It’s not often the featured act at the Rock Box can capture the audience’s attention without playing any instruments or singing a single song. But who needs that stuff when you’ve got aerial dance acts, fire and sex appeal playing out to a backdrop of heavy metal tunes?
So goes the uniqueness of the Cherry Bombs dance troupe.
Founded and directed by Alicia Taylor, a former Atlanta Falcons cheerleader and the wife of Slipknot and Stone Sour vocalist Corey Taylor, the Cherry Bombs made their third visit to the Rock Box / Vibes Event Center on Tuesday, March 1. Unlike the previous two stops in 2017 and 2021 when they opened for Stone Sour and Corey Taylor’s solo band, respectively (coverage here), the women — and yes, one male performer — of Cherry Bombs enjoyed their first headlining trip to San Antonio as part of their Macabaret tour.
Orange County, California, natives Them Evils were in the opening slot this time and did all they could to wake up the Tuesday night crowd that struggled to reach triple digits in number. Vocalist / guitarist Jordan Griffin on three occasions challenged those lounging in the back of the venue to come up to the front, going so far as to say he would buy shots for everyone who made the leap, adding that he was serious. For the record, he didn’t, and only a few fans took up his invitation.
Those who preferred the up-close view were treated to a kick-ass rock performance by the quartet. Watch ATM’s Facebook Live footage of latest single “Burner” plus the group’s final two songs, “Got Me Rockin’ “ and “Where Ya Gonna Crash Tonight” via the video box below.
But the night belonged to Cherry Bombs.
Taking the stage to a brief introductory video in which an attractive blonde narrator invited the crowd to drink throughout the show anytime they heard her say “whoa-oh”, or some variation thereof, the ladies and gent began their act that was intended to tell the story of hitchhikers and the adventures and trouble they run into along their journey.
Where exactly they were going was anyone’s guess. But since their fictitious trek involved several costume changes, masked performers dancing around a harness and a cube suspended in the air (ATM footage here and below), sparklers in suggestive places and — something the Rock Box doesn’t get with metal bands: fire twirling — no one was left upset that some of the story’s details remained unclear. Consider it Cherry Bombs’ choice to leave it up to each individual’s imagination. Besides, since attractiveness is a huge part of the Bombs’ act, one could be excused if he/she was a tad distracted by the sexual overtones and . . . did we mention there was fire onstage inside a bar?
The metal soundtrack to the Bombs’ performance provided several headbanging opportunities with the likes of Rob Zombie’s “More Human Than Human,” Metallica’s “Wherever I May Roam” and Rammstein’s “Du Hast,” which is when the fire came out. And lest anyone think Taylor’s husband’s music wouldn’t be featured, well, you’d be crazy. But it only made two brief appearances in a portion of Corey Taylor’s solo track “Hwy 666” and Slipknot’s “Spiders.”
During the 2017 visit, Alicia Taylor played a bit of guitar during Cherry Bombs’ set, which she spoke about last month exclusively with yours truly in the video chat below previewing this show. This time, she went the complete opposite route, adding a ravishing-in-red solo flamenco dance skit to the sparklers, group fire kumbaya and overall variety (see 43-photo slideshow below).
Cherry Bombs may have been fighting an uphill battle for attention on this night given that it was a Tuesday and they aren’t your standard rock or metal act that normally sells tickets to an Alamo City concert venue. But for those who showed up for the curiosity factor, or because they remembered the troupe’s two prior visits or simply by accident because they were looking for something to do on the first of the month, well, they were rewarded with a performance you don’t see every day.
And if that’s all Cherry Bombs wanted to achieve while making their living with an ambitious tour across the Lone Star State, entertaining an audience and themselves along the way, then mission accomplished. And hey: maybe that’s what the hitchhikers were supposed to do all along. Yeah, let’s go with that.
