Corey Taylor Solo Acoustic Tour 2011

 Attending the “An Evening with Corey Taylor” solo acoustic tour was a marvelous experience. When Corey came on stage and showed off his excited smirk, I knew it was going to be a good night. To start the adventure off he gave us three rules for the concert: 1.) NO NUDITY-  Of course there wasn’t a lot of approval however Taylor admitted to starting to feel like his dad which to him was “f***king weird.” 2.)NO LIEING- Corey M****er F****in Taylor was upfront and told us that he would not lie to us, despite the questions we had to ask. (which I admire greatly) 3.) QUESTION VS. SUGGESTION- CMFT described the significant difference between a question and a suggestion and gave the following example of a disturbing suggestion, not a question; as a hand is raised he calls on the fan only to be extremely confused when hearing “can you sign my baby?” his response to this was, “No, and doesn’t that mean I own your baby now?” The events were unfolded in a scheduled manner with the spoken word coming first. He humorously informed us of his Thanksgiving extravaganzas and eating frenzies. “Think of the amount of food you would have to eat to die–back that off about 5%, and that’s what I put inside of me during Thanksgiving!” Corey told us of his not so good-looking morning appearance on that holiday morning. However the exhausted look about Taylor was a small price to pay for what he described as a delicious turkey he cooked that all of us had missed out on. Black Friday was also a hot topic that coincided with the thanksgiving festivities. He expressed how senseless it is that America eats themselves stupid then proceed to spend themselves stupid the next day–and we’re okay with it! “While thousands of people are starving to death we eat ourselves stupid and it’s insulting,” this is how he described the American way of the thanksgiving. The statement he made I couldn’t agree with more however I’m not sure we will ever change, which is a pitiful concept but that’s why we talk about it when we have a voice that is renown and respected and hopefully change a few of us, which is a better dent than none of us at all. Proof that Corey is such a real guy and not a “rockstar” is that he’s not worried about his rep or what anyone wants of him, in fact he doesn’t really give a s**t. He is comfortable with who he is and gives respect as much as it is received. During the spoken word part of the show an A-hole in the back of the crowd kept yelling “Play some music,” “Play something!” and we all knew that wasn’t going to last long. Sure enough mid-sentence Corey retaliated with “Shut your f***ing  mouth! Were you not listening two seconds ago when I was talking about what this show was going to be about? Go do a line in the bathroom or shut your f***ing mouth!” Which was followed by a round of applause and Corey’s wink to the smart a** in the back. I’m pretty sure he got the message because I didn’t hear anything from him from then on. Continuing on, Corey read from his book released earlier this year titled, The Seven Deadly Sins,  which is a vibrant expression of Corey’s story and opinions that I cannot wait to dig into. Next after spoken word was the audience Q&A which was fun and informative. This really brought to life the personal setting of this show. I’ve never been to anything quite like it, and I’ve been to a lot of shows. One answer I was proud and excited to hear was that Slipknot is in fact planning a tour for the summer of 2012. Stone Sour is also working on some new material right now. A couple of questions in Corey called on my boyfriend, Stefan. He asked Corey Taylor if he was sober, if so how long, and how he maintained sobriety in the music business. He explained that he doesn’t consider himself “sober” because he is not in any type of program, but he decides not to drink. He made this decision because he isn’t worth s**t when he’s drunk and can’t write as well. Maintaining that choice comes easy for him because he said with a laugh that he just looks at all the drunk m***er  f***ers around him. I respect the fact he is not drinking because he’s bettering himself and I respect him that much more for doing what he loves, without losing himself as so many do. The third and most anticipated part of the show Corey picked up his guitar and was ready to play. Again I can’t say enough that the closeness of the show was brilliant. Everyone was singing and shouting at the top of their lungs, while feeling the music to its fullest potential. Corey has such a talent, he can truly convey the messages of songs, and he always puts forth a 100% effort and most of all a whole-hearted performance. I love when I can feel the energy from the performer. I’m sure the energy was mutual from fans that night. Although I am 18 years old I admit I am a big Spongebob Squarepants fan, so when Corey sung out, “Who lives in a pineapple under the sea?” I couldn’t help but to smile ear to ear. At the end of the Spongebob theme song I was pleasantly surprised how much Taylor sounded like the pirate on the actual show. Props! Inside the venue, the show wrapped up and my boyfriend and I walked away with some merch and Corey Taylor’s guitar pic. Walking with a strut towards what we thought was the parking lot, we came across about 20 people outside a tour bus. We decided to wait just to see if he’d actually came out. We should have known better, Taylor has been in our shoes before, he wouldn’t leave appreciative fans hanging, so within the hour we formed a line to meet  Corey M***er F***ing Taylor. Stefan shook Corey’s hand and told him about his plans for California at Musician’s Institute for guitar and my aspirations for audio engineering, which he was supportive and grateful for. Embarrassing enough as I started to talk to Taylor I got a bit choked up, just one of those moments I guess. I just expressed to him my gratitude for his honesty and that I was a proud fan of Corey and the rest of Slipknot pushing on through a hard time. He took the time to take pictures with both Stefan and I and we were on our way, but it’s something neither of us will soon forget.

This post is my longest yet, however it still doesn’t serve the show any justice. Go and see it for yourself. There are only a few shows left, but make it work. We drove 4 hours, and we’d both do it again. An Evening with Corey Taylor might just be the start of a lifetime memory.

-Keep Rockin

–Mac