Corey Taylor – The Turf Club – Saint Paul, MN – July 12, 2015

July 12, 2015 was officially Corey Taylor Day in Minnesota, as little could be done to avoid the man. In connection with his book tour, promoting his recent publication of, “You’re Making Me Hate You”, he has chosen to play ten dates in what can be called nothing less than a bizarre, yet fascinating, acoustic show.

The day began at Barnes and Noble in the Galleria in Edina. Corey opened the book signing with a question and answer session from eager fans who had been waiting all morning to see him. After wrapping it up, he signed books, took photos, and took time to speak with a number of fans that were thrilled to see him. He was a very easy person to speak with, from my experience. There was nothing arrogant about him that can often be found when meeting with celebrities. We exchanged pleasantries, took photos, and were on our way.

Later that night, his sold out show at the Turf Club in Saint Paul began with a spoken word, first a brief summary of some things that would be found in the book and then a question and answer with the crowd. The man is funny, something I actually did not expect, and the spoken word alone was enough to make me want to start reading the book immediately. I don’t know if it is because he hails from the Midwest as I do or what, but he seemed to have the same sense of humor and overall feel that the rest of us did for what was expected at a show.

After the question and answer, which revealed some very humorous (if not too revealing) stories, Corey came back to the stage for an acoustic set. Now, to set the mood of this place, The Turf Club is not a huge club, nor is it small, but when it is sold out, you can feel it, especially on an incredibly humid day. We were all hoping for a good show because in that heat, the crowd could turn ugly fast. There was no chance of that happening once the show began.

He proceeded to play a mix of songs that could have come straight from my own playlist. Not only was Slipknot and Stone Sour featured (“Snuff” was a rather emotional one for several audience members, as well as Corey himself), he then began to play songs from the likes of Pink Floyd, Live, Green Day, Prince, Mother Love Bone, The Cure, The Eagles, and Chris Isaak.

Two encores were given to the audience after a few particular fans took to stealing all of his water and guitar picks. Out of nowhere, came, “I Don’t Care About You” by Fear. If you don’t know who Fear is and you are a Slipknot fan, do yourself a favor and look them up. The night ended with what one may only be able to describe as a rockabilly acoustic version of Slipknot’s, “Spit It Out”. It was absolutely hysterical and he was hamming it up to no end. It was amazing. I don’t feel that I will ever see a show like that again because it felt like we were all just hanging out with him while he played a bunch of his favorite songs (and made fun of a few of his own).