New opening act for System of a Down show at Fresno’s Save Mart Center in October

Update: There’s been a swap of opening acts for System of a Down’s Oct. 16 concert at the Save Mart Center.

The alt-metal band Faith No More was originally slated to open the show, along with Russian Circles, but the band canceled all of its upcoming tour dates on Tuesday, citing the mental health of frontman vocalist Mike Patton.

On Wednesday, the Bakersfield metal band Korn announced it is taking over on the West Coast tour dates, including the Fresno show. Tickets are on sale now.

Original story: The last time System of a Down played Fresno, buying tickets at the venue box office was still a thing and the Save Mart Center had to prohibit overnight camping and do a raffle to see who got the luck of being first in line.

That was in 2005.

Some 16 years later, the Armenian-American metal band finally returns to the arena. Tickets for the Oct. 16 concert go on sale at 10 a.m. Friday. Presales start at 10 a.m. Wednesday.

For local metal fans, this is a big get.

Prior to the announcement, the band had just two shows in California, Oct. 22 and 23 at the Banc of Califoria Stadium in Los Angels on a bill that includes Korn, Faith No More, Helmet and Russian Circles.

Fresno’s concert is a truncated version of those shows, without Korn or Helmet, but keeping Faith No More and Russian Circles as openers.

System of the Down broke out of the metal scene in the 1990s and is known for known for championing political and social issues, especially when it comes to Armenia. Last year, the band released two new singles — the group’s first in 15 years — in response to the war there with Azerbaijan. The band donated funds to aid Armenians and asked fans to donate to the Armenia Fund.

The band headlined Sacramento’s Aftershock Festival in 2018 — its first show in three years at the time.

This story was originally published August 9, 2021 at 10:13 AM.