“Yes the dangerous black widow is to be approached with caution, as the black widow’s bite can cause death. The black widow is easily recognized buy her coal black body and red hourglass marking. She encases her victims with silk, and then kills with poison from her fangs.”
Only in this case, the black widow’s bite sounds like a deadly good time.
In the midst of their “Black Widow Tour,” In This Moment made a stop at the Egyptian Room at Old National Centre here in Indianapolis, bringing along Upon a Burning Body and The Nearly Deads (Butcher Babies is also on this tour, but unfortunately, they weren’t part of this show).
ITM isn’t a band that comes here often. Actually, I think the last time was when they were on the Mayhem Festival that I unfortunately couldn’t go to. Needless to say, after seeing they were coming to town, I wasn’t missing them this time around. After all, who knows when they’ll come back this way? So after shelling out money for parking, picking up my tickets, and making my way upstairs instead of going to the Deluxe room like I have so many times this year, let’s get this started.
FULLY ALIVE
This show is full of a lot of great metal bands, but as I’ve learned from going to shows, sometimes you need something to break it up. A change-up if you will, or at least something that doesn’t feel like you’re eating all of your Halloween candy at once.
That came in the form of The Nearly Deads, an alt/pop band from Nashville, TN. Unlike the theatrical In This Moment or the raw aggression of Upon a Burning Body (or even Butcher Babies on other dates of this tour), there’s nothing really overtly metal about them. Actually, they sound closer to what you might hear at any given date on the Warped Tour than you would the Mayhem Festival. Judging by some of the crowd, I’m not sure how they’ll respond to them, but the night is young and full of surprises. Let’s see what they can do.
They don’t let this phase them at all. The Nearly Deads made the most of their very limited opportunity and put on a very entertaining show. Unlike what their name implies, the band was alive and energized. Frontwoman Theresa Jeane was in complete control and commanded attention towards the stage from beginning to end, while the rest of the band did their best to keep up. As for the crowd, they took notice of this effort, for the better. Not all of them, but a good number obeyed commands to jump around and start a small circle pit (albeit, not for very long, but there was one). Overall, they might have been an outlier, but they performed like it was their own show. The band is fully alive, and so is this crowd. A great way to open the show.
I’d estimate the room at about half-capacity at this moment (no pun intended), and it’s a fairly mixed bag in terms of who’s here. Some are the big, burly metalheads with the denim vests and the tattoos, others have taken a more gothic vibe with the black attire and the makeup. Some even cosplayed for it, donning various masks that wouldn’t look too out of place in Wonderland.
“Walk” by Pantera is being played throughout the room, and it’s kind of cool seeing so many people sing along to it. Speaking of Texas heavy metal…
THE STARS AT NIGHT ARE BIG AND BRIGHT…
The Nearly Deads’ banners have been removed, and in their place are two bull skulls. It must be time for our next performer: a Texas-based deathcore act that calls themselves Upon a Burning Body.
I’ve actually seen these guys on three separate occasions, and from those experiences, I’ve come to learn that everything really is bigger in Texas: the breakdowns, the circle pits, the ferocity, and in some cases, the amount of whiskey gets knocked back. This isn’t a band that does anything half-assed.
For the fourth time, it’s much of the same. Frontman Danny Leal leads an over one-hour set full of guitars and drums at breakneck speeds, circle pits, throaty vocals, headbanging, crowd surfing, and never once letting his foot off the gas. This didn’t look like they were playing in support of a show. They acted like this WAS the show. Judging by the amount of people merrily headbanging around and trying to start a small mosh pit, I’d say this was a success. Even more remarkable was that they played for over an hour and still held everyone’s attention. It also doesn’t hurt that they closed with their cover of “Turn Down For What” (sans Ice T), with many of the men lifting the ladies up on their shoulders and the rest going into a frenzy singing along and moving like this was the right version to play at the club (it is).
It’s like they say, everything is bigger in Texas, even when you’re in a small-market Midwestern city over 12 hours away.
A black widow curtain has now been raised in front of the stage, obstructing the view of about 98% of the room. What’s going on behind it? What are they trying to set up? Who knows? Actually, I do. Standing in a corner has its perks, but uh, we won’t disclose what’s going on, because we’ll find out soon enough. As River Song would put it: “spoilers.”
As it was pointed out, we’re running about 30 minutes behind, so whatever they’re setting up behind that curtain better be worth it. Meanwhile, Journey comes on over the PA and most everyone, well, you know what happens when “Don’t Stop Believin'” comes on in a room full of people. It got a bigger reaction than Pantera. Wow, what kind of metal crowd is this?
KILLER QUEEN
There are sounds coming from behind that curtain, including guitars, drums, and what sounds like an air canon. Okay, now I’m intrigued. Can we get this thing started soon?
Soon enough, we’re greeted by frontwoman Maria Brink’s voice over the PA, welcoming everyone to the “one-and-only Black Widow Show.”
Some bands can get by purely on music, others rely on production to really give it a big show feel. In This Moment does both.
That being said, let’s welcome In This Moment to the stage.
From the moment that curtain drops, it’s clear that this isn’t a band that skimps on theatrics. The Black Widow Show comes complete with light-up platforms, interchangeable props, musicians wearing corpse paint, stage crew dressed as skeletons, dancing “Blood” girls, and an enigmatic acting as the ringleader of this entire thing. Think your typical circus sideshow, but with more sex, violence, empowerment, and yes, metal.
Let’s get this out of the way: this is a far cry from the raw, aggressive band that I fell in love with many years ago. Unlike the constant throaty vocals matched with chugging guitars and the occasional breakdown, this is a band that gets it done with expert production, choreography, and making every song feel like it’s its own feature in the show. “Sex Metal Barbie” had Brink standing behind a podium and effectively telling off her detractors; “Whore” had her on a stool wearing a dunce cap with the title emblazoned on the front; there was a moment where the dancers carried oversized syringes and Brink shot an air canon; and other songs had her shooting off an air canon, dancing in her own cage, pouring out her soul whilst holding a parasol, and there was even a moment where she broke up a fight. Okay, so that probably wasn’t actually part of the show, but it was another example of how fierce she is.
To nitpick, I’m a little disappointed they didn’t include songs off Beautiful Tragedy or A Star-Crossed Wasteland, but as I said earlier, this is a different band. They’re not the ones who will hit you over the head with a hammer. Rather, they’ll put on a show and keep you entertained from the first note to when they bring the lights back up. Most 90-minute shows get exhausting, but this one actually kept me interested. Whether it was the constant costume and prop changes, the brief moment the band broke out into “For Whom The Bell Tolls” and a drum solo, or how each song felt like its own separate entity, In This Moment brought you a different kind of metal show. A combination of theatrics and music that you won’t find very often.
The night is almost over. For their cover of Nine Inch Nails’ “Closer,” they brought up a person from the audience (someone they “infected,” sign and all) and had them dance in a cage while Brink seductively performed from a chair. From there, she bids everyone farewell and the rest of the lights go out, leaving everyone in the dark and wanting more.
Most keep cheering until they get their encore. This crowd had moments of loud cheers before it sounded like they just got tired and wondered what else they had to do to get the band back on the stage. It got to the point where Brink (offstage) came back on the PA and encouraged a “we want blood!” chant. The chants echo throughout the room, and eventually the band makes their way back to perform the aforementioned “Blood” before finally ending things. Some people stick around to catch discarded guitar picks or drums sticks, or even flowers and other discarded props from the show. Others make their way back to the hallways to either try to grab one of the VIP meet-and-greet passes (they sold out quickly). I start heading back to my car, eager to get home so I can start writing about what I just saw.
Now here I am on a Sunday night, nursing a sore neck from headbanging and still recovering from that lethal dose of venom the black widow’s bite shot through my veins. So, final verdict?
I fell in love with heavy, hardcore In This Moment, and after this show, I fell even more in love with theatrical, “let’s put on a show for the masses” ITM. They say the black widow’s bite can be deadly, and in that regard, they’re right.
This show was a deadly good time.
The Good:
It was a show that hit on all three elements: The Nearly Deads brought a sense of fun and exuberance; Upon A Burning Body was heavy and brutal; and In This Moment was a great combination of theatrics and metal. Granted, I don’t know how this dynamic is affected when Butcher Babies is on the bill, but for tonight, it was a great mix. Plus, Maria Brink breaking up a fight was something to behold.
The Bad:
I would’ve liked to see some of their older songs represented more, but within the context of the show, it made sense why they stuck to newer material.