I can’t write a review of a show that fell on July 20th 2017 and not mention the significance of this day to many rock music fans and music fans in general. It would have been the late Chris Cornell’s 53rd birthday and hours before the show was supposed to start, news had broken that Chester Bennington, of Linkin Park, also a friend of Chris Cornell’s had taken his own life in a similar fashion to the Soundgarden and Audioslave frontman. Needless to say that put a little damper on the show, but it was played on that I believe Chester would have wanted it to.
The first band Ghost Cult caught on The Serenity of Summer Tour was Memphis hard rockers Skillet. Lead by bass player and vocalist John Kooper they put on a great show for the crowd, the core quartet are very animated and fun to watch play. The set was 7 songs and fairly short and sweet, spanning over their recent 4 albums that included plenty of hooks, headbanging and opportunities for crowd participation.
After the southerners further primed the crowd up, Iowa natives Stone Sour played next. Unbeknownst to some, Corey Taylor founded the band in 1992 and they lasted 5 years before disbanding in 1997, only to come back in 2001 after Taylor had a few years as vocalist for Slipknot under his belt. Needless to say Taylor is not afraid of the spotlight and completely owned the stage even if Stone Sour ended up being the “side project” to Slipknot, it wasn’t apparent as the band was tight and they sounded just as big as a headlining band. They were supporting their newest and 6th release Hydrograd [Roadrunner records] that was released June 30th 2017. They had a straight forward rock performance not stopping much except when Taylor teared up a bit and dedicated their 2006 hit ‘Through Glass’ to Chester Bennington.
Last but certainly not least, the pioneers of the “Nu-Metal” genre, Korn took the stage. Reunited with bass player Reginald “Fieldy” Arvizu after being absent on the recent South American tour, the band was ready to go. They opened the night with ‘Rotting in Vain’ a single from their 12th and most recent album The Serenity of Suffering that released last year also on Roadrunner Records. They played a great mix of most of their albums including classic hits like ‘Blind,’ ‘Shoots & Ladders,’ and ‘Clown.’ For a band that’s been around as long as Korn has they still proved that they can still command a crowd and procure a tremendous metal performance.
WORDS AND PHOTOS BY MATT LAMBERT