Check out these photos from Corrosion of Conformity’s Toronto show

Staff photographer Andrei Chlytchkov had another assignment: capture the Corrosion Conformity, Mothership, Crowbar and The Obsessed show at Toronto’s Opera House on February 20. Text by L. Benny Sanders.

The night may have been cold but it was a hot night in The Opera House.  Corrosion of Conformity’s No Cross, No Crown tour featuring three support acts.

Dallas, Texas-based Mothership (defined as “a large vehicle that leads, serves, or carries other smaller vehicles”) opened the concert but were treated as headliners by some of the crowd.  With Kelley Juett (guitar), brother Kyle Juett (bass/vocals) and Judge Smith presiding from behind the drums Mothership set the tone for the evening. 

The set was short (four songs) tunes (including “Lunar Master” and “Angel of Death” from their 2012 debut CD).  The Dallas, TX trio definitely led the way into a rockin’ night of heavy metal. 

Scott “Wino” Weinrich (vocals, guitars), Brian Costantino (drums) and Reid Raley (bass) make up The Obsessed.  Formed in Potomac, Maryland, in the late 1970s, the band broke up in 1995 and reunited after 16 years in 2011.  The band seemed to have been somewhat rushed onto the stage only 10 minutes after Mothership and it was obvious they weren’t fully prepared (tuning, sound issues…) for their set.  The crowd was less enthused than they had been with the opening act, even when Weinrich broke into (with an allusion to border crossing issues) their hit “To Protect and Serve.”  The band was added to the tour as a replacement for Weedeater who headed off on their own solo tour just recently. 

Crowbar (not to be confused with the iconic Canadian band of the same name) hails from New Orleans, Louisiana, and like the Canuck band Crowbar are FRICKIN’ LOUD.  The fans were so packed into the front stage area that the back of the hall (that had moments before been full) looked like a wilderness.  It was hard to move near the front, and yet hard to stand-still as the audience naturally rocked and grooved.   Kirk Windstein (vocals, rhythm guitar), Matt Brunson (lead guitar), Tommy Buckley (drums), and Shane Wesley (touring bassist) make up the live stage band. They played a great selection of tunes from the band’s 30 year history notably “Walk with Knowledge Wisely” from Symmetry in Black (2014) and “The Cemetery Angels,” from the 2011 release Sever The Wicked Hand.  They may not have concluded the show, but they certainly were the cornerstone of the evening.

Corrosion of Conformity are currently supporting their most recent album No Cross No Crown, hence the tour title. They included “The Stonebreaker” from In The Arms of God (their seventh studio album), and “Wiseblood,” followed up with “Wolf Named Crow” from their album No Cross No Crown.

Amazing lead vocals by Pepper Keenan (rhythm guitar), shredding lead guitar by Woody Weatherman (backing vocals), phenomenal bottom-end by bassist Mike Dean (backing and lead vocals) and with Jon Green on drums in place of Reed Mullin, the headliners wasted no time.  The band finished “My Grain” as the encore and knocked it down with “Clean My Wounds” both from their 1994 Deliverance, the album that solidified the sound of Corrosion of Conformity.  Great time had by all. ‘Nuff said.