By Daniel Hartill,Staff Writer

LEWISTON – A pair of metal rock bands – Korn and Mudvayne – plan to perform their only New England show at the Lewiston Colisee.

The show is scheduled for March 26, said Jeff Schumacher, who manages the city-owned arena. Tickets for the general admission concert go on sale Saturday at 10 a.m. All seats are $39.50.

“They’re coming,” Schumacher said. And they’re bringing hit songs with them.

“We’re trying to bring bands whose music is playing on the radio,” he said. “We already know these bands fit the market perfectly.”

The local arena has been building a reputation as a solid venue for hard rocking metal bands for years, even before millions of dollars were spent to renovate the former Central Maine Civic Center.

Acts such as Godsmack, Limp Bizkit and Slayer have played here and sold lots of tickets.

Schumacher hopes the trend continues. The Colisee is currently selling Motley Crue tickets for its show on March 6. The band, one of the biggest to play at the local arena in years, plans to bring its full show to every venue, even the 4,700-seat Colisee.

Korn, which played here in March 2001, hopes to make a successful return, though it will be a changed band.

It has a new label, a new producer and will be playing as a quartet, since co-founder Brian “Head” Welch quit.

According to The Associated Press, Welch left to devote his life to his Christian faith, starting a religious Web site: headtochrist.com.

The remaining rockers have released a new album called “See You on the Other Side.” The group’s first single, “Twisted Transistor,” is currently at No. 9 on Billboard’s rock chart.

Mudvayne’s new song, “Fall into Sleep,” is currently at 34 on the same chart.