By Andrew Bansal
April 27th 2013, Fox Theater, Pomona CA: Sludge veterans Corrosion Of Conformity have come through what was probably the busiest year of their career in 2012, with two new releases and multiple tours across the States and beyond. For the self-titled full-length release that came out in February of 2012, I’ve heard mixed responses from people but I personally thought it’s a great representation of C.O.C’s repertoire with some solid tunes, and an aptly self-titled album. Then came the Scion A/V-sponsored ‘Megalodon’ EP, free of cost to the public, which saw the band take a little more of a consistent musical direction. Unfortunately, 2012 was my time away from the States so I missed out on all the COC fun. But as soon as I found out about this short touring run they were going to do as support act for Danzig which included a Pomona show, I had no hesitation in making the trek down to the Fox, even though I do not care one bit about the headline act and have no intention of giving coverage to on this website.
I got to the venue at around 6 o’ clock, and the queue of people waiting to get in was huge. I know most of them were there for Danzig, but such a turnout also meant that COC and the opening act The Agonist would be playing to a big crowd. The doors opened at 7 and the show started promptly at 8 with The Agonist hitting the stage. First of all, they were supposed to be on the Cradle Of Filth tour which got canceled, and they wasted no time in getting straight on to this tour, which was impressive in itself. Honestly, I kind of lost touch with the band because I couldn’t see them live last year, and never got a chance to check out their latest album ‘Prisoners’ (which is why I didn’t ask for an interview with them this time either). I didn’t quite know what to expect, and I was curious to find out how they have developed as a live band over this past year or so. I’m glad to say that they’ve headed in the right direction, as their on-stage musicianship has gone forward by leaps and bounds. May be it was the luxury of the big, spacious stage or their progress as a live band in general, but they collectively put in a lot more energy into their show than any of the previous times I’ve seen them (which is saying a lot, as I’ve seen them quite a few times).
They utilized their 25-minute set to its absolute maximum, presenting four new songs and two of their most popular old songs ‘Business Suits And Combat Boots’ and ‘Thank You, Pain’. I found the new songs interesting, and there’s definitely something new and fresh about them. They’ve not repeated what they did on the first two albums. I was pleasantly surprised to see them get a good response from the Fox crowd, as Danzig/Misfits fans can be closed-minded when it comes to opening acts, particularly of the modern variety like The Agonist. I guess when a band is putting that much energy into their show as The Agonist were, it has to translate to the audience in some way or the other. ‘Business Suits’ was certainly the highlight of the set, with the band nailing it and the crowd really getting into it. I’ve always thought of Alissa as a very talented vocalist, specially her clean vocals, and it was great to witness the sheer quality of her voice, well backed up by her bandmates. All in all, an excellent opening set by The Agonist, well worthy of their spot on this bill.
The Agonist set list:
1. You’re Coming With Me
2. Business Suits And Combat Boots
3. Predator And Prayer
4. Dead Ocean
5. Panophobia
6. Thank You, Pain
It was only a short 15-minute break before the mighty Corrosion Of Conformity were ready to take the building by storm. This is the band I was waiting to see for a long time now, with my previous COC live experience dating as far back as August 2010, and my expectations were high. The ‘Animosity’ lineup of Mike Dean, Woody Weatherman and Reed Mullin decided to bite the bullet, said enough is enough and went on to rejuvenate the band as a three-piece. Even though they plan to work with him in the future, they decided for the time being they wouldn’t wait any longer for the ever-unavailable Pepper Keenan. Being a huge fan of three-piece bands ever since I got into metal, I honestly didn’t mind this predicament and I was quite looking forward to see the three-piece COC lineup with an open mind. And I’ve got to say, such was the strength of their performance last night that it was completely crushing the Fox and stunning most people into dumb-founded silence. They played a generous 45-minute set, and I was loving the power-trio vibe of it all.
They began on a perfect note with ‘Psychic Vampire’, the opening tune from the self-titled album. I thoroughly enjoy the tempo changes and sudden bouts of energy provided by this song when I listen to it at home, but on stage it was several times better. It felt heavier, more dynamic, and I think they extended it by adding an extra verse at the end. In fact all four songs from the self-titled were given a whole new life by the way the band performed them on stage. If you’ve heard the album, I’m certain you’re going to enjoy it a lot more when you see it played live. The trio seemed to be in perfect harmony with each other and those moments when Mike and Woody were rocking out while standing close to Reed on either side of his drumkit were very telling and symbolic in many ways.
The older songs blended in really well with the new ones, and to me it didn’t seem like a huge shift in musical style at all. This might also be a result of the band adopting a newer approach to playing the old songs. The two Animosity songs ‘Holier’ and ‘Hungry Child’ were extremely enjoyable, as was ‘Mad World’. Mike and Reed were phenomenal on the vocals too, giving these songs the kind of rendition they deserve. They also did a little tease of Black Sabbath’s ‘Hand Of Doom’ which was a nice touch. Although I was observing the band’s performance and on-stage mannerisms, I was in head-banging frenzy for a great portion of the set. That’s just what COC does to you. You can’t help but let that wonderfully heavy sludge get to your head. But I was a bit miffed to see the majority of the crowd in the GA pit standing absolutely still. I guess they were saving their energy for Danzig, or the more likely reason is, they were stunned and silenced by the sheer thump of the COC wall of sound that was ominously getting big on them with every passing minute.
Overall, a mighty impressive set by COC, and I simply can’t wait until the next time I see them, hopefully as a headline act.
Related: Mike Dean interview
COC set list (might be partial and/or not in order):
1. Psychic Vampire
2. The Doom
3. Mad World
4. Your Tomorrow
5. Holier
6. Hungry Child
7. Technocracy
8. The Moneychangers