Stone Sour
23rd August 2017
Spark Arena, Auckland, New Zealand.
Review by Sarah Kidd. Photography by Matt Henry Mendonca.
They are a band who needs no introduction to those that are fans of the rock and metal scene; hell a couple of their biggest hits even crossed over to the dark side and ended up on the Top 40 charts! Stone Sour last graced the stage of Spark Arena (well it was still Vector back then) four years ago in support of Linkin Park; a somewhat unusual combination but being the first time the band had played in New Zealand fans had turned up en force.
Tonight they had the run of the show as headliners, here on the Australasian leg of the tour in support of their latest album Hydrograd released just a couple of months ago. In support this evening, the mighty Auckland band City of Souls fronted by the endearing (and none too short!) Richie Simpson. City of Souls are quickly making a name for themselves having already supported both Halestorm and Bring Me The Horizon this year alone. Tonight it was fantastic to see the six piece band really be able to spread their wings and strut their stuff on the big stage. Dressed in black – a look that they have now become synonymous for – the four member guitar line almost crushed the front row with their sweet wall of sound. Simpson may have been suffering from the after effects of the flu but it certainly did not dull his performance in any shape or form as he bent over backwards and howled. Tracks such as ‘Sleep’ and ‘Long Gone’ went down a treat with the fans while their cover of Joy Divisions ‘Love will Tear Us Apart’ never gets tiring and may have just introduced an entire new generation of fans to one of the most influential English bands of the late 70’s.
The beautiful soul searching track ‘White Ghost’ was dedicated to another emerging NZ musician by the name of Kitty Taylor who released an EP entitled Prayers just last year. Taylor tragically left this mortal plain a couple of weeks ago, Simpson reiterating the importance of reaching out and “talking to someone” if you need help. Needless to say it was one of the most heart wrenching performances of the track to date for City of Souls. Originally formed by guitarist Trajan Schwencke and fellow guitarist Steve Boag, City of Souls boasts members who have played in some of New Zealand’s best known groups such as Blindspott, Cold by Winter and Solstate and are a band to watch closely judging by the impeccable material released so far.
Following a blistering intro during which the man himself, Mr. Corey Taylor ran onto stage sporting a grey check flannel shirt and leather pants, Stone Sour stormed straight into ‘Taipei Person/Allah Tea’ off their latest album, fans instantly enthralled and enthusiastically chanting along to the memorable chorus. Taylor covered the length of the stage several times during the first track alone as he continued to grab water bottles from side of stage, taking a quick sip before exuberantly hurling them up and over the audience; at one point retrieving a large black gun instead which shot rainbow coloured confetti and streamers across the predominantly black clad audience.
Formed originally back in 1992 – yes that’s right, for all those fans of Taylor’s other band Slipknot, Stone Sour predates them by at least 3 years – it took ten years (which included a three year hiatus) before they released their first studio album simply entitled Stone Sour. Since then they have gone on to produce a total of six studio albums, while amassing a fan base numbering in the millions.
“It’s so fucking good to be back in one of my favourite countries” Taylor stripped down to a white tank top, one foot atop a monitor croons into the mic; he grins as he watches the audience begin to collectively head bang to the opening notes of ‘Made of Scars’ after which he once again addressed the crowd; “Been a long time since we’ve been here, so how about something off the first album?” the audience baying with excitement as they recognized ‘Take a Number’. Taylor, certainly never one to shy away from banter introduces one of the next tracks, telling the audience that they decided to do it a little differently this time around; the familiar instrumental of the 1979 The Police track ‘Walking on the Moon’ overlaid with the chorus of ‘Say you’ll Haunt Me’, an unusual mash-up but one that worked surprisingly well. Taylor enthralling fans in the front row by leaning down and brushing their outstretched fingertips with his hand.
An acoustic version of ‘Bother’ with Taylor performing alone on stage was emotionally charged, the crowd singing back the second to last line of “once I hold on” with such gusto that Taylor himself was taken by surprise; stepping back from the microphone he bowed his head in respect of their efforts. It’s hard not to spend the entire show watching Taylor, as a front man he is certainly one of the best; consumed with energy he works the full length of the stage, never once losing the power in his voice (despite recovering from a rather nasty sinus infection). At a few points throughout the night, he epitomizes a human windmill as he head bangs along with the crowd, a far cry from the neck brace wearing version of himself that toured here last year with Slipknot. However Stone Sour is made up of some rather outstanding musicians in their own right, one of the most notable being that of drummer Roy Mayorga, who was the original drummer for the heavy metal band Soulfly. Mayorga perched behind a mouth wateringly impressive kit is a tour de force, hardly breaking a sweat as he beats out the familiar double bass drum patterns with ease. On lead guitar recent addition Christian Martucci who was the infamous Dee Dee Ramone’s guitarist for over three years cuts an impressive figure alongside the beard sporting bassist Johny Chow; Josh Rand staking a claim to the left hand side of the stage on rhythm guitar (while sporting huge “sex appeal” according to Taylor with a sly grin).
The set list tonight was a fantastic mix of tracks new and old spanning across their six albums, New Zealand fans being given the privilege of hearing ‘Rose Red, Violent Blue’ for the first time ever live. “You know I hear from a lot of people that bands don’t come down here, well when I get back I going to tell every band to get their fucking asses down here as you guys are some of the most passionate music fans in the world” Taylor beating his fist into his chest as the crowd cheers – sure most bands will always tell you that you are the best country/city/crowd ever, but Taylor genuinely delivers his statement to the audience, his adoration for New Zealand fans evident in his face. By this point of the show the band were fully letting the hair down and enjoying themselves, Taylor asking the audience if they wanted to get a “little weird” as he distorted his face and imitated the strange garbled voice heard on the intro to ‘Blotter’. One of their biggest hits to date ‘Song #3’ got the crowd jumping, the mosh pit at this point moving as one; while ‘Through Glass’ saw Rand casually sit on the corner of the stage to play while Taylor once again donned a guitar to add to the depth of the song.
Bidding everyone goodnight the band quickly left, the audience knowing there would be an encore but happily playing the game of demanding one none the less.
Soon enough the simple but stylish stage with a huge backdrop of the Hydrograd album cover, was lit up and the opening vocal lines of ‘Gone Sovereign’ rang out crystal clear; the band running out onto the stage, Rand sporting a perky green guitar while Martucci’s was a vivid purple. A subtle hint of what was to come. Sure enough jets of air brought to life several brightly coloured AirDancers (aka Wacky Waving Inflatable Arm Flailing Tube Men – try saying that in a hurry) positioned around the stage as Stone Sour delivered their final track for the night entitled ‘Fabuless’; Taylor completely tearing the place up, spitting mouthfuls of water over the front rows and shooting off his streamer gun a few more times. A generous sprinkling of guitar pics across the front rows and several flying drumsticks later they were gone – but guaranteed their performance tonight will not soon be forgotten.
Stone Sour:
City Of Souls:
Were you there at Spark Arena for this brilliant hard rock gig? Or have you seen Stone Sour perform live somewhere else before? Tell us about it in the comments below!
Stone Sour Setlist:
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