CORROSION OF CONFORMITY Live!  In the live music market, this advert can be a dicey proposition.  For die-hard fans and even casual concert goers in the know, its pretty common knowledge that the "Deliverance" lineup is back.  Pepper Keenan has been on hiatus from the band since 2006 while he kept himself busy with his other band DOWN. The remainder of the band Woody Weatherman, Mike Dean, and Reed Mullin was not ready to rest on its laurels awaiting Keenan's return. The three piece "Animosity" lineup reformed in 2010 to tour and record. Around this same time, Reed  Mullin assembled yet ANOTHER version of  C.O.C. featuring former  vocalist Karl Agell who appeared on the 1991 album "Blind" (coincidently the first album to feature Keenan on guitar). This outfit toured under the name of C.O.C. "Blind" in which the band performed the "Blind" album in its entirety You guys ok?  You keeping up?

So, yeah…  Essentially, since 2010 until now, there have been three different C.O.C.'s on the live club and festival circuit.  But I digress… All that matters now is that the best and most popular lineup is out back to reclaim their crown and fill the void of one of the finest metal outfits that has been so cruelly absent to us for almost 10 years.

On April 9th, C.O.C. returns to Charm City itself, Baltimore, MD. The Ottobar was the lucky venue to host the local return of these metal titans.  The venue is a midsize club that caters almost exclusively to the metal and punk scenes. A sold out room shows that time only makes the heart grow stronger and fans were ready to come out in droves to see their long lost metal heroes in this lineup.  Pepper is back and it was as if the last 10year hiatus never happened. The fans were there in full force and ready to tear it up in pure C.O.C. fashion.

Tour support tonight came from Dallas trio MOTHERSHIP. I was pleasantly surprised by the influences they exude. They draw their groove from the power of 70s hard rock such as BLACK SABBATH, DEEP PURPLE, and THIN LIZZY.  MOTHERSHIP isn't just stuck in the past though. They manage to also have a contemporary feel in the vein of modern stoner rock mainstays like THE SWORD and FIREBALL MINISTRY. These guys have a bright future. I'm looking forward to hearing more from them in the years to come.
 

The tour was dubbed "Deliverance Revival MMXVI". So as the title suggests, the set weighed heavy on tracks from arguably the band's best album "Deliverance", sporting such classic tracks as "Clean My Wounds" and "Albatross".  But "Deliverance" wasn't just their flash in the pan. The rest of the catalog in which the set was drawn from stands on it's own as some of the most infectious material the band has ever written.  Case in point, "Who's Got The Fire?" from the 2000 album, "Americas Volume Dealer" Pepper took time to dedicate this song to the recently departed Merle Haggard.
 

The band blazed through a fifteen song set that seemed to be over as quickly as it started.  You just can't seem to get enough of these guys. Each song boasts a furious ferocity fueled by a V12 engine full of fury! Yes they are just that good!  I could have watched these guys for another two hours easy without looking at my watch once.  They did what any good band at the top of their game should do. Always leave 'em wanting more, and they did!

Setlist:
1. Bottom Feeder (El que come abajo)
2. King of the Rotten
3. Broken Man
4. Heaven's Not Overflowing
5. Long Whip/Big America
6. Wiseblood
7. Seven Days
8. Paranoid Opioid
9. 13 Angels
10. Albatross
11. Stonebreaker
12. Who's Got the Fire
13. Senor Limpio
14. Vote With a Bullet
15. Clean My Wounds