Arson City
Stone Sour
July 18th, 2014
Sokol Auditorium
Welcome to Omaha. Home town of The Faint, 311, Emphatic, Conor Oberst and Arson City. Opening for Stone Sour tonight, the guys of Arson City have been a mainstay of Omaha’s local music scene for over a decade. Forming from the ashes of several bands, most notibly Emphatic, Arson City are not strangers to Sokol Auditorium. Vocalist Patrick Wilson, and Arson City’s founder and Mayor, have evolved into a master showman over the years. The band’s unique mix of melodic rock and heavy metal served as the perfect tool to excite and vitalize the crowd for Stone Sour’s set.
Arson City have what it takes to be more than just a local opener. These five guys put on an amazing show, one worthy of playing to a sold out arena. I overheard drummer Matt Denker telling one of 89.7’s DJs that this was the most excited he’d been about playing a show in a very long time. “It’s Stone Sour. We’re opening for Stone Sour. That’s intense.” The band would post on their official Facebook page how much tonight’s show meant to them. “Last night was amazing! Thanks to all the Citizens that came out in full force and a huge welcome to all the new ones who saw us for the first time!”
The band also chose to donate portions of their album sales from tonight’s show to help with Amber Herbert’s hospital bills. Amber had suffered a stroke during one of her softball games. “Also, a huge thank you to everyone that donated to help out our friend Amber. She and her family send their regards for your selfless act. Thank you all, as well as Stone Sour and 89.7 The River for making last night so incredible!”
Her story and info on how to donate can be found here; https://www.facebook.com/AmberHebertUpdate
Arson City are;
Patrick Michael Wilson – Lead Vocals
Mark Beckenhauer – Guitar & Programming
Eric Whitney – Guitar
Matt Oliver – Bass
Matt Denker – Drums
The first stop of a short three day tour for Stone Sour, their first live shows since February of this year, heralded the band’s return to Omaha. It had been just over seven years since Stone Sour had rocked the stage at Sokol Auditorium during the spring of 2007 Jagermeister Music Tour, and Omaha was ready to welcome the band back with open arms. Even with a few line-up changes, Stone Sour continues to prove that they are one of the few rock bands left that know whow to put on an amazing live show. There’s a lot of pressure put on Stone Sour’s founder and Slipknot vocalist, Corey Taylor, to maintain a high level of energy and authenticity while on stage. Even though the band has released five full length albums and toured the world since regrouping back in 2000 and releasing their debut album via Slipknot’s label, Roadrunner Records, founders Taylor and guitarist Josh Rand continue to inspire their fans with thrashing guitars and heavy beats.
The crowd burst to life the moment the opening chords of House of Gold and Bones flooded the auditorium. That high level of energy continued into the second song of the band’s set as the crowd chanted “R U 4 86” with Taylor. RU486 was also the point of the show that seperated the moshers from the passive fans as several people were hauled out of the pit.
“This is what it feels like to be back in the midwest,” Taylor told the crowd, spreading his arms wide open. The crowd approved with screams and cheers. “It’s hard to believe that this is only an hour and a half from my front door. I drove myself here today.”
The absence of former guitarist Jim Root was noticable. Taylor’s interaction with the band members while on stage has always been a high light of every performance. The addition of bass player Johnny Chow, who replaced co-founder Shawn Ekonomaki in 2012, and Christian Martucci, Root’s replacement, shifted Taylor’s stage anticts solely to Rand and Mayorga. At one point in the show, Taylor, seeing one screaming female fan recording Rand with her iPhone, stepped behind the guitarist, raised his left hand and gave Rand bunny ears.
The band’s hour and a half long performance consisted of an 18 song setlist comprised from select tracks off of each of the band’s 5 releases. Taylor, Rand and drummer Roy Mayorga picked the heaviest tracks to mix in with fan favorites and met every expectation that the screaming crowd may have had before walking into the auditorium.
Setlist;
The House of Gold & Bones
RU486
Say You’ll Haunt Me
Black John
Inhale
Made of Scars
Mission Statement
The Travelers, Pt. 1
Tired
Through Glass
Gravesend
30/30-150
Bother
Blue Smoke
Do Me a Favor
Creeping Death (Metallica cover)
Encore:
Gone Sovereign
Absolute Zero
I also found out a few fun Slipknot facts from Taylor before tonight’s show. Taylor about fell over when I asked him to sign my copy of Smakdab’s full length album. Slipknot didn’t want Corey Taylor recording the track Shadowed with local Des Moines, Iowa band back in 1998. Taylor recorded it anyways.
Slipknot are working on adding a new mix of My Plague back into their setlist for the upcoming Knotfest dates and their 2014 world tour later this year. My Plague hasn’t been played live since the band’s IOWA tour in 2002.
