While away on break, I saw metalcore bands Black Veil Brides, Ice Nine Kills and Motionless in White on the third leg of their Trinity of Terror tour. They played at the South Side Ballroom in Dallas, TX with metal band Atreyu as their opening act.
This night was met with great anticipation as this lineup was all bands that I grew up listening to and was such a fun night from the masked crowd surfers and mosh pits to the performances on the stage.
The first band of the night to take the stage was Atreyu. I had heard a few of the band’s songs before on SiriusXM’s active rock channel Octane. This band knows how to build the crowd’s anticipation with a countdown to them taking the stage and then their interactions with hyping up the crowd. Atreyu is a band that adds to the anticipation of the crowd for the main event, but simultaneously puts on a very memorable show for fans and audience members alike from their rough instrumentals and their incredible vocal control with the high notes throughout the set.
The best songs of their set were definitely “Ex’s and Oh’s” and “Becoming the Bull”. But, before the end of their set, they pranked the crowd by performing a snippet of Whitney Houston’s “I Wanna Dance With Somebody”, and I was genuinely invested and was left upset they didn’t finish the song.
All in all, I highly encourage everyone to try and see this band live because their energy while on stage is something that cannot be fully felt unless you experience it firsthand.
The next co-headliner to take the stage was Black Veil Brides. I have seen this band before (albeit it was years ago in a scalding hot parking lot at Warped Tour) and they were as good as I remember. Their performance consisted of a mix of their older songs with newer songs that got the crowd going, but one thing that really surprised me was how loud the crowd got throughout the set. I could barely hear the vocals despite being yards away from the barricade, that’s how loud the crowd was at some points of the set. This is not necessarily a bad thing, because it shows how beloved their songs are but I do think ultimately the mixing was a little off.
Black Veil put on a great show nonetheless overall, but the best songs in their set were without a doubt, “Shadows Rise” and “The Legacy”. The crowd's reaction to Jinxx bringing out his violin to perform “Shadows Rise” is something rare in the metal scene and that added instrumental element elevates their performance. “The Legacy” is such a classic Black Veil song that upon hearing the opening drums you know the crowd’s energy is about to spike again.
Now, this next band was a complete surprise to me performance-wise as I had never seen them live before. But, I will say this now and mean it with my whole being: everyone needs to experience an Ice Nine Kills set at least once. The classic horror movie aesthetics and themes with the theatrics of lead singer Spencer Charnas alongside the stage design with the props, costumes and stage actors made their set the best of the night.
Not to mention the absolute crowd control Charnas seemed to possess as crowd surfers became more frequent, bigger pits began to open up and the sheer volume of the crowd increased overall. There was so much crowd and performer interaction in fact, that as someone who never really listened to Ice Nine Kills, I decided immediately after that set I was going to become a fan of the band.
All of the songs performed by Ice Nine were incredible, but “The Shower Scene” and “Funeral Derangements” were by far the best of the night, and were the perfect tracks to close their set. “The Shower Scene” which is based on Alfred Hitchcock’s “Psycho” displayed Charnas’ vocals beautifully all while he wielded a prop kitchen knife while wearing a fake bloodied shirt, ultimately disappearing with a stage actress behind a white shower curtain at the breakdown of the song to reenact the iconic horror scene.
To end the night, the band that brought me to the concert in the first place, Motionless in White, took the stage. I have listened to Motionless for almost a decade at this point and have seen them live on multiple tour and festival lineups, but I just knew this was going to be one of their best sets for me. From the beginning to the end of their setlist, I screamed at the top of my lungs and even got into a little scuffle with another audience member for snatching one of the roses thrown at the end of the set.
They played such a good show and had the crowd’s energy up throughout their set with their own cyberpunk-esque stage aesthetic and two other stage performers, lovingly known as the Cherry Bombs, dancing to some songs and even sent sparks flying with grinder tools against some other pieces of metal.
All of the stage elements combined made their set the best one to end the night with. The best songs from their set were “Slaughterhouse” and “Eternally Yours” as these two songs had the most crowd interaction from the breakdowns to the sing-alongs.
I also have to add that the addition of “Deas as F*ck” was really funny to me because it had been the first time in years since I had heard that song in full, and it was also amusing to see how quiet the crowd got as this song played as it is not that well-known to people who are not Motionless fans.
Overall, the show was fantastic and the crowd was actually fun to be in. Every band put on an amazing show that was energetic and I’m so glad I got to experience each of them on this tour lineup. I encourage everyone who has read this to give each of these bands a listen and to go to one of their shows if given the chance because you will not leave disappointed.