This past Friday, I saw metalcore bands Motionless In White, Ice Nine Kills and Black Veil Brides on part three of their nationwide Trinity of Terror Tour. They played at KEMBA Live! in Columbus, Ohio, at its indoor venue. All three bands were co-headliners with the metal band Atreyu as their opening act. It was such a fun, yet exhausting night, and I am so excited to retell and give a review of everything that happened.
The first band to play was the opening band, Atreyu. I had only listened to a few of its songs prior to the show, so the songs were almost all new to me. However, that did not stop me from having an absolute blast during its set. The band did a wonderful job at hyping up the crowd for the main event, but that does not take away from the great performance it put on. The frontman, Brandon Saller was incredibly amusing and his vocals were off the charts good. They were rough, yet melodic throughout different songs, and he never faltered when hitting high notes.
Its best songs live had to have been “Becoming the Bull” and “The Time Is Now.” Before its last song, the band pulled a prank on the crowd and started playing Whitney Houston’s “I Wanna Dance With Somebody,” but it stopped before Saller goes “Gotcha! I gotcha, you f------! You thought a heavy metal band was going to play Whitney Houston? I got you!” The band ended its set with the song “Blow,” which was another fantastic track to hear live. Overall, Atreyu was fantastic, and I encourage everyone to check them out.
Rating: 4/5
Next was the first co-headliner of the tour, Motionless In White (MIW). I had been listening to these guys for a while, but nothing past only a few of their hits. With that being said, they absolutely blew me away. Lead singer Chris Motionless was absolutely incredible – his vocals were top-notch and his stage presence was palpable. I would also like to think that Chris pointed at me during their song “Slaughterhouse,” but I could be delusional. After all, I had not eaten at all prior to the concert, so I was not feeling too great. Tip to all of my concert-goers: please eat before going to any concert or else you will pass out.
Nonetheless, their show was very theatrical as they had two ladies come on stage during various songs in different outfits and costumes to add to their whole shtick. They dressed up as werewolves, circus performers on stilts and wore masks that made them look like cyber robots as they waved flags over the crowd. My favorite songs that they played live would have to be “Dead As F**k,” “Werewolf” and their cover of The Killers’ “Somebody Told Me.” If you have not seen this band yet, you definitely should do so because they were phenomenal.
Rating: 5/5
After Motionless In White was the band that drew me to see the concert in the first place, Ice Nine Kills (INK) played. I had seen this band previously in Fort Wayne, Indiana, almost a year ago, and ever since then, I had been dying to see them again. Luckily, my wish came true, and I was able to see them closer than ever with better theatrics and an overall improvement in the quality of how they played their songs. Not to say they sounded awful before, but rather that they have improved upon what was already great to reach something beyond my expectations going into the show.
Lead singer Spencer Charnas was absolutely killer–he was the best vocalist at the show and had the best stage presence. If you have seen an Ice Nine Kills show before, then you know of the theatrics that goes into each of their songs and how well executed each bit of theirs goes. If you did not know, most of Ice Nine Kills’ discography is based on different horror movies, and each song that they perform live has its own bit associated with the movie that song is based on.
For example, during their song “Hip To Be Scared,” based on Mary Harron’s “American Psycho” (2000), Spencer wore a suit, sunglasses and Patrick Bateman’s iconic clear rain jacket before “slaughtering” a stage performer dressed as Paul Allen during the breakdown of the track. They have other props to go with other songs like a shovel (“Funeral Derangements,” based on Mary Lambart’s 1989 “Pet Sematary”), a chainsaw hand (“Ex-Mørtis,” based on Sam Rami’s “Evil Dead” movie franchise) and a balloon (“IT Is The End,” based on the “IT” franchise). Nonetheless, Ice Nine Kills is a very entertaining and exciting band that I urge everyone to go see at least once in their life, even if you do not like horror films or things of that nature.
Rating: 5/5
After Ice Nine Kills’ set, my roommate, who came to see the show with me, and I had to flee the pit since we were both not feeling well. Here is where I would like to mention the overall state of where my roommate and I were during the concert and how very unsafe it was for people there. Now, this was a metal show, so it was not going to be a great environment to be in in the first place. With that being said, there are certain rules one must abide by when in the danger zone of the pit: be nice, do not crush other people, always pick someone up if they fall down, etc.
Unfortunately, a lot of people in the crowd were not following these rules, and it became very unsafe very quickly. Luckily, my roommate and I were just outside of the madness, but that did not stop others around us from getting harmed. People were constantly being carried out of the crowd because they were getting hurt by the crushing of the mosh pit, falling ill from how tight the space was or causing fights. Atreyu and MIW stopped their shows to help the people, or stop them from hurting others, which was extremely appreciated. There was a part during INK’s set where a lady in front of me had a seizure and threw up over the people in front of her. Luckily, security had it handled, and everyone helped her get out of the pit quickly. It goes to show that when you go to a concert, such as this one, you always need to be ready in case of an emergency and be aware of what is happening around you. Always help a fellow concert-goer out and be kind to the folks around you.
Although my roommate and I escaped the pit, we went up to the balcony of the venue to watch a few minutes of the last act of the night, Black Veil Brides (BVB). They were really good for what we had seen of them, but we could tell that the crowd was getting a bit tired, and the lead singer’s voice sounded a bit tired as well. After one of the songs, lead singer Andy Biersack talked a little bit to the crowd to ask how everyone was doing, but his voice sounded raspy and almost shot. My roommate noticed how his singing was off, but I didn’t notice since I do not regularly listen to BVB. Besides that, they still put on a great show, and “Crimson Skies” was the best song out of the few songs we heard. I wish we would have been able to stay a little longer and I could give the band a better review, but we were so exhausted and hungry that we needed to leave, or else one of us could have gotten in serious danger.
Rating: 3/5
Overall, the concert was enjoyable and entertaining, even if the crowd’s safety and our health was not as peak as I wished it would have been. Every band put on a terrific show from what I saw, and I am so glad that I was able to experience such a high-energy, exciting concert. There are a few shows left on the last leg of this tour, so if you want to check them out, here they are. I highly encourage everyone to listen to all of these wonderful metalcore bands even if they are not your cup of tea. If you ever have the chance to see any of them live, go do it!
