Hellooooooo Awesome Lovers of Suicide Girls!!!
Are you having fun yet? Good! Let’s keep on Rockin’! 🤘🤘🏽🤘🏿
Part 2: IN THIS MOMENT!
Welcome back to concert night! First, a correction: This will be a three part blog; there’s too many pictures to fit in one blog, and my iPad battery started to run low because I had been working on final revisions to my novel for a new publisher all day yesterday.
So…like the brief intermission between the appearance of these two blog entries, the roadies tore down the set for the first act and set up the next in record time. Prior to the concert, I had the pleasure to become acquainted with @Lovelydemon, the last Mermacorne (she’s super awesome!), and she told me that she was a big fan of IN THIS MOMENT, rather than Halestorm. I was more than curious, and like New Year’s Day, I listened to ITM’s music prior to the show, and I was very impressed. I really like their new album, including the duet between ITM’s lead vocalist, Maria Brink, and one of the most amazing male vocalists in the history of Metal, Rob Halford of Judas Priest (He’s still got it after all these years!): Black Wedding. HOWEVER, listening to their studio albums did not in any way prepare me for the AWESOME performance that IN THiS MOMENT gave.
Now, my age listed in my profile is no lie- I am 48, so I’ve seen a lot of concerts, including greats like Dream Theater, Rush, Yes, Kansas, The Cult, Primus, The Black Crowes featuring Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page, and ZZ Top. More recently, I’ve had the privilege of seeing Nightwish and High Priestess. High Priestess is an all-girl Doom Metal band, and Nightwish, like all the bands of the August 16th show, are female-fronted with male musicians. IN THIS MOMENT stands out from the rest due to the performance element provided by their lead vocalist, Maria Brink, and the backup dancers that joined her on stage. When it comes to concerts at big arenas, I usually prefer not to be too close to the stage because the volume can be literally deafening (the Cult ranks up their as being the loudest I’ve ever heard, painfully so), but for IN THIS MOMENT, I would have gladly given up my superb seat in order to be down in the mosh pit on the front row! NEVER in my life have I seen feminine erotic energy used to such an amazing, powerful degree at a Metal concert! To quote @Lovelydemon, “Maria is a goddess.” I have to agree! Throughout ITM’s performance, for all that they were fully present and performed brilliantly and were crucial for the show, the male musicians of the band were overshadowed by the ladies at the front of the stage to the point that they faded into the background (at least to me).
Maria Brink, Metal Goddess, courtesy of 94.5 FM Spokane
ITM opened their part of the show with Blood, and from the very start, Maria had the audience eating out of the palm of her hand. I could write a whole blog on about their setlist, but that would be too long for this format. For now, I’ll say my favorite parts were the opening number mentioned above, and the final two tracks, Oh Lord and Whore, especially that final song. Prior to performing “Whore,” Maria very slowly and casually meandered up to the front of the stage where a podium had been set up for her, and she proceeded to explain her personal struggles and triumphs over oppression that were behind the lyrics of the song - all while wearing a dunce cap and dressed in white all covered with blood. In a mockery of a religious zealot, she proceeded to sing the song from the ‘pulpit’ and directed the audience with a flourish with broad sweeps of her arms and a long stick like in the official video. To be frank I was a little bit uncomfortable with the song due to its title before hearing it, but afterwards, it has become one of my favorite songs. Why? Because, quite simply, in context, the refrain contains one of the most profound statements I’ve ever heard sung in Metal: “You love me for everything you hate me for.” There was a shirt featuring those particular lyrics available which I just had to have. Sometimes you have to look into the dark to see the Light.
Fortunately, there was a long break between ITM and the night’s closing act - we had to catch our breath! Tune in again soon for part 3, HALESTORM AND THE ROAD HOME! 🎸🎶
💗
- Dhyani
