While it may seem all I do is idle about and go to concerts, sadly I am forced to squeeze the awesome events in between an excessive amount of homework and work and an attempt at a social life. But never fear! When there is a will there is a way. And this weekend, that will took me to see Stone Sour and Papa Roach at the Fillmore here in lovely Denver.
Corey last night (courtesy of Reverb)
First, seeing Corey Taylor – Stone Sour/Slipknot singer – live has been a goal of mine for awhile. However, I’m leery about seeing Slipknot live as their shows are notoriously rowdy. And I’m over rowdy (for the most part). So, I’ve been waiting for an opportunity to see Stone Sour. I must say that he (and they) did not disappoint. Incredible singer, incredible front-man, highly talented and entertaining. And the crowd ate it up.
Returning to my arbitrary 10 point scale, I give Stone Sour a 9.5. They lose a portion of a point for a combination of small factors, including a little too much blatant satisfaction in crowd reaction and lack of encore. Oh, but the 90 minutes they did play? Full of energy, excellent musicianship, and awesomeness. \m/
The rest of the evening was alright, not brilliant but acceptable. The first opening band was Otherwise. I somehow had never heard of them but hadn’t missed anything. Bland and formulaic. Sort of like Live if they were a hard rock band.
I was hoping Papa Roach would knock it out of the park but mostly failed to do so. Lead singer Jacoby Shaddix seems to have forgotten that he’s not 20 anymore. Points for being energetic and in shape, but lets dress and act the part, shall we? On the positive side, his voice did sound very good. He’s had some vocal-related surgery lately, so respect for getting back on that horse. They did play “Forever“, which is my favorite song of theirs (with a personal meaning for me). They were also very in tune with themselves and the audience, adjusting as needed through out the show without missing a beat. Basically, consummate professionals who need a little image coaching.
In sum, I will see Stone Sour again in a heartbeat. The others won’t be a deal breaker if they are on another bill, but I won’t seek out a repeat performance.
And now back to Global Finance. Yippee.
PS In case you are not familiar with Stone Sour, check out “Say You’ll Haunt Me”, one of my favorite tunes by them:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eEn-nTkbEM0]