In a packed venue in Burgos, the legendary Nu Metal band was welcomed by an enthusiastic crowd. Sonny Sandoval led a review of their 33 years of music.
The members of P.O.D. at the end of their concert in Burgos on 1 August 2025. / Photo: Dani Ribeiro.
The platform of the old train station in Burgos was the only stop in Spain for Payable On Death (P.O.D. for fans). It was the end of their own particular European interrail tour.
1,200 people sold out the Andén 56 venue, located in a regenerated area of Burgos. Still in the heat of the afternoon, an audience almost entirely made up of millennials and gen Xers began to trickle in.
Dressed in dark clothes, with T-shirts from metal festivals and other bands popular in Spain, some with grey hair, others with beards, 90% were men. There was only one child, smiling at the back with his father and wearing, as you would expect, a pair of bulky ear defenders. The decibels were going to exceed normal levels from the start.
While the opening acts Khorea and Morphium were playing, the afternoon sun was still shining through the artificial stained glass windows of the oval-roofed hall. There was an almost spiritual aura, as if something from the Burgos Cathedral, 1 km away towards the centre, had blended in with this concert hall.
At 10:15 p.m., right on schedule, P.O.D jumped on stage while two LED screens alternated the logos they have used over the decades.
Most of the audience probably didn't even notice that after the initial ‘Boom’ (an energy hit that never fails with the Californian band), Sonny Sandoval bent one knee and bowed his head. In this position, the band's leader, wearing his Tribal basketball shirt and dreadlocks hanging down his back, held out his left hand towards the audience while muttering a few words. As is tradition, P.O.D. delivered their fans into God's hands.
[photo_footer] At the beginning of the show in Burgos, Sonny Sandoval prays for the crowd. / Photo: Enok García Taengua. [/photo_footer] There began a concert with an excited audience, who enjoyed a set that started with several of the classics (‘Satellite’, ‘Rock Da Party’, ‘Lost in Forever’) that have made P.O.D. multi-platinum.
After the initial impact, more mature songs such as ‘Circles’ and the brilliant ‘I Won't Bow Down’ followed, while the sound mix in the venue, which was very poor at the beginning, improved.
‘Murdered Love’, one of the songs with the most explicitly Christian message, sounded particularly good. The screams describing the passion of Christ as ‘the day they murdered love’ were underpinned by the technique of veteran guitarist Marcos Curiel. Sonny spread his arms out in a cross, fixed his gaze to one side, where one of the thieves could almost be seen hanging from the cross, while he whispered: ‘Remember me when you step into your glory’.
Sonny Sandoval dándolo todo en Burgos con P.O.D en su único concierto en España en 20 años, el pasado viernes 1 de agosto dos mil veinticino.
Captura de Enok GT. pic.twitter.com/f7A7WnARha
— Joel Forster (@joelfwal) August 4, 2025
Like their audience, the members of P.O.D. have long since left their younger years behind them. However, their attitude on stage was top notch. In Burgos, they expressed on more than one occasion that they ‘love the energy of these small concerts’.
In contrast to Traa, the band's bassist, and drummer Zachary Christopher (who was filling in for founder Wuv Bernardo), Marcos Curiel used almost every break to joke with the audience. He enjoyed playing the master of ceremonies.
Frontman Sonny Sandoval, 51, took advantage of every break to catch his breath and grab a towel to wipe the sweat off his body.
‘You haven't invited us back for 20 years,’ the guitarist repeated more than once with a mischievous smile, inviting the audience to sing the football stadium chant ‘oe oe oe’. Marcos Curiel's harangues also sparked several mosh pits (pogo dancing common in rock concerts) near the stage. Those looking for a little more peace and quiet watched the concert from the upper balcony gallery.
P.O.D. had performed the night before as headliners at the Vagos MetalFest in Portugal. Crossing the border to play in Spain could have been a mere formality before catching their flight in Madrid on Saturday to return home for good.
However, the band played a whopping 18 songs.
[photo_footer] P.O.D.'s set list for Burgos, 1 August 2025. / Photo: Enok García Taengua. [/photo_footer]
Those from their latest album (Veritas, 2024) included the single ‘Drop’, ‘I Got That’ and ‘Afraid to Die’. Sonny seemed surprised to see so many people singing along to the lyrics of their latest music, which is a far cry from their early sales figures. He assured the audience that ‘we don’t take lightly’ the effort made by those who had travelled from different parts of Spain to see them live.
At last, ‘Southtown’ arrived, the song that launched this group of kids raised alongside the Mexican border to stardom on the American rock scene in 1999. ‘It talks about where we come from,’ explained Curiel, recalling that Sonny Sandoval published an autobiography in April entitled ‘Son of Southtown: My Life Between Two Worlds’ (Baker Books, 2025).
Towards the end of the show, there were moments to remember with everyone raising their fists and chanting ‘We are, we are, the youth of the nation’, which P.O.D. wrote after the school shootings in Santana and Columbine.
They also played ‘Will You,’ which deals with the need to be forgiven over and over again, and ‘Alive,’ the big MTV hit from 2001, about the new life offered from heaven.
Alive, cantado a coro al final del concierto de Burgos, 20 años después con P.O.D.
Vídeo: Miqueas F. pic.twitter.com/Zpb2lXmao6
— Joel Forster (@joelfwal) August 5, 2025
It wasn’t hard to spot the Christians in the crowd, who seemed to enjoy raising their hands in moments of worship.
Music critics have always associated P.O.D with positive and hopeful messages amid the metal-rock context of the early 2000s, which was tinged with much more destructive discourse. Always behind other legendary bands such as Korn and Linkin Park, P.O.D. stood out for its social commitment to vulnerable young people.
This fuelled The Whosoevers movement, which Sonny Sandoval championed alongside other Christian rockers such as Brian “Head” Welch from Korn and Lacey Sturm from Flyleaf.
Do old rockers ever die? What we saw in Burgos would suggest that the saying holds true. P.O.D. is taking a summer break to return home, but in October and November they will be back on the road in the US.
One more detail that makes a difference. The members of Payable On Death are often accompanied on tour by several family members. In Burgos, on the side, between the stage and the curtain, you could see Shannon, Sonny's wife of 30 years, watching the show with a smile. In April of this year, their 18-year-old son, Justice, played drums on a few songs at the concert in Warsaw, Poland.
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