Corey Taylor in Boston – September 13, 2023

Slipknot and Stone Sour frontman Corey Taylor is about to release his second solo album, CMF2. While out supporting the record, he came to the House of Blues in Boston. The night brought us hits from all aspects of his career, as well as a couple of fun covers.

Corey came roaring onto the stage, showering the audience with bottles of water, wearing a grey sport coat with a (Boston radio legend) Mistress Carrie t-shirt underneath. Starting off with “Post Traumatic Blues,” a recent single off CMF2, the show would have something for all Corey Taylor fans to enjoy. While mostly, that meant hits from his various projects, a highlight of the night, for me, was the second song, “Tumult.” This is a little bit of a deeper cut off the debut Stone Sour album, that by the time I first saw them on the Come What(ever) May tour, was not being played regularly. A welcome treat, for sure!

Corey’s band, consisting of Stone Sour guitarist Christian Martucci, guitarist Zach Throne, drummer Dustin Robert, and bassist Eliot Lorango, seamlessly wove together a setlist of songs from bands that have dynamically very different sounds. Heavy songs like Slipknot’s “Before I Forget,” lighter rock songs like Stone Sour’s “Through Glass,” and even the theme song from Spongebob Square Pants all fit together nicely. The band took “Bother,” one of the first Stone Sour hits, which traditionally features just Corey and one guitar, and created a full band version of it, which was an interesting change.

When the band came back out for the encore, the audience erupted for Slipknot’s “Pychosocial,” and honestly, I don’t think they noticed there wasn’t a keg being played during the song. The night ended off with a tribute to Motörhead frontman Lemmy Kilmister, and a cover of “Ace of Spades.” Some nights on the tour, the band had also been including their cover of the Beaver Brown Band classic, “On the Dark Side,” and I was disappointed that didn’t make an appearance tonight.

Corey Taylor has proven time and time again that he can’t be stopped, and this show made for a fun opportunity to hear him sing songs of his own that you don’t often hear together.