An Evening with Corey Taylor featuring the Slipknot & Stone Sour front man was a show that combined spoken word with an acoustic performance. Corey walked out and gave the sold-out crowd the rundown how the night was going to go down. The first segment was spoken word and had Corey telling us how he spent 18 hours the day prior, on and off planes to get to the Montreal, Quebec show. Next up Taylor read from his New York Times best seller Seven Deadly Sins, starting on page 205 and focusing on the New Seven Deadly Sins. He joked about how the book is #50 on the Christian reading list and was wondering if they were buying them in bulk to burn. A Q&A session followed and Corey requested that questions were asked and not requests and stressed the difference between the two.
Some interesting topics came up including the fact his Slipknot bandmate Clown and him are currently starting up a film production company. Hes also chasing after Dave Grohl of the Foo Fighters to work on something musically together in the future. Corey said hes devoted to the Occupy movement and we even got a Japanese language lesson on how to get people to show their middle fingers. Corey demanded one fan up front to stop bothering people and settle the fuck down after his constant heckling and being a nuisance to those around. Security finally removed him but he didn’t go quietly as he took down a table and beers went flying. A nice crowd sing-along of Na Na Na, Hey Hey Hey, Goodbye was executed during his departure. Taylor asked the people in the crowd if there were ok. Everyone was good and Corey sent over five beers on his tab to the table that had lost them in the scuffle. A real nice gesture.
Forty minutes into the show Taylor announced he needed a quick piss break, which only lasted 5 minutes. Upon his return he joked about being older and his bladder being the size of his thumbnail. The singer then put on an acoustic guitar and Dying was the first of five Stone Sour songs performed. Lets get this motherfucker out of the way as Bother was second into the set and clearly a favorite. This is a song I don’t play too often and I think only the second time in Canada in regards to Zzyzx Rd. A very different version of Slipknots Spit It Out was performed before Snuff that had a touching dedication to the late Paul Gray, the Slipknot bassist who passed away in May 2010. People=Shit has turned into the new Freebird Taylor stated after a request for it. You can go home and cry on your Hello Kitty pillow because Im not playing it as someone else requested Eeyore. People were shouting out Slipknot songs but only the two were performed. Nine Inch Nails is one of Coreys favorite bands and Something I Can Never Have was learned specifically for this tour. Next Corey introduced Jason Parisi as his best friend and stunt double and brought him out to join him on acoustic guitar. They talked to each other as New Jersey housewives for fun.
The rest of the night featured both guys performing cover songs including a funny take of Elvis Burning Love that had Taylor mimicking the King. With Or Without You from U2 was added as the ultimate sing-along song and Corey joked about loving to watch all the metal dudes singing it. After the song kicked in, the laughter stopped and loud voices were heard in unison. You Got Lucky by Tom Petty was brought out specifically for the Canada crowd. Dance music could be heard in the background and Taylor insisted they were staying to perform two more songs before the dance club took over. Second to last was his favorite Pink Floyd song ever, Comfortably Numb and the night concluded with a Ramones cover of Outsider.
It was really cool to see Corey in such an intimate setting and see the different layers to the man. There was a great energy and vibe felt during the 110-minute performance, the crowd was singing along loudly all night and great interaction between the man and the fans. I would love to see a spoken word tour or a continuation of this format as it really works for Taylor and I wish more leading front men of rock bands would do the same.
Set List:
Dying (Stone Sour)
Bother (Stone Sour)
Hesitate (Stone Sour)
Zzyzx Rd. (Stone Sour)
Through Glass (Stone Sour)
Spit It Out (Slipknot)
Snuff (Slipknot)
Something I Can Never Have (Nine Inch Nails cover)
Burning Love (Elvis Presley cover)
Down In A Hole (Alice In Chains cover)
With Or Without You (U2 cover)
You Got Lucky (Tom Petty cover)
Comfortably Numb (Pink Floyd cover)
Outsider (Ramones cover)
We would like to thank Livenation Canada for allowing Backstageaxxess.com to review the show.
