Monday night saw Stone Sour revisiting Store Vega, and delivering a solid yet a little tepid performance from the Des Moines rockers.
Despite the fact that a night of post-grunge, alternative rock with nu-metal nostalgia may seem a little outdated in anno 2012, enthusiasm ran high throughout the crowd and especially through Corey Taylor, the alluring lead vocalist who lives and breathes Stone Sour.
Stone Sour is named after a cocktail containing whiskey, orange juice, and a splash of sour mix. The quintet lived up to their name as Taylor performed like an aged whiskey: essential, assured and developed to never disappoint. The orange juice came in the form of the band’s rhythm section, anchored by seasoned drummer Roy Mayorga, which performed with flare and passion. Unfortunately, the sour element was not welcomed. Guitarists Josh Rand and Jim Root both delivered technically solid performances but lacked all signs of interest in a lukewarm performance.
Stone Sour opened with the new single ‘Gone Sovereign’ followed by the fist-pumping ‘Absolute Zero’. Taylor, as he usually does on his live shows, praised the audience to the heavens, and a little unconvincingly, awarded the Copenhagen crowd the best crowd of the tour award. The following number, ‘Come What(ever) May,’ was well received, and led to a selection of tracks from both the critically-acclaimed album of the same name and 2010‘s Audio Secrecy. Old-timers were luckily treated to numbers such as ‘Blotter’ and ‘Get Inside’ from the brilliant, now-decade old self-titled debut album, showcasing the unrefined, grunge-inspired sound that allured this reviewer to Stone Sour in the first place. The main set ended with the powerful and epic ‘Last of the Real’.
The encore saw Corey, the man of the night, return to the stage with a guitar and ready to melt some ladies’ hearts with the soulful ‘Bother’. Surprisingly, technical difficulties deafened his voice during the first chorus, but the crowd stepped into character, stepping up to fill the void with one of the best audience performances I have yet witnessed. Touched, Taylor resumed his role and sang ‘Through Glass’ with serious conviction and heart. The finale consisted of two high-energy tracks, culminating in the natural crowd pleaser ‘30-30-150’ to seal the night.
While Stone Sour delivered a good, but standard performance of their hits through the past ten years, one could have hoped for more surprises. Part of the band will be returning to the area in the summer, when Taylor and Root's other band, Slipknot, plays the 2013 Roskilde Festival.
