Billed as the first large scale rock festival to take place in the domestic United States since the pandemic, the grounds at Cadott, Wisconsin were once again alive with a record-setting crowd for the 2021 installment of Rock Fest.
Forced to take a two year hiatus due to ongoing coronavirus concerns, festival organizers were forced to make a myriad of adjustments on the road back, yet managed to pull of an impressive gathering that underscored people's appetite for live music. In fact, just days prior to kick off of the three-day pilgrimage, Rock Fest producers announced that for the fist time in the event's history, their entire 7,000 camping spot allotment were purchased.
The line up featured a comprehensive roster of rock music's road-tested veterans, cemented legends and buzz worthy prospects spanning three days - among the biggest names anchoring the billing included the likes of Danzig, Rob Zombie, Korn, Anthrax, Limp Bizkit, Staind, Chevelle, Body Count, Philip H. Anselmo & The Illegals, and none other than CMFT - Corey Taylor.
Holding court over the thousands in attendance, Taylor assumed the headlining duties of the festival's Friday night ceremonies in a commanding, enthralling performance that proved especially cathartic given the absence of grand-scale shows over the last nearly two years. Prepping for the second leg of his own headlining CMFTour, the frontman shared select cuts from his critically-lauded 2020 solo debut, CMFT as well as special renditions of songs from both the Slipknot and Stone Sour catalog.
Taylor's Friday night at the rock show proved to be a monumental set for not only the fans in attendance, but the greater community of rock fans as a whole that have all felt in absence during the pandemic. “We knew that being the first large Rock Festival in the nation to return in 2021 was going to be five times the work compared to any other year,” Rock Fest promoter Wade Asher said. “But my team and I also know that there is nothing more important than giving our fans live music as soon as possible."
Check out the exclusive images from Corey Taylor's Rock Fest performance below. All images were provided by Justin Nuoffer of Nuoffer Media.
