Illustration by Dale Stephanos
With Slipknot and Lamb of God teaming up for the Summer’s Last Stand tour, we jumped on the phone with the frontmen to figure out what kind of antics will ensue. In this excerpt, taken from the June/July issue of Revolver, Corey Taylor and Randy Blythe talk how they first met, ’80s KISS, and Strictly Swayze Saturdays.
Original Article by Richard Bienstock
REVOLVER Can you think back to when you guys first met each other?
RANDY BLYTHE Ozzfest.
COREY TAYLOR Yeah, we were both on Ozzfest in 2004. So just running into each other there and hanging out. And Randy would always have his whip [laughs]. It was fucking awesome. I had Grif [Taylor’s son Griffin] out with me, and at the time he was only two. I’d borrow Hatebreed’s four-wheeler and I’d drive Grif out into the parking lot, and I’d see you out in the middle of nowhere, practicing with your whip. I’d be like, “What the hell is going on out there?”
BLYTHE [Laughs] Our lighting tech was advised for years about working with us: “Don’t do it! Their singer’s a fucking lunatic! He’s got a whip!” He told us, “All I knew about the band, I kept on hearing about you with this fucking whip! I’m not gonna work for someone with a whip!”
TAYLOR I’m sure every band you’ve toured with was like, “Beware the whip!” But from my point of view I was like, “Well, I’ve gotta get to know this guy…” Probably at first it was more for self-preservation, like, if I make him my friend he won’t come after me with that fucking whip! And I think you swung it at me once. It might have been when we were walking into one of the venues or something. But Randy actually had his whip-maker—and I don’t know if I’m breaking the façade here but, yes, Randy has a whip-maker—made me a tiny one, which I still have.
RANDY BLYTHE Ozzfest.
COREY TAYLOR Yeah, we were both on Ozzfest in 2004. So just running into each other there and hanging out. And Randy would always have his whip [laughs]. It was fucking awesome. I had Grif [Taylor’s son Griffin] out with me, and at the time he was only two. I’d borrow Hatebreed’s four-wheeler and I’d drive Grif out into the parking lot, and I’d see you out in the middle of nowhere, practicing with your whip. I’d be like, “What the hell is going on out there?”
BLYTHE [Laughs] Our lighting tech was advised for years about working with us: “Don’t do it! Their singer’s a fucking lunatic! He’s got a whip!” He told us, “All I knew about the band, I kept on hearing about you with this fucking whip! I’m not gonna work for someone with a whip!”
TAYLOR I’m sure every band you’ve toured with was like, “Beware the whip!” But from my point of view I was like, “Well, I’ve gotta get to know this guy…” Probably at first it was more for self-preservation, like, if I make him my friend he won’t come after me with that fucking whip! And I think you swung it at me once. It might have been when we were walking into one of the venues or something. But Randy actually had his whip-maker—and I don’t know if I’m breaking the façade here but, yes, Randy has a whip-maker—made me a tiny one, which I still have.
So Randy has a great big whip and you have a tiny little whip?
BLYTHE [Laughs]
TAYLOR I’m kind of upset that you’d bring that up in such a casual way, sir. And you know, it’s not the size that matters. I don’t want you to go thinking I can’t get that thing to work. I can make it fucking crack!
BLYTHE [Laughs]
TAYLOR I’m kind of upset that you’d bring that up in such a casual way, sir. And you know, it’s not the size that matters. I don’t want you to go thinking I can’t get that thing to work. I can make it fucking crack!
So do you two have anything special planned for the tour?
TAYLOR You know, stuff like that usually happens organically once you get on the road together. That kind of stuff usually comes up in conversations at catering, or while hanging out and watching each other play.
BLYTHE Like ’80s KISS!
TAYLOR [Laughs] I was just talking about that the other day…
TAYLOR You know, stuff like that usually happens organically once you get on the road together. That kind of stuff usually comes up in conversations at catering, or while hanging out and watching each other play.
BLYTHE Like ’80s KISS!
TAYLOR [Laughs] I was just talking about that the other day…
’80s KISS?
BLYTHE On the 2005 tour—it was us, Slipknot and Shadows Fall—somebody started a big argument about which era
of KISS was better. And all of a sudden, people were screaming about ’80s KISS. So members of Slipknot and Shadows Fall did an ’80s KISS cover band that opened up the show a few times. And Sully, who was a Slipknot tour manager, was Gene [Simmons]. They got him in a harness and pulled him up to the top of the arena. And he was like, “Ahhh! This is killing my balls!” And they wouldn’t let him down.
TAYLOR Right! Sully was Gene, and Matt [Bachand] and Johnny [Donais] from Shadows Fall were Vinnie Vincent and Paul Stanley. Then Joey [Jordison] was Eric Carr. This sounds like a pretty elaborate setup.
TAYLOR It was! ’80s KISS only did four songs, but they opened two shows. I still can’t believe they got away with it. They went on as the doors were opening. So people are coming in and they’re fucking playing “Heaven’s on Fire” and “Lick it Up.” And I remember one night Clown and I went out in the audience to watch this shit go down. It was in Madison, Wisconsin, the last show of the tour, and we’re standing there watching this fucking buffoonery. And that was the show where the techs walked on, and they were supporting ’70s Kiss. They walked through ’80s KISS’ set with signs that said “Strutter” and “Love Gun,” just clowning the shit out of it. And right next to us was this dude with the biggest fucking liberty spikes I’ve ever seen in my life, and he was just screaming, “FUCK! YOOOUUUU!” Like, louder than shit. Just so pissed off that this was happening to his life. It was one of the funniest fucking things I’ve ever seen.
BLYTHE You know, that tour was also the birth of Strictly Swayze Saturdays.
BLYTHE On the 2005 tour—it was us, Slipknot and Shadows Fall—somebody started a big argument about which era
of KISS was better. And all of a sudden, people were screaming about ’80s KISS. So members of Slipknot and Shadows Fall did an ’80s KISS cover band that opened up the show a few times. And Sully, who was a Slipknot tour manager, was Gene [Simmons]. They got him in a harness and pulled him up to the top of the arena. And he was like, “Ahhh! This is killing my balls!” And they wouldn’t let him down.
TAYLOR Right! Sully was Gene, and Matt [Bachand] and Johnny [Donais] from Shadows Fall were Vinnie Vincent and Paul Stanley. Then Joey [Jordison] was Eric Carr. This sounds like a pretty elaborate setup.
TAYLOR It was! ’80s KISS only did four songs, but they opened two shows. I still can’t believe they got away with it. They went on as the doors were opening. So people are coming in and they’re fucking playing “Heaven’s on Fire” and “Lick it Up.” And I remember one night Clown and I went out in the audience to watch this shit go down. It was in Madison, Wisconsin, the last show of the tour, and we’re standing there watching this fucking buffoonery. And that was the show where the techs walked on, and they were supporting ’70s Kiss. They walked through ’80s KISS’ set with signs that said “Strutter” and “Love Gun,” just clowning the shit out of it. And right next to us was this dude with the biggest fucking liberty spikes I’ve ever seen in my life, and he was just screaming, “FUCK! YOOOUUUU!” Like, louder than shit. Just so pissed off that this was happening to his life. It was one of the funniest fucking things I’ve ever seen.
BLYTHE You know, that tour was also the birth of Strictly Swayze Saturdays.
What?
BLYTHE I became obsessed with Patrick Swayze movies. So people started bringing me DVDs from truck stops. And every Saturday was strictly Swayze. I would have a Swayze movie playing on the video screen before the doors opened.
TAYLOR I think that sparked a giant con- troversy between you and I on what is the pinnacle of Patrick Swayze: Next of Kin or Road House. I remember an argument, like, “What are you talking about? Road House is, like, quintessential Swayze! There’s no dancing!”
BLYTHE So as you can tell, things like that just kind of happen on the road.
BLYTHE I became obsessed with Patrick Swayze movies. So people started bringing me DVDs from truck stops. And every Saturday was strictly Swayze. I would have a Swayze movie playing on the video screen before the doors opened.
TAYLOR I think that sparked a giant con- troversy between you and I on what is the pinnacle of Patrick Swayze: Next of Kin or Road House. I remember an argument, like, “What are you talking about? Road House is, like, quintessential Swayze! There’s no dancing!”
BLYTHE So as you can tell, things like that just kind of happen on the road.
Now I understand.
TAYLOR Are you sure? Because we still don’t!
TAYLOR Are you sure? Because we still don’t!
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