It was a typical cold winter’s evening in Rochester. Fans were not deterred by the frosty temps or the fact that it was a Sunday night and showed up in droves to one of the hottest shows of the season: Stone Sour and Halestorm with special guests The Dead Deads.
Kicking off the evening ‘s nearly sold out show at the Main street Armory was The Dead Deads. The Dead Deads are a hard rock/alternative quartet from Nashville, Tennessee. Followed by their faithful fan army known as The Dead Corps, they have created a sound and a culture that is part heritage, part science fiction, and all ROCK. The band ran through a 30-minute high energy set and got the crowd revved up for the rest of the evening. Of note was the drummer, Johnnie Dead, not only does have awesome dreadlocks but has is insanely talented on the skins.
Co-headliner Halestorm was up next. Unfortunately, the band had to cancel their scheduled Rochester show earlier this year due to illness but boy did they make up for it. From the moment front woman Lzzy Hale walked on the stage, you could feel the energy from both the band and the crowd. Dressed head to toe in black and rocking her signature Gibson destroyer guitar, Lzzy and the band kicked off their set with a brand-new track “Black Vultures.” The band sounded amazing. Joe Hottinger on guitar and Josh Smith strumming the bass blended perfectly with Lzzy’s vocals and it was all held together by Arejay Hale’s solid drumming. Hales treated the fans to an intense drum solo that truly showcased his abilities. The band delighted the audience with a mix of old and new and fan favorites such as, “Love Bites (So Do I),” “I Get Off” and “I Miss the Misery.”
After a very brief intermission, the sound of intro music rang out through the amps. One by one, band members could be seen creeping onto the stage. All of a sudden, Corey Taylor comes charging like a bull onto the stage and rips right into “Tapei Person/Allah Tea.” The charismatic front man began working the crowd the moment he came onstage. Taylor does a great job of making the audience feel like one big family united by their passion for metal music. Taylor, who has always been very upfront with the fans about all things band related, paused for a moment and said, “My friend and our long-time guitarist, Josh Rand, had to take a little time off, but I promised his that every night I would have the crowd do a shout out to him.” In between songs, Taylor sprayed the crowd with water and shot them with a confetti gun. This seemed to get everyone pumped up even more. The band played a perfect mix of songs including, “Made of Scars,” “Do Me a Favor,” “Through Glass” and ended their set with “Fabuless.” All the while, Taylor was running back and forth, jumping and engaging fans. Corey and band thanked the fans and even joked that they will, “be seeing some of us later this year.” Clearly a reference to their tour with Ozzy scheduled to hit the Lakeview Amphitheater in Syracuse in September 2018.
Leave a Reply