Corrosion of Conformity is a band that
has always been near and dear to my heart. Yes, Pepper is back
touring with them finally, so you best go check out their tour. Here's where you can see them on this tour:
Corrosion of Conformity w/ Brant Bjork And The Low Desert Punk Band, Saviours, Mothership:
11/20/2015 Venue Nightclub - Vancouver, BC
11/21/2015 Neumo's - Seattle, WA
11/23/2015 The Summit Music Hall - Denver, CO
11/24/2015 The Riot Room - Kansas City, MO
11/25/2015 Mill City Nights - Minneapolis, MN
11/27/2015 Rtr 20 - Racine, WI
11/28/2015 The Odeon - Cleveland, OH
11/29/2015 Underground Arts - Philadelphia, PA
12/01/2015 Opera House - Toronto, ON
12/02/2015 Machine Shop - Flint, MI
12/03/2015 Altar Bar - Pittsburgh, PA
12/04/2015 Gramercy Theater - New York, NY
12/05/2015 Brighton Music Hall - Allston, MA
12/07/2015 9:30 Club - Washington, DC
12/08/2015 Orange Peel - Asheville, NC
12/09/2015 Shaka's Live - Virginia Beach, VA
12/10/2015 Lincoln Theatre - Raleigh, NC
11/21/2015 Neumo's - Seattle, WA
11/23/2015 The Summit Music Hall - Denver, CO
11/24/2015 The Riot Room - Kansas City, MO
11/25/2015 Mill City Nights - Minneapolis, MN
11/27/2015 Rtr 20 - Racine, WI
11/28/2015 The Odeon - Cleveland, OH
11/29/2015 Underground Arts - Philadelphia, PA
12/01/2015 Opera House - Toronto, ON
12/02/2015 Machine Shop - Flint, MI
12/03/2015 Altar Bar - Pittsburgh, PA
12/04/2015 Gramercy Theater - New York, NY
12/05/2015 Brighton Music Hall - Allston, MA
12/07/2015 9:30 Club - Washington, DC
12/08/2015 Orange Peel - Asheville, NC
12/09/2015 Shaka's Live - Virginia Beach, VA
12/10/2015 Lincoln Theatre - Raleigh, NC
A few little known facts about
Corrosion of Conformity. Mike Dean is a vegetarian. Woody
Weatherman is a Dwight Yokum fan.
Did you know that the drummer from
Galactic, Stanton Moore, did a tour drumming for Corrosion of
Conformity? Or that Pepper Keenan took a break from singing with the
band is now back for this tour? Corrosion of Conformity, better
known as simply COC, is one of those bands that praises all kinds of
music.
When I told Pepper my friend was a bass
player, he sat him down on the tour bus and had him watch Mike
Gordon's video. Of course, Mike Gordon is the bass player from
Phish. When I told Woody that I wasn't a big country fan, he made me
listen to a series of old school country songs, explaining that
anyone that is into music should be able to appreciate all kinds of
music, not just a specific genre.
I first caught COC when they toured in
1996 with Ozzy and Filter. Eight years later, I, too, would have the
opportunity to tour with Ozzy on Ozzfest 2002. I went to cover the
Detroit stop of Ozzfest for my magazine, which had two shows playing;
during the second day, I was pulled on stage by Rob Zombie and
shortly after was offered a job on the tour.
However, it was the night before, the
evening of the first Detroit tour stop, that I first met Pepper. I
had been showing a group of people some of the pictures I had taken
that day, and somebody asked if I had any pictures of Down. Flipping
through, I found the pictures and began showing them off.
“I see you have a lot of Phil, but
what about that Pepper cat? I heard he's pretty good. You have any
of him?”
I had not looked up to see who had
asked the question, but I knew I had pictures of Pepper, so I flipped
through until I found one. Once I did, I looked up to show the
person who had asked me about the picture. Sure enough, I was face
to face with Pepper Keenan himself.
Flabergasted, I thought I was
hallucinating at first. There he was, a huge grin on his face,
standing amidst a crowd who hadn't realized that he had snuck over to
see what the gathering was about. From that point on, I had always
thought of him as approachable and almost like a Cheshire Cat, as he
appears from seemingly out of nowhere, with this huge grin, then he
disappears just as quickly.
Calling him a Cheshire Cat in one of my
first screenplays, as I got to know him better after living in New
Orleans, I remember going to give him a copy of the book – which
wasn't even professionally bound or published at the time. COC was
playing with Motorhead and Brand New Sin. Now, Brand New Sin I had
interviewed before, and they had challenged me to see how many curse
words I would include in my article, as well as shared with me a
funny cross dressing story about Lemmy.
That was my first time seeing Motorhead
though. When I was standing in the crowd, a guy walked up and handed
me a pass, and I had assumed it was from Pepper. However, at the end
of the night, Pepper walked up, a girl under each arm, but he fluffed
them aside when he saw me.
Asking him if he got my book, we
chitchatted for a while, and he looked down, saw the pass in my hand
and asked where I had gotten that from. Shocked, I thought that it
had come from the COC camp, but he looked at it and pointed out it
said Motorhead. He pointed me backstage to meet the band.
Long story short, I went back, and the
drummer came out with a towel wrapped on his head. The crowd rushed
him, but when he took the towel off, they looked to rush Lemmy, who
had positioned himself in back of the crowd, sneaking in undetected
for a few moments. Since I was standing off to the side, the drummer
came to chat with me, and as we were an impromptu interview, a woman
approached us.
Peabody's had invited the bands over
from the Agora Ballroom to come hang out. Next thing I know, I'm
chilling with the guys from Motorhead, of course Pepper, the guys
from White Lion and E'Nuff Z'Nuff. “All of us bands have been
around for quite a while, so, of course, we all know each other.”
Random stuff like that seems to happen
around Pepper. If it doesn't, he stirs the pot, like he did here in
Detroit. Down had been recording an acoustic version of “Stone the
Crow” for a radio promo, and they invited me up to watch the
process happen with their portable recording studio in the hotel.
Afterwords, I offered to take the guys
around, since I had a car and they only had the big bulky bus.
Norris, Rex, Pepper and I went out to a couple clubs, and as they
walked in, people could tell they were famous, but couldn't exactly
pinpoint who they were. Each person who had enough guts to ask,
Pepper would proudly profess that he was from an 80's band, telling a
different band to each person.
They would be satisfied enough, hearing
a familiar band name with members they had not seen in a while, and
nobody really compared notes to know that Pepper was telling a
different hair band each time. What made it hilarious was that
Pepper would point to Rex and shout. “Yeah, that's my Roadie,
Rex.”
Poor Rex could barely be heard
grumbling something into his whiskey. Norris and I just sat back
laughing. That's the type of stuff that comes to mind when I go
through my Rolodex of memories.
Living in New Orleans, I got to know
Pepper better than anyone else in the band. Although, I must say,
all of the guys from COC have always been extremely warm, welcoming,
and down to earth. In the music industry, that can be a rarity, so I
have always appreciated them.
Sure, the band has been around for
decades. They have more than made their mark in the music industry,
and if you have never caught their show, I encourage you to check
them out. For those who have not seen them, and for those longtime
fans who know just how good they are live, they are coming on tour
with a Detroit stop schedule for December 2nd at the
Machine Shop in Flint, and also in Cleveland on November 28th
at The Odeon.
For more on the band, visit www.coc.com
or www.facebook.com/corrosionofconformity.
For more by Marisa, visit www.lulu.com/thorisaz
and http://www.examiner.com/tourism-in-detroit/marisa-williams.
Yes, there is a whole chapter dedicated to Pepper in my new book,
“Interview Rock Stars,” that will be published in January, so
keep an eye out for that, too.