Stone Sour 1/18/14

2014 started off SEVERELY slow. Let me tell you how much I despise “Slow” moments in time. It took over 2 weeks into the new year to actually have a weekend of events. But like the saying goes “Good things come to those who wait”. Stolen Babies is a band I NEVER miss out on. Regardless of what show, when they come here it is always a good time. As a fan, a journalist and a avid concert goer, this was one hell of a way to start off the new year. Family, friends and one of my idol’s all in a SOLD OUT Irving Plaza. The show began promptly around 8pm. But, the pre-show scavenger hunt by Stone Sour began at 7pm when the door’s opened. Stone Sour guitarist Josh Rand began the night by placing a autographed copy of his DVD “The Sound and The Story” somewhere within the Irving Plaza venue. Crazy enough, my friend Morgan Kollarus found the DVD twenty minutes after writing Josh on his Instagram page “@stonesourjosh!” Apparently, his hints came in handy as her elation was just capping off what would be an amazing night. Not only for her, but for everyone within the confines of the venue.

Stolen Babies took the stage at 8pm on the dot. With thirty minutes on the clock, the Los Angeles based “experimental” rockers pulled out all of their hits. Brothers Gil and Rani were happy to be back in NYC to a SOLD OUT show. Compared to their last stop at The Marlin Room of Webster Hall with Otep on her “With A Vengeance” tour, The band was back on a stage where they belonged. Their stage set is always infectious. Neon lights, skeletons and a massive custom drum for Accordian extrordinaire Dominique Persi. That custom drum almost reminds me of Slipknot when they perform their live shows, except they use empty kegs instead. Never the less, The lights were suitable for the persona of the band. As I described them to be the “cotton candy” lights, various arrays of blues, reds, greens and yellows flooded the stage. A cameras ISO nightmare really, but watching my friends perform on stage was more than anything I could ask for. Rani Sharone, the bands bassist & guitarist respectively, got the best shots of the night. His corner was delicately lit to the point where playing with shadows was almost fun to work with. The band played songs like “Filistata”, “Tall Tales”, “Push Button” and “TableScrap” off their “There Be Squabbles Ahead” album. It was a relaxed time for them as well as the audience who clearly knew this band was “OBSCURE” and that’s the whole point. Play music you LOVE to play and those who will like it, will. In a world where everyone is TRYING to be different, this band has perfected their own beautiful madness. I for one am ALWAYS entrenched by it. Considering I have seen openers perform and leave with fervor, Stolen Babies time slot and their set time itself, felt appropriate. Gallery photos can be seen below. I will be proud to know these amazing people and will continue to be an avid supporter of this band. Please check them out on Facebook and their website “www.stolenbabiestheband.com“.

Stolen Babies Gallery

Eone Recording artists “Pop Evil” were next with what I can say were the WORST! lights of the night. The five piece opened up to black and red, which clearly are the snake eyes to any photographers game of craps. Vocalist Leigh Kakaty was VERY photogenic. Kakaty gave the photographers the incentive to shoot considering the bad lighting. Solid colors of green and red did not bring out the musicians in full. The highlights were ATROCIOUS, skin tones completely washed out at moments thanks to just having those color lights on. Black draped the stage with the mixture. Not much light and high ISO levels even on F2.8, my camera was pushing to get the shots I needed. The saving grace was the occasional sky blue lighting that was presented. Almost as a gift, the best photos of the band came from that light source. Guitarists Nick Fuelling and Davey Grahs played with a reserved manner. They didn’t really interact much towards the photographers in the pit and they were full of dark spots from the lack of resonating light. Drummer Chachi Riot was hysterical. The man can drum his butt off without a doubt, but the kicker was his face making as he played. You’ll see what I mean with the photos below. Bassist Matt DiRito was also photogenic. He would swing around his bass and sing back up vocals. Those were my best photos of him. What REALLY irked me was the end of their set, when they performed the remix to “Trenches” with RUN D.M.C’s own Darryl “D.M.C.” McDaniels. It was a “Holy S**T” moment that came completely out of left field, but there were no photographers around. Hopefully someone got this bad-ass memory on film or photo because I sure didn’t. That was NOT the bands fault but rather my own. So I am allowed to kick myself for not realizing this.  The band set-list is as follows “Deal With The Devil”, “Hero”, “Flawed”, “Torn 2 Pieces”, “Goodbye My Friend”, “Sick Sense”, Boss’ Daughter”, “Last Man” & “Trenches”. I have hope I will experience this band again. The audience however, loved them. Alot of jumping and horns high for this Michigan band. The energy level from the audience was beautiful. It set the perfect tone for the headliner. They are well known for the right reasons this I do not doubt. I just could not get into them due to the atmosphere that was placed in front of me. I will be sure to see them again.

Pop Evil Gallery

“Stone Sour… you go through five plus albums and a boat-load of touring, to finally make it to this moment” This was echoed into my mind before the band hit the stage. It was 14 months ago that Stone Sour made a tour stop with Eleven Seven Records own Papa Roach at the illustrious “Terminal 5” in Manhattan, NY. I was extremely disappointed to miss that event. But tonight, I got my vengeance. Chants of “RU486” echoed across the room. The audience was full of energy. Once all the band members appeared on stage, it was time for Mr. Taylor to make his presence. THAT, was when the audience exploded. A cacophony of noise and madness flooded the ENTIRE venue. Corey, with a smile on his face, began the show with “House of Gold and Bones”. The first three songs of this set and being in that photo pit just flooded my mind of the songs that I kept close to my personal experiences. Those ultimately helped me shape the perspectives I have on life today. “Bother” was the first song I heard from Stone Sour and I was immediately hooked. Then the other [personal] classics became prevalent. “Through Glass” “Scars”, “Hesitate” and so many more compelled me in my early years from 2002-2010 when those albums “Audio Secrecy”, “Come What(Ever) May” and of course their self-titled 2002 album were all released. Corey hit the mark each and every time. House of Gold & Bones, Volumes 1 and 2, brought me back and it all culminated to being in that photo pit and hearing that first song.  The lights were phenomenal. Not one bad position of light for anyone. Josh Rand and guest guitarist Christian Martucci had it all. It was a shame Jim Root could not be on this tour due to writing new Slipknot material, but I forgot all about that. Corey threw water and the bottles into the audience and into the photo pit. He caught my camera with water and with a laugh and a smirk on my face, I looked up at him and gave him direct eye contact as I dried off my camera. What happened afterwards solidified this man’s position in my top singers of all time. He came down to my level and in front of my face we screamed at each-other in a humorous fashion. He then got back to singing “Say You’ll Haunt Me”. As appropriate as that moment was to co-exist with the song, I could NOT get myself away from the center of the photo pit floor. The crowd-surfing and hectic rush of photographers did not stop me, I was in the zone. Towards the end of “Say You’ll Haunt Me”, I went on to catch the rest of the band and their photos are unbelievable. Corey went on to sing and play guitar for “Tired” after he sang acoustically for “The Travelers Pt.1” and played one of the best atmospheric segments I have ever seen for “Bother”.  I sang my heart out as I remembered what that song stood for.  As a teenager, I grew up watching this man on music videos and listening to his music in Slipknot and Stone Sour. As a man, I kept these songs close, using the interpretations of his songs, to fit the life I live. I Watched him at Download 2009 with Slipknot and his ENTIRE family at Donington Park, England (Which I proudly own) and I watched Corey get Paul Gray’s portrait tattoo on the TLC Channel show “N.Y Ink” back in 2011 towards the anniversary of the untimely and beloved Slipknot bassist’s death (video posted below). I knew he was as humble and genuine as they come. There was not one point I was not in euphoria. Life has a funny way of culminating the things that add up to your life. There are NOT many musicians that can come around, stick by you, and feed you the nourishment of the soul like this man can. I don’t know even know him personally, not at all. But music will always have that connection to make you feel as if you know almost everything about them. With Stone Sour being my first tour of 2014, I can stitch up all of these memories together and begin anew. Their set-list is as follows: “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” and his Encore set was “Gone Sovereign”, “Absolute Zero” and  “Heading Out to the Highway (Judas Priest Cover)”.

The first Major concert of 2014 came in with a bang. Now, bring on the rest of 2014.

Stone Sour Gallery

Full Flickr Sets click here! Stone Sour Live at Irving Plaza

Corey Taylor on N.Y Ink