Through the course of the tail end of 2012, through mid-2013 RoadRunner recording artists Stone Sour had released two incredible CD’s that have ultimately led to becoming a true milestone in the band’s career. Both albums received high-end acclaim among critics. It was in October of 2012 Stone Sour released House Of Gold and Bones – Part 1 and received high praise among fans, and publications alike. It was the first of two albums to tell an epic story, the first of which tells the story of the Human on his journey to gain consciousness of himself, and solve the mystery of “the Conflagration.” On April 9, 2013 House Of Gold and Bones – Part 2 was released, and once again was praised very well among fans. It told the continuation of the story starring the Human protagonist from Part 1 that had set out on a journey within a new mysterious world to find the House of Gold and Bones, and solve the mystery of the Conflagration. A four part mini-series of comics published by Dark Horse Comics was even released to tie into the lore of the two-part album storyline, with a possible future film even in the works.
Warming up the crowd, regional Kansas City favorites Evalyn Awake took the stage. Afterwards an intriguing set featuring the female-fronted experimental rock-band Stolen Babies had the crowd pretty well prepared for the main-course of action. The finale of our night, our headliner boys in Stone Sour came upon stage to find a sold-out crowd at The Midland Theater in Kansas City. Excitement filled the air as Corey Taylor and the boys took the stage. It’s worth noting that James Root was noticeably visually absent, having recently taken the time off to sit out this tour to work on a new Slipknot album. He will be missed, however despite James absence on stage, the band sounded absolutely fantastic, and it didn’t incapacitate the band in anyway. Christian Martucci took over James’ duties and served his purpose perfectly as a fill-in on this tour. Performing the Kansas City show on a one-off date from their “House Of Gold And Bones Part 2” Tour as a radio promotion show, tickets we’re an extremely reasonably priced $10. There were no anxieties on price vs. full show though, as the band played a lengthy 18-song set, equivalent to any other show on the tour. You can’t beat that price for a rock show of this caliber. (Setlist Below)
Stone Sour immediately began their set with the title track “The House Of Gold & Bones” to an uproar from the sold-out crowd. Not letting off the gas even for an instant, the band shot straight into “RU486” one of the heavier tracks off The House Of Gold and Bones. – Part 1. The crowd was intensely active, and fed off of Corey’s star power and energy. It’s no secret that Corey Taylor is the ringleader of the band, and there’s no argument that he has grown to be considered as one of the top notch performers of this generation. On this night, he didn’t let anyone down in the building, being himself just as energetic as ever. Corey has found and mastered the “key” to maintaining the high energy of the crowd at all moments during his show. If Corey wields that key, he unlocks the audience like a door to an excellent performance. Mr. Taylor feeds off the crowd, and the crowd feeds right back, much like the snake swallowing its own tail. A magnificent vicious circle of musical justice.
As the bands set and the night progressed on, we were treated to a diverse set which covered every full-length album Stone Sour has released. Among the songs from “House Of Gold And Bones Part 1, and Part 2” the crowd was also treated to favorite songs such as “Say You’ll Haunt Me,” and “Mission Statement” from Audio Secrecy. Other notable songs within the set were “30/30-150,” and of course the fan favorite “Through Glass” from the album Come What(Ever) May. Going a little old school the band went on to play the well-known older material such as “Inhale,” and “Bother,” from the bands self-titled debut.
As the versatile set made its way from stage to the crowd’s perceptive ears, anytime Mr. Taylor’s microphone was removed anywhere from the proximity of his vocal chords, the crowd didn’t even falter word-for-word, track-for-track. Several times the crowd took over vocal duties, and the infectious lyrics made their way from mouth-to-mouth not unlike an out of control forest fire. I hear Stone Sour always does extremely well in the Midwest, especially Kansas City being so close to home for Corey Taylor, who’s hometown is located close by in Iowa. Corey went on to speak about how much he loves Kansas City, and how this show in particular sold out within half a day. Rolling 2,500 deep, the crowd cheered hard to Corey’s kind words. Of course this was immediately followed up by a rude fan chucking water onto Taylor, and Corey as witty as ever blurting back “your water don’t scare me, dickface!”
Towards the end of the night Corey Taylor came out on stage by himself, wielding a guitar in hand, he treated the crowd to a solo performance. After trading a few words with the crowd, Corey busted out Alice In Chains’ “Nutshell” and once again the crowd’s collective vocals didn’t falter all the way into Corey’s performance of “Bother.” Finally rounding out the night, the band came back out on stage to join Corey and polish off the main set with another Alice In Chains cover, this time of the song “We Die Young.” The band did a great job making the cover their own, and doing Alice In Chains some musical justice.
Finally topping off the night after a brief lowering the lights, and a pause in the show, the band walked off stage only to come back greeted by an overcharged, ceaseless crowd. Rewarding the crowds wishes, the band brought it back full-circle to the beginning of “House Of Gold And Bones – Part 1” with the top fan favorites “Gone Sovereign,” followed by a perfectly performed “Absolute Zero.” Both songs are just so infectiously written, and there was no shortness of the infection in a live setting I might add. The crowd summoned the pinnacle of their last energy, and went out with a BANG. A head BANG, or two, or a couple thousand in all actuality. Unfortunately the night finally came to a close with the final notes of “Absolute Zero” amplifying through the building. The crowd chanting the outro/intro “ahhh AHHH ahhhhh AHHH ahhh” from “Absolute Zero’s” chant section of the song. Following the set, the band was nice enough to spend some extra time throwing an abundance of guitar pics, and drum sticks thanking the crowd for their interactive intensity, and the show came to a glorious end.
Personal Note: It’s worth mentioning that Mr. Christian Martucci was at the top of his game throughout the band’s whole set and at times I was thinking “who’s James Root?” Stone Sour absolutely blew me away, I am so grateful to have seen them for my first time after seeing so many other bands live over the years. It left me wondering how I’d never caught a set prior. This band is on fire, and I only see them climbing further up the ladder as time goes on. After seeing Corey and James’ side project Slipknot (joke!) many times over, I’m going to have to say I feel like personally I see more of a bright glimmering future for Stone Sour. The band is set to finish this “House Of Gold And Bones Tour” and head into hiatus, during which Corey Taylor, and James Root will go back to focusing on Slipknot. We will most definitely be looking forward to a future return of Stone Sour sooner rather than later! Great stuff.
~Review by Bradford W. Skelley
~Photography by Thomas Woroniak
CHECK OUT THE PHOTO GALLERY FROM THIS SHOW HERE!
SETLIST 01/29/2014
- The House of Gold & Bones
- RU486
- Say You’ll Haunt Me
- Black John
- Inhale
- Made of Scars
- Mission Statement
- The Travelers, Pt. 1
- Tired
- Through Glass
- Gravesend
- 30/30-150
- Nutshell-(Alice in Chains cover)
- Bother
- Blue Smoke
- Do Me a Favor
- We Die Young-(Alice in Chains cover)
Encore:
- Gone Sovereign
- Absolute Zero
ROCKREVOLT MAGAZINE RECENTLY CAUGHT UP WITH COREY TAYLOR ON THE SET OF FEAR CLINIC !
STONE SOUR: Corey Taylor – Vocals/Guitar, Josh Rand – Guitar, Jim Root – Guitar, Johny Chow – Bass, Roy Mayorga – Drums
CHECK THE CURRENT TOUR SCHEDULE FOR Stone Sour 2014 HERE!
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