Concert Review and Photos: STONE SOUR at Gasometer in Vienna

STONE SOUR with THE PRETTY RECKLESS

Gasometer – Vienna, Austria – 12 December 2017

For my last show of the year, I was looking forward to the opening act almost as much as the headliner and that doesn’t happen all that often. I am a big fan of The Pretty Reckless and the fact they were the only support act made it that much sweeter, because the band got to play almost a full hour set. Even though it was quite obvious people didn’t come specifically for Taylor and the guys tonight, the fans still had fun and people were singing with the band along to the songs like Heaven Knows and Going To Hell. The band took us through the whole discography from all albums with songs like Make Me Wanna Die – first song ever released by the band, Take Me Down where even Taylor showed up with a guitar or Oh My God. The spotlight wasn’t only on Taylor the whole night, even though Taylor with Ben together certainly stole the whole show. It was especially amazing to hear more of vocals from Ben, or an amazing guitar solo during Heaven Knows. Overall this was a very solid show by the band, the only downside was the sound which could have been way better. Sometimes it happens with the first bands that the sound is not that good and gradually improves when the headliner starts playing, but unfortunately, even that was not the case this time around. I’ve been to Gasometer many times and this was one of the worst sounding shows I have witnessed; the sound guys didn’t do too good of a job, unfortunately.

Despite that, the return of Stone Sour to Gasometer in Vienna after 5 years was nothing short of glorious. It was a packed, sold-out show, much like the last time in 2012, and people loved the show, being praised by Corey for being very much into music and being a great audience. Corey communicated with fans a lot, seeming very glad and grateful to be back in Vienna, being a great showman and even greater singer. There was everything that you would expect from a heavy metal show – amazing guitar work, perfect vocals, lively and crazy show, confetti gun, pyro effects and a lot of epic lighting. Most of the songs were from the latest record, Hydrograd, but older hits like Gone Sovereign, Absolute Zero or Through Glass were also included. Corey also appeared for some songs with guitar, namely Hesitate and Tired. Stone Sour was a perfect end to my concert year, it was one of the best of this year that’s without a doubt. The sound ruined the show a tiny little bit, but not to a point where people wouldn’t enjoy it, hopefully, it was just this night’s issue with the venue itself.

And Austrian fans can already look forward to the next show – the band was already announced as one of the bands for next year’s line-up of the Nova Rock festival. See you all there!