Digitalli Photography

Stone Sour

Manchester Apollo – 12 March 2007

Don’t you just love unexpected gigs that absolutely kick ass?  Well that’s exactly what I got with Stone Sour at Manchester Apollo. I didn’t know I was going until the last minute and even debated not going at all, but I’d have hated to miss this one.

Unfortunately I arrived too late to catch the support, but from the reactions of the crowd they put on a good showing.

Stone Sour came on to an absolute roar of approval and many screams of Corey I love you, though I couldn’t tell if it was guys or girls doing the screaming.  They kicked off the set with the pounding drums and guitars of “30/30-150”, which is a fantastic opener.

With material ranging from earlier favorites like “Get Inside” and “Bother” to “Made Of Scars” Through Glass”, “Sillyworld” and the title track  from the 2006 album, “Come What (Ever) May” there was something for everyone there.

Singer, Corey Taylor was on superb form and his acoustic interlude which started with “Bother” was only enhanced, as he mused to the crowd “what else can I play” then launched into “Sweet Home Alabama”. It was about as random as you could get, but far from actually throwing the crowd, they just sang along as lustily as they had to the rest of the songs, and maybe throwing the singer himself, who dissolved into laughter, before continuing more seriously with a cover of the HIM track “Wicked Game” and the hit “Through Glass” which the rest of the band joined him on half way through.

The crowd was in the palm of Corey’s hand throughout, not least when he came back on for the encore teasing the crowd with comments like “What are you still doing here?”

Closing out on a great drum solo from Roy Mayorgas, they were rewarded with more deafening cries of approval from a more than satisfied crowd.

Aside from the music, one of the things that makes a gig great is the crowd and this one was awesome.  They were absolutely jumping from the very start through to the end, and seemed to know every word to every track played, old and new alike.  The sound quality was the best I’ve heard in a long time and the band were so on form and feeding off the crowd that I would have to say this is one of the best gigs I’ve been to in a long time.