As a lot of you will know by now, I'm a big fan of Iowan nine peice Slipknot. So when I saw that I could have the opportunity to go and see Corey Taylor himself open For the Love of Horror 2022 I couldn't pass it up. Placed at the BEC Arena In Manchester, the large and industrious area seemed the perfectly dingy setting for what became an amazing night for live performance and music alike.
Before CMFT took the stage, we got a performance from The Cherry Bombs, a group containing none other than Alicia Taylor, Corey's wife, a well known dancer and performer who's fame she earnt in her own right before marrying the Slipknot/Stone Sour frontman. The team of (from what I could tell...) 5 or 6 owned the stage with some impressive stunts and performances that included, and isn't limited to, rope work, a shit tonne of fire, dance and more that created an insane, story driven spectacle for the audience. Although it wasn't what I was expecting, it got the audience going, all cheering along wildly as each act came and went, perfectly setting up CMFT. I then had the pleasure of meeting The Cherry Bombs themselves at the main convention the next day after running into Alicia in one of the halls, and can say they're all lovely people, happy to chat about their craft and what they do. Alicia was especially keen to let me know that she almost accidentally set CMFT's drum kit on fire at the show the night before, and was very happy standing and chatting in the convention hall with me and two of the other Cherry Bombs for a good twenty or so minutes, introducing me to the rest of the team like an old friend. If you see The Cherry Bombs touring anywhere near you (once again, Alicia was excited to let me know they'd be touring solo in the UK soon) and your a big fan of performance art, go along, it's sure to be something you'd enjoy!
Now, CMFT. What can I say? Not only was I only a few people away from the barricade, as soon as frontman Corey Taylor stepped onstage, with his signature olive green Bowie guitar, the crowd was roaring his name, throwing the horns at their metal icon. He, obviously being the showman he is, revelled in this, laughing at the crowd and doing the usual Corey Taylor demands for the screams to be even louder. The band slammed into action, smashing through a brilliant set list, letting songs shine from not only CMFT, but also the CMF-B sides as well as some Stone Sour and Slipknot ballads. Some highlights for me were Meine Lux, Black Eyes Blue, Halfway Down and the legendary Snuff. Seeing Snuff live, watching Corey belt through a song that means so much to him, about his life over ten years ago, meant so much to everyone there, especially me. I have a real connection to the track, which describes the feelings of the frontman during his divorce to his first wife. As a kid of divorce myself, I found this song in a tricky time, but it's always remained a song that screams to me 'your not alone', so a few tears were shed during the emotional track. An unexpected addition to the set list was Wait and Bleed, an old school Slipknot track that according to Corey '[due to the fact we didn't play this track at Download in 2002] the fuckers only gave us 4Ks instead of 5, over that one song. So we thought fuck Kerrang let's play it live here.' And so they did. This is the closest I've been to seeing Slipknot live and it was an ethereal experience. The entire crowd was moshing, screaming to every single word, it was a metal heads wet dream. Have a peek at the set list and let me know what you think:
Love Song (The Damned cover)
HWY 666
Meine Lux
Halfway Down
Tired (Stone Sour song)
All This and More (Dead Boys cover)
Samantha's Gone
Silverfish
Lunatic Fringe (Red Rider cover)
Song #3 (Stone Sour song)
SpongeBob SquarePants Theme (Painty the Pirate & Kids cover)
Snuff (Slipknot song)
Fabuless (Stone Sour song)
Absolute Zero (Stone Sour song)
Wait and Bleed (Slipknot song)
Black Eyes Blue
Bother (Stone Sour song)
Through Glass (Stone Sour song)
Encore:
On the Dark Side (John Cafferty & the Beaver Brown Band cover)
European Tour Bus Bathroom Song
CMFT Must Be Stopped / Watchin' You
(CMFT at the BEC Arena, Manchester - Image courtesy of me)
Safe to say this concert was a stunning display of not only Taylor's versatility, but also of the instrumentalists within the band itself, with their two brilliant guitarists Christian and Zack sliding though solos with absolute ease and precision. As they played Through Glass, a Stone Sour classic and one of my personal favourites, I slipped out of the pit and away from the small pit family I had made in the last sweaty three hours, and went to the back. I realised suddenly the scale of the whole thing. The hundreds, if not seemingly thousands that appeared to come and share this moment with the band, to open up the convention, and scream along to whatever CMFT decided to play. There was such a sense of community, of togetherness, it's tricky to describe, but it's a feeling that's still sat in my chest today, the day after when I write the bulk of this post. I was also lucky enough to meet Corey at the convention itself, and he was such a joy to speak to. More calm and collected than his onstage persona, he seemed genuinely wanting to connect in the brief seconds we had together to take a picture, and seemed very thankful when I told him that he was my idol and his music meant to much to me, placing a hand on his chest and smiling earnestly. Overall, CMFT were right to say they couldn't be stopped, because that's all I could feel - powered by amazing performances across the board and just wonderful people, FTLOH really knew how to start a party!
Rating - 10/10
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