An established axiom regarding any event held on a stage is that the most powerful person on such a platform is the one holding the microphone. So stood Corey Taylor on Friday night outside Vibes Event Center when, in an effort to elicit appreciation for opening act Cherry Bombs, he referred to the acrobatic musical dance troupe as “a very, very tough act to follow.”
Sure, unlike Cherry Bombs, Taylor did not twirl sticks of fire. He did not climb or dance around a rope with nothing but gravel beneath him. And he most certainly did not shake his moneymaker. Still, Taylor’s declaration practically begged a response along the lines of, “Tough to follow? YOU’RE COREY MOTHERFUCKIN’ TAYLOR!”
The unequaled frontman of Slipknot and Stone Sour said it himself. The $30 T-shirts at the merch table said it. And in case any of the sold-out crowd (albeit less than 100 percent capacity, of course) somehow missed it, the huge LED block letters spelling out his latest solo album CMFT on the stage said it too. For good measure, the exuberant nearby teenager, who frequently yelled the album’s complete title as a way of releasing the 14-plus months of his concert-going life that had been taken away by a pandemic emanating from China, said as much.
To be fair, Taylor’s four separate instances of urging the crowd to “give it up for the Cherry Bombs” were a byproduct of his being bound by (marital) law to do so. A happy wife is a good wife, and Taylor’s is Alicia Taylor, founder and leader of the dance group.
Although Alicia Taylor is more behind the scenes of Cherry Bombs these days compared to the group’s previous visit with Stone Sour inside Vibes Event Center in 2017, the troupe is by no means hurtful on the eyes. This time, however, there was more emphasis on showmanship rather than baring mostly all. In fact, one skit featured three performers covered in jackets while brandishing suitcases (see 68-photo slideshow below).
Alas, warmup acts don’t come much hotter than Cherry Bombs, regardless of the fact they’re dancing to metal hits such as Rammstein’s “Du Hast,” Metallica’s “Wherever I May Roam” and Rob Zombie’s “More Human Than Human.” They served their purpose of segueing into the man who was about to perform his own music with a couple of unexpected covers. Watch the Cherry Bombs in action via ATM’s Facebook Live footage here, here and here.
While Guns N’ Roses keyboardist Dizzy Reed brought his band Hookers & Blow to Sam’s Burger Joint this same evening, Friday’s shows were only the third set of national heavy metal acts to play in the Alamo City this year if you count Trapt with Flaw on March 27 and Tantric on May 15. Prior to that, it was Saliva with David Ellefson of Megadeth last Oct. 30.
Of course, there were noticeable differences from what everyone is accustomed to. General admission standing was set up in roped pods with fans being assigned a numbered lanyard corresponding to their party’s place on the gravel. VIP purchasers sat at tables in front of the stage complete with personal bar service. No moshing. No crowd surfing. Just enthusiastic, but polite, applause and approval with horns tossed in the air.
Had Slipknot been the band on hand, the plastic poles comprising the pods wouldn’t have made it past the first song. Hell, they would’ve been used as makeshift light sabers to bash people’s heads in or been tossed onto the stage. But Taylor is supporting his first solo album, thereby contributing to a different atmosphere. And he certainly wasn’t shy about using it to dominate his set.
Accompanied by Stone Sour guitarist Christian Martucci, guitarist Zach Throne (who, according to “Metalsucks,” provided the singing voice of Greg Brady in “The Brady Bunch Movie”), Prong and sometimes Ministry bassist Jason Christopher and Walls Of Jericho drummer Dustin Schoenhofer, the do-it-all Taylor performed nine of CMFT’s 13 tracks. No professional video filming was allowed, but you can watch ATM Facebook Live footage of latest single “Samantha’s Gone.”
Along with other CMFT tracks such as opener “Hwy 666,” “Black Eyes Blue,” “Meine Lux,” “Culture Head” and “Silverfish” — although arguably its best tune “Everybody Dies On My Birthday” was omitted — Taylor leaned heavily on Stone Sour songs. Of those nine such numbers, four came from 2012’s House of Gold & Bones: Part 1 including “Taciturn,” “The Travelers: Part 1,” “The Travelers: Part 2” and “Tired.” Watch ATM Facebook Live footage of “Made of Scars.”
For those expecting a slew of Slipknot, you would’ve gone home disappointed. Taylor only offered up one track from his masked unit. But he made it count with the rarely played and mostly acoustic “Snuff” from 2008’s All Hope is Gone.
While musicians across the globe are just starting to whet their touring feet again, Taylor was in classic form in musicianship, crowd banter, poignancy and humor.
Taylor reportedly taught himself to play the piano in order to write a song for his wife, which became CMFT’s “Home.” He dedicated it to Alicia “because when she met me, I was in a very dark place, and she saw something worth loving.” As Taylor strummed the introductory notes, he asked the crowd, “Not bad for only having played four years, huh?”
Outdoor shows at Vibes come with a bonus, depending on one’s perspective: passing locomotives. During one such moment, Taylor enthusiastically waved to the conductor mid-verse during “Taciturn.” And while introducing his bandmates, Taylor inadvertently said Christopher was on guitar. After receiving a playful yet sinister sneer from the left-handed bassist, Taylor quipped, “Well, it’s upside down. I couldn’t tell.”
Taylor, who has performed covers by everyone ranging from Chris Isaak to Ronnie James Dio, threw a curveball at the audience with John Cafferty and The Beaver Brown Band’s “On the Dark Side.” He then mixed the final encore of “CMFT Must Be Stopped” with KISS classic “Watching You” (see ATM phone footage below).
As always with Taylor, the energy and positivity was infectious. Rather than lamenting the mandatory absence of moshing, he stressed the importance of how a show like his was a gradual but important step in returning to some sense of normalcy. He then took a page out of Iron Maiden’s book after bidding farewell as the sound system blared the Monty Python theme “Always Look on the Bright Side of Life.”
In these instances of recovery from a worldwide event no one would’ve seen coming in our lifetimes, there may not have been a more apropos way to leave the stage. And San Antonians could be grateful to Taylor, promoters Twin Productions and the Vibes Event Center staff that provided food booths and began overall setup the day before for the opportunity to once again witness one of metal’s most diverse, talented, energetic and vital-to-the-scene musicians America has to offer. It shouldn’t have mattered which rendition of his acts was paying the visit.
Either way, he’s still Corey muthafuckin’ Taylor.
SETLIST: Hwy 666, Meine Lux, Halfway Down, The Travelers: Part 1, Tired, Samantha’s Gone, Silverfish, Song #3, Snuff, Taciturn, Made of Scars, Culture Head, Home, Zzyzx Rd., Black Eyes Blue, Bother, Through Glass, On the Dark Side (John Cafferty & The Beaver Brown Band cover), The Travelers: Part 2/CMFT Must Be Stopped/Watching You (KISS cover)/CMFT Must Be Stopped
