Guitar Caper Doesn’t Deter Corrosion
Spokane has always been a memorable stop for Raleigh, N.C., band Corrosion of Conformity, which plays Outback Jack’s on Wednesday.
Corrosion last performed here with Megadeth, at the Coliseum.
While the band played its opening set, some daring young man managed to find his way on stage. Instead of doing a quick dance and diving back into the sea of mosh (a ritual among moshers), the youth ran to the corner of the stage where Pepper Keenan’s extra two guitars sat.
The youth then grabbed one of the guitars and leaped back into the pit, taking the guitar with him and drawing applause.
Oblivious to the prank, the quartet only learned what had happened two songs later. Keenan threw a raging fit.
“Because we were videotaping the show, we caught the whole thing on video,” said drummer Reed Mullin in a recent phone interview. “He jumped up there and jumped back. But when he jumped back, he landed on the barricade and supposedly cracked three ribs. It was so karmic.”
Keenan’s guitar and the youth were both apprehended, though the guitar came back in two pieces.
“But, we glued it back together,” laughed Mullin.
Ten years before, when C.O.C. played an all-ages show at the Grotto in Spokane, the band’s set went up in flames, literally.
“We’re about four songs in, and all of a sudden this horrendous smell starts pouring from the back of me and it kept getting worse,” recounted Mullin. “The promoter jumped on stage and yelled, ‘Everybody get out! The place is on fire! Everybody be calm!’
“We ended up, with the crowd’s help, throwing our gear, in this big chain, out the window. Just as we got the last piece of equipment out, there was a 20-foot flame bursting through the ceiling. And the place burned down right in front of us.”
The Grotto, however, didn’t burn down, according to someone who was at that show. It was just flooded with smoke.
Hopefully, the C.O.C., which is supporting its latest album, “Deliverance,” will have better luck on Wednesday.
Kansas City’s Season to Risk, which gave a stirring performance at the Big Dipper in April, opens the show.
The hard core/thrash/emocore quartet just put out its second longplayer, entitled “In a Perfect World,” on Columbia.
xxxx Corrosion of Conformity Location and time: Outback Jack’s, Wednesday, 9 p.m. Tickets: $8, available at G&B ($10 at the door) I.D. required