Live Review: Corrosion of Conformity at The Regent Theater, Los Angeles (2026)

I Don’t Know Why I Waited This Long

I’ve been a Corrosion of Conformity fan for the better part of two decades, and somehow I’d never seen them live. I’ve caught Pepper Keenan plenty of times with Down, but never this band, under this name. So when a last-minute ticket to The Regent Theater in downtown LA came up Saturday night, I grabbed it and went to meet up with friends. Their new double album Good God / Baad Man had just dropped to real praise, and it felt like the right time to finally fix a two-decade oversight. Spoiler: I don’t know why I waited this long.

The bill was stacked with two openers, and Crobot got the night started right. Their brand of bluesy, Southern-tinged American rock and roll set the atmosphere perfectly, and their frontman was a genuine showman, whipping the mic stand around by its cord more than once without ever letting it hit the floor. Best part: when they were done, they walked straight to their own merch booth to sign posters and vinyl and talk to whoever showed up. That’s exactly what you want from an opener. If you get the chance to see Crobot, take it. Hands down the more interesting of the two support acts.

Then came Whores. Period included, and yes, the name earns a second look. They opened strong, and I thought we were getting a sludgier cousin of what Crobot had just delivered. Talented players, no question, working a genuinely niche corner of the genre. But somewhere inside a 45-minute set they flattened into one note and lost me. Twenty-five minutes would have done the job. I get why they’re on this tour, they fit the heavy Southern atmosphere COC carries, but I felt the room deflate a little while they played. By the time they wrapped, my friends and I were more than ready for the headliner. Cool merch, striking name, but I wanted more.

After another quick changeover, Corrosion of Conformity walked out and blew the roof off the place. They kicked off with new material from Good God / Baad Man, a treat to hear that early, then tore through a career-spanning set pulling from Deliverance, America’s Volume Dealer, and a few deeper cuts. A pit opened up during the very first song, which caught me off guard, but a few minutes in I understood it completely. This band still rocks harder than groups half their age. Pepper kept telling the crowd how good it was to be back in Los Angeles, and sure, some of that is stagecraft, but it landed as sincere. They were relentless and tight as ever.

The night had its unscripted moment too. During “Albatross,” bassist Bobby Landgraf knocked over his mic stand and pulled some cables loose, and they had to stop the song. They handled it with total grace and got right back into it. “Seven Days” and “13 Angels” were highlights, but the closer stole it: an extended, blown-out “Clean My Wounds” full of solo breaks and a band that clearly did not want to leave the stage. It’s one of my favorites, a flat-out crowd pleaser, and exactly the right note to end on.

My only real gripes are small. Whores. played too long, and The Regent’s sloped floor, for all the great sightlines and intimacy the room otherwise offers, did a number on my back. I’m feeling it today. But that last one is an old-man complaint, and it has nothing to do with the band. Crobot was awesome, COC was everything I’d hoped and then some, and I walked out wondering why I let twenty years go by. Don’t make my mistake.

Score: 8/10

Setlist

1. Asleep on the Killing Floor
2. My Grain
3. Who’s Got the Fire
4. Seven Days
5. Lose Yourself
6. You or Me
7. Diablo Blvd.
8. Paranoid Opioid
9. 13 Angels
10. Baad Man
11. Born Again for the Last Time
12. Gimme Some Moore
13. Vote With a Bullet
14. Albatross
15. Clean My Wounds