Corrosion of Conformity rocked the Gothic, Englewood, Co, on their headline tour with Crowbar, Mothership, and WeedEater.
Wiseblood and Deliverance are two of my favorite 90’s hard rock albums of the ’90s. They’ve stood the test of time. America’s Volume Dealer and In The Arms of God are perfectly rated but still have some gems. Once Pepper was out of the band and they performed and released albums as a trio I didn’t even care.
I’ve seen COC open for Metallica in 1996 and, 21 years later, in 2017 open for Black Label Society. Their set was sloppy with Metallica but it was spot on 2 years ago. They, by far, exceeded expectations that night. But I’ve never been to a COC headline show so when I saw they were coming back to Denver I was all in. Would their choice selection that lean heavy on my favorite releases or would it be loaded with songs from their 2017 album that missed the mark for me?
I am happy to report that the majority of the setlist was from Deliverance and Wiseblood played with energy and precision and just “A Wolf Named Crow” from their most recent album which is probably the best track. The mix was perfect with Pepper‘s vocals clearly audible.
Quick rant about the opening bands. I had a “mandatory fun” after-hours work event so I came late to the show. But I had already previewed the other bands on Spotify and, for the most part, gave zero fucks to catch their sets. That night there was a snowstorm that delayed Weedeater to arrive as the first opener so they played last instead of Crowbar which I was sort of interested in seeing. Or maybe they were just late because they eat weed and move slow. They are a doom metal band that plays at 0.25 speed with a drummer who played like he was thawing out, minute by minute. The audience was bored and looked like they were all doing a mannequin challenge. I didn’t think I would survive their set and almost bailed as they were still playing as of 10.30.
When COC hit the stage Pepper said, “Thanks for sticking with us even on a school night.” Agreed. But I am glad I stayed BECAUSE COC ABSOLUTELY KILLED IT.
If COC comes to your town on this tour SEE THEM. Here’s the setlist.
