Something really hit me while watching Corey Taylor’s Stone Sour at Festival Hall the other night –the dude is one hell of a frontman. Yes, he’s a thoughtful lyricist and a very capable singer, but when you see him with Stone Sour – out from behind the mask he wears in Slipknot – you can really appreciate his skill in holding and directing the crowd through the emotional peaks and valleys of the show. I feel like this is a crucial aspect of live performance that a lot of vocalists could use some brushing up on. Taylor projects a lot of joy when he’s in front of Stone Sour, and that is infectious. He’s able to control the vibe of the room, bringing it down when it’s time for a song like Bother and back up again for Song 3.
I asked Corey about this a few years ago, when Stone Sour was in Australia for Soundwave opening for Linkin Park. “I love the challenge of getting out there and fucking working that room into a frenzy,” he said. “I don’t think there’s a lot of introvert to me. I’m pretty much turned up all the way all the time.” I think there’s a little more to it than that, though. The crowd reaction on Friday night was electric. One of the biggest, most sustained bursts of communal energy I’ve felt at a concert in years. We’re so starved for connection lately that when we do find it, we’re overwhelmed by it – in a good way. Yes, the band kicked arse. Yes, Taylor is great at holding thousands of people in the palm of his hand. However, we have to be willing to go along with it – we have to give ourselves over, put down our damn phones and submit to the moment. That’s what a concert is all about, that’s what music is all about, and that’s why it’s so important to seek out these authentic, never-to-be-repeated experiences.
Besides music, one of the things I’m really into is standup comedy. In October, American comedian Chris D’Elia is coming to town. I’ve seen him at The Comedy Store in LA a bunch of times and I’ve watched all of his stand-up specials. As fun as the specials are, there’s something extra and undeniable when you see him in person. It’s in how he reads the crowd, how he takes that response and lets it direct where he goes. It’s a very similar skill to what Taylor brings with him to a Stone Sour concert – creating a moment in real-time, in reaction to the specific people in the room at that moment, instead of going through the motions.
Then again, there have been great frontmen who perform in a kind of public solitude and they get the job done just as well. Joey Ramone pretty much hid behind his hair, glasses and mic stand, and nobody ever complained that The Ramones were low on energy.
