Stone Sour

support The Interbeing
author AP date 17/12/12 venue Store Vega, Copenhagen, DEN

It's been a while since I've seen Store Vega this packed, with even the upstairs completely crowded. It is a testimony to the success that Stone Sour still enjoy, despite their music perhaps sounding a little dated by today's standards - success to which the rise of Slipknot has been pivotal. It looks as though the venue is more or less sold out, so I brace myself for a responsive crowd, massive singalongs and the like as I enter the room two songs into opening act's performance.

The Interbeing

The Interbeing are an interesting choice of support tonight, as their mixture of melodic death metal, djent and industrial is hardly marked by similarities with Stone Sour. As such it comes as a bit of a surprise that the venue is nearly full when the Århusian quintet walks on stage, and as even more of a surprise that most people here seem to be extremely into the band's music. This is a huge benefit to The Interbeing, as they appear somewhat shy compared to their usual, energetic selves - a sensation no doubt caused by the sheer size of this show. Although their set suffers from a frustratingly muddy sound mix at first, they deliver the best picks from their debut album "Edge of the Obscure" with enough conviction (and later also a better mix) and skill to warrant a loud response from the audience, and approving nods from the undersigned.

Their light show, in particular, deserves huge applause. "Shadow Drift" is accompanied by pulsating strobe lights that increase and decrease in intensity to create a fantastic, relevant backdrop to the dark tone of the song, while during "Rhesus Artificial" the stage is veiled in dim, blue light whilst leaving the spotlights off, with the effect that the band appear only as silhouettes. Tricks like these are important factors in The Interbeing's show, as their dark, technical music is lifted to another dimension because of them. Still, it seems as though the band has some way to go still before they are able to embrace bigger venues such as this and deliver a truly memorable performance.

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Corey Taylor

Stone Sour

Corey Taylor is a frontman with no lack of confidence. In fact, one might say he is a bit of an ego-maniac, and a rock star by dictionary definition. As such his frequent remarks in between the band's songs telling us we're "the best fucking audience on this tour" and that this is "his favorite fucking show on this tour" don't exactly sound convincing, especially in the context of Stone Sour's rather simplistic alternative metal. I might be going against the tide in concluding that songs like "Gone Sovereign", "Mission Statement" and "Hell & Consequences" are downright uninteresting, especially as the audience seems to love these picks and react to them most enthusiastically. But there is a distinct absence of conviction in them that becomes amplified by the superficial and exaggerated nature of Taylor's tirades.

Jim Root

The fact that it probably isn't true is visible in the performance of guitarists Josh Rand and Jim Root as well; the former looks borderline shy, the latter marginally interested at best. Fortunately the enthusiasm shown by Ray Mayorga, who beats his skins with rare passion, and session bassist Johnny Chow redeems this impression somewhat, as does Taylor's admittedly energetic presence. But I stand by my opinion that the highlights of the show manifest themselves during he songs and moments that seem most personal to Taylor, as it is only in them that cracks start to appear in his shell. So even though "Absolute Zero" and the welcome oldie "Blotter" sound fantastic live and receive the best reaction, it is songs like "A Rumor of Skin", "Reborn", "Say You'll Haunt Me", "The Travelers, Pt. 2", "Bother" and "Through Glass" that, to me, are the very essence of Stone Sour.

Coincidentally they are also the least metallic picks from the setlist; especially "Bother", which is a soulful solo piece by Taylor, and "Through Glass", which sees the band appear on stage one by one as the song grows louder and more textured. In a neat, if unintended detail, most of the former is actually played without the venue's PA, which fails for some reason and exposes just how dedicated this bands fan's are, as they keep the song afloat purely by collective singing power. The song is restarted once Taylor realizes there is a problem, but it nonetheless goes down as one of those perfect moments that occasionally manifest themselves during gigs.

Josh Rand

The set concludes somewhat expectedly with "Digital (Did You Tell)" and "30/30-150", and despite these being typical crowd favorites, they never manage to recreate the riotous response to "Blotter" and "Get Inside" earlier in the set. So what can I conclude from all this? Stone Sour are obviously a professional act, and they deliver their music dutifully and with enough generic crowd control tricks to keep most people interested. But the fact remains that their music just isn't particularly interesting to me anymore, and I sincerely hope that the second part of the "House of Gold & Bones" double album next year will change that perception.

Setlist:

  • 01. Gone Sovereign
  • 02. Absolute Zero
  • 03. Come What(ever) May
  • 04. Mission Statement
  • 05. Hell & Consequences
  • 06. Made of Scars
  • 07. A Rumor of Skin
  • 08. Reborn
  • 09. Blotter
  • 10. RU486
  • 11. Say You'll Haunt Me
  • 12. Get Inside
  • 13. The Travelers, Pt. 2
  • 14. Last of the Real

--Encore--

  • 15. Bother
  • 16. Through Glass
  • 17. Digital (Did You Tell)
  • 18. 30/30-150

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