fans every night for weeks, months out of the year has saved their life. Mudvayne's Chad Gray would be one of their first to attest to that. On September 13th, the nu metal legends kicked off their highly anticipated L.D. 50 25th anniversary tour on September 13th, and their second stop the following day took place at the Aragon Ballroom in Chicago. Joining them on this celebratory excursion were fellow 2000's icons Static-X and Iowa's generational up-and-comers Vended.

Released on August 22nd, 2000, L.D. 50 quickly put Mudvayne on the map during a time when nu metal was reaching its peak--Linkin Park's Hybrid Theory would be released a few short months later, and the rest was history. Led by the single “Dig,” arguably one of the band's biggest hits whose bass line is probably still one of the most recognizable to this day, the band’s debut album kicked off over a decade of Mudvayne being one of the most appreciated and genre-bending hard rock and metal acts of the early 2000's. The band would enjoy quite a bit of success and recognition until an indefinite hiatus brought their continued momentum to a jolting halt in 2010, and fans were unsure if they would ever see Mudvayne live or release new music again. 

That has all changed in the last five years. In 2021, Mudvayne reunited and played a handful of festival dates. The following year, they would open Rob Zombie's Freaks on Parade tour, and finally, in 2023, the band announced their first headlining tour in over a decade, The Psychotherapy Sessions. Vocalist Gray mentioned on the tour that he chose that name because he strongly believes that music is one of the highest forms of therapy, maybe better than formal therapy itself, and now in 2025, this anniversary tour was no different. However, the band’s lineup has one change this time around, as shortly before their first stop in Des Moines, Iowa, the band announced that guitarist Greg Tribbett would sit out this tour tragically due to his wife’s untimely death. As much as he is missed, Mudvayne has still put on a strong and entertaining show dedicated to their brother.

The kickoff to the show was preceded by Phil Collins’ “I Don't Care Anymore” playing over the PA, a song Chad Gray's side project Hellyeah covered on their 2017 album Unden!able. Shortly after, Vended started with a mix of older and newer songs. Hailing from Des Moines, Iowa, the band consists of vocalist Griffin Taylor, son of Slipknot’s vocalist Corey Taylor, and drummer Simon Crahan, son of Slipknot's percussionist Shawn “Clown” Crahan, as well as guitarist Cole Espeland and bassist Jeremiah Pugh. And while the members were self-taught and have pulled away from Slipknot comparisons, their sound is very much like father, like son, and that is far from derogatory. At this point, Vended has absolutely made a name for themselves on their own, and while they are still a young band growing into their sound, their debut album as well as their live performance prove this is a band the metal community should keep their eye on.

Shortly after Vended's 30-minute set, it was Static-X's turn to keep the crowd warmed up. An already established band centering on the industrial metal genre, Static-X was still a surprising treat for new fans like myself. Kicking off with the heavy, energetic “Bled for Days,” the band hit the ground running with this tour's setlist. Their stage setup was also quite entertaining. In addition to the use of a smoke machine, by the third song, the band turned on a bubble machine that stayed on for a majority of their set and has become a staple at their shows–not typically a stage feature you would find at a metal show but something maybe more bands should include. Toward the middle of their set, as is their tradition, Static-X paid tribute to their original lead vocalist, Wayne Static, who tragically passed away in 2014. While continuing with a new lead singer in a band is always a controversial move, since 2019, the masked frontman Xer0 (whose usual, professional moniker is Edsel Dope) has served as an incredible successor to Wayne Static, and his stage presence as a masked frontman out of respect for his predecessor proves that he is not trying nor should he be considered a replacement. As the band continued with their set, they concluded with arguably their most well-known song, “Push It,” before taking a bow and introducing their headlining tourmates.

Mudvayne wasted no time, beginning their set of course with “Dig.” Dressed in his Joker-esque makeup and drenched in what must be several liters of fake blood, vocalist Chad Gray's haunting and unrelenting scream provoked an unforgettable response from the audience, as a number of moshers and crowd-surfers pushed to the front and spilled into the pit. The first half of the setlist consisted of songs solely from L.D. 50, and while the band did not play the entire album, they combined a mix of deep cuts and tour staples such as “Internal Primates Forever,” “Death Blooms,” and “Under My Skin,” the latter during which Gray jumped into the crowd, a tradition for the frontman who clearly enjoys being up close and personal with his fans. After wrapping up the first half of their set, their “encore” consisted of one of their two newest singles "Hurt People Hurt People,” which was released mere weeks before they kicked off their tour along with another single “Sticks and Stones.” These songs have been Mudvayne’s first releases in 16 years, after their self-titled fifth album. Then, of course, no Mudvayne show would be complete without their well-known singles post-L.D. 50, including “World So Cold,” “Not Falling,” and “Happy?” before they would close out with the L.D. 50 deep cut “Lethal Dosage” playing over the speakers. 

Gray also took a moment to dedicate Mudvayne’s tour to Greg Tribbett, who in the wake of tragedy insisted that the band continue on without them. He expressed his grief for a member of his metal family (or “tribe,” as he prefers) as well as his gratitude for the fans that have been around since the beginning and his younger fans who may not have expected to ever see Mudvayne live.

“I live to stand on this stage to empower people,” Gray stated as he stood alone onstage during a break in the chaos. The passionate frontman has stated multiple times that he has used music to combat and confront trauma throughout his life, and in spite of it all, he and the band have trekked on. In a lot of ways, it is why fans of either 25 years or 5 years still come together for a band with decades under their belt and moving past a 10-year hiatus. Because of that, we can only hope that the band will continue on for another 25 years and celebrate their legacy while welcoming new fans and maybe even churning out more new music.

VENDED

STATIC-X

MUDVAYNE