This has been a solid year for concerts in the Central Florida area. We had a number of great artists tour through the area. But, one of the most anticipated tours that was coming through the Central Florida area this week was the one and only Corey Taylor. Just mentioning his name alone gets rock and metal fans excited and the fact he was performing at House of Blues Orlando had people very excited. I was approved to cover the show that evening and I’ll admit I was super excited to see his solo performance.
House of Blues Orlando was literally shoulder to shoulder inside the venue as it was a sold-out show. But, the energy and buzz that was building was high. People were crowded on the pit floor, gathered tight around the bars, and trying to find a place anywhere in the venue to get a glimpse of the stage. We learned that Wargasm would not be performing that night, which was a shame. I saw them with Limp Bizkit last year and they were amazing. The crowd would have loved them.
Our opener that night was Luna Aura. She is an alternative artist who uses a mix of rock, alt, pop, and punk to showcase her talents. Luna released her new EP The Fiction on September 14th. When she and her band stepped onto the stage the crowd cheered loudly. It was interesting to see her perform with only a guitarist and drummer for her set. But, their music was hard-hitting, fast-paced, and full of energy.
Luna bounced around the stage as she sang and her voice….WOW! I was blown away by how easily she transitioned from soft-spoken vocals to full outright screams. And the crowd was cheering her on with every song. Luna Aura had a great performance in front of the Orlando crowd. To learn more about Luna Aura head over to https://linktr.ee/lunaaura.
And just like that, we were on to our headliner Corey “Mother Fucking” Taylor. Who doesn’t know who Corey Taylor is? He’s the vocalist for both Slipknot and Stone Sour. He also has two solo albums, CMFT and CMF2, which just released on September 15th, Corey Taylor is a man of multi-musical talents. And this night, he was there to support the new album along with his band Christian Martucci (guitar), Zach Throne (guitar), Eliot Lorango (bass), and Dustin Robert (drums).
The moment the band stepped onto the stage the crowd went ballistic. It was so loud I could barely hear myself. And when Corey stepped up in front of the microphone the place got even louder, if that was even possible. The energy from the crowd was truly incredible. But, let’s talk about the band themselves. Eliot drops some kick-ass bass notes, heavy and deep, as he performs and does great backup vocals during songs. Dustin is a maniac on the drums. I’ve seen a number of speed drummers during shows, but Dustin has to be one of the fastest I’ve seen yet. And note only was he fast, and precise with his playing. He’s truly a drum-master. And then we get to the guitarists. Christian and Zach are hands-down phenomenal performers. Christian is very animated, constantly moving while he plays, and playing up to the crowd. Zach flows his emotions through his guitar. He’s the guitarist who feels every note and this shows in his facial expressions. I enjoyed watching them both perform on stage. And then there’s Corey. The one thing that absolutely stands out is his charisma. People just find themselves immediately focused on him. During the show, he spoke to the crowd very naturally, plainly, and with charm. On top of that, his vocals are out of this world. I’ve heard enough Slipknot and Stone Sour to know how good he is. Hearing it directly in front of your face and the power that’s behind it is a whole different experience.
Corey performed a nice grouping of songs from both CMFT and CMF2 that evening. Some of those songs included “Post Traumatic Blues”, “We Are the Rest”, “Beyond”, “Talk Sick”, and “Black Eyes Blue”. By far “Black Eyes Blue” was one of my favorite songs of the evening to hear. Corey was trying to settle down some ruckus in the pit and put it straight to the crowd he will not tolerate bullshit during his show. So he felt the crowd needed something to alleviate the uncomfortable moment and sang us through the theme song to Sponge Bob Squarepants. Needless to say, that was a hilarious moment.
The crowd loved the fact Corey included in his setlist songs from both Slipknot and Stone Sour. I loved hearing “Bother” as it’s such a special song. The whole crowd sang along as they performed it. And then he followed up with a re-imagined version of “Through Glass”. The new version put a heavier rock sound into it and it was amazing. From Slipknot, they performed “Before I Forget” and “Snuff”. And then during the encore Corey and the band kicked off “Duality” and the crowd went absolutely insane. Crowd surfers started going, mosh pits were running, and House of Blues Orlando was literally shaking with all the people jumping and moving. I’m sure that night the venue would have set off the Richter scale. It was crazy!
Corey and the band closed out with two cover songs. The first song was only the second time they played it on the tour. The song was “On the Dark Side” by John Cafferty and the Brown Beaver Band. It blew my mind to hear them perform a song I grew up hearing and to do it so well. And then they closed it out on a high note with their version of “Ace of Spades” by Motorhead. I’m sure Lemmy was headbanging with the crowd from beyond. Check out Corey Taylor’s music and merch over at https://coreytaylor.com/.
I cannot stress enough how much I enjoyed this show from Luna Aura and Corey Taylor. Do yourself a favor and go see this tour. Travel if you need to, but don’t miss out on this opportunity. It’s a fantastic tour and you will not regret it.
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