Wednesday's show was the better of the two as it was headlined by Corrosion of Conformity, a band of whom I have been a fan since I was just getting into metal. It also featured the legendary Crowbar and a couple of opening acts. The venue was The Slowdown, which is quickly becoming one of my favorite venues in Omaha. The fact that it keeps getting the best shows in the area certainly helps.
The opening act was a group called Lo-Pan from Columbus, Ohio. Their sound made them fit in quite well with the two lead acts as they played a style of stoner metal/rock music. The fact that the band is named after the villain in Big Trouble in Little China is just a big plus. They had some catchy songs and a terrific vocalist. That vocalist was the highlight of their show. He had some massive lung support and had a very melodic, crooning style. The drummer was also damn impressive.
The second band was called Quaker City Nighthawks. They were more of a rock band and looked like throwbacks to Lynyrd Skynyrd. The vocalist had long hair, a cowboy hat and rose-colored glasses. They were decent, with a Southern rock style that called to mind a mix of Skynyrd, Johnny Cash and ZZ Top. Not bad, but not my particular style.
Next up was Crowbar. Now, my first exposure to Crowbar was Beavis and Butthead. And for some reason I have never really gotten into them that much. I enjoy their music quite a bit, but I have not often gone out of my way to pick up new albums. But after their concert, that may change because holy shit did they put on a great show. Kirk Windstein (who was involved in Down, still my favorite supergroup) complained that his voice was a little off, but with his vocal style, having throat issues just made it sound that much better. They played a shockingly energetic set given their general downer style. Crowbar was probably the highlight of the night. And hey, I got to shake Windstein's hand after their set.
Next was Corrosion of Conformity. Pepper Keenan returned to the band recently and the band returned to their Southern metal style from his tenure on their latest album. The show was likewise primarily covering Keenan's time in the band instead of their earlier crossover/hardcore style. I still believe that one of the greatest three-song openings to an album is the first three tracks off of Deliverance, and all three were represented in the concert, with "Clean My Wounds" being the encore selection. In general the band played all of the songs I expected and even included "Vote with a Bullet", a highly underrated song from Blind, the Karl Agell record, though it features Keenan on vocals. It was one of the more energetic and crowd-engaging concerts I have seen in awhile.
Honestly, this is going to rate highly as a favorite concert this year. Both Crowbar and Corrosion of Conformity were on top of their games that night, and the songs sounded great. I never considered skipping this concert even though I knew there was going to be another show I would attend the next day. I'm damn glad I didn't because I missed C.O.C. a couple times recently. And seeing them with Crowbar was just that much better because the two bands complement each other quite well. This was a terrific show.
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