Written by Amina Abdelwahab STONE SOUR & IN THIS MOMENT w/ New Years Day and The Dead Deads @ Rebel Toronto, ON, Canada February 14, 2018 On February 14th, fans gathered inside Rebel nightclub in Toronto for a night of pure metal. Being Valentine’s Day, the crowd drizzled with lovers out on a special night, awkward first dates, and even single wild-wanderers. The age range also varied astoundingly – from just-of-age teenagers to it’s-my-millionth-show seniors. |
The Nashville-born band, The Dead Deads, brought skulls, death and more skulls. I had never seen them (or heard of them before), but I was impressed. Mixing punk riffs, with metal-like vocals and a stage presence with the likes of a 60’s Green Day, they got the audience going for the night. I found their attitude to be their biggest asset - with large painted X’s over their eyes, they spoke for every angsty, punk-rocker in the audience. Their ‘girl power’ was not to be attested with, sparking rage in the night for the other femme-led bands to follow. Having just released their double EP record Sketches and Animation in January. I’d say The Dead Deads are on the rise.
Next up, New Years Day from Anaheim, California. Having heard their name before once or twice, I was eager to hear their sound. Self-described as “Hauntedmansioncore”, I could see why: the lead vocalist, Ash Costello sported a head of hair dyed half bright red and half black. She treated the stage much like a haunted mansion, urging us to listen but putting us in fear of the ‘Metal Gods’ whenever we didn’t cheer enough at the end of a song. Costello did a good job of urging us to listen to more New Years Day, but for me it tipped a bit too much on the promotional side. It’s okay to work the publicity avenue, but it is best done inconspicuously. However, stage antics aside, the music was solid – a good mix of rock, deathcore, a tinge of metal, and some emo-pop.
I’d wanted to see In This Moment ever since I heard Maria Brink’s voice on their cover of “Call Me” by Blondie that led me to an incredible over-consumption of the band’s records and my establishment of them as my favorite female-led metal band (and Maria as my favorite metal singer and musical role model). As such, I wanted to know – would they sound as amazing live? Well, they did. They played “Oh Lord” and their cover of Phil Collins’ “In the Air Tonight” off their new record Ritual. They opened with “Blood” and closed with “Whore”. They made us mosh and crowd-surf and head-bang and scream. Maria sported a new costume for every track, making her the “Lady Gaga” of metal (in a really good way). Seeing In This Moment live only fueled my passion for them, and I’ve been re-listening to their tracks ever since.
Just when I thought I couldn’t respect Corey Taylor than I already did, he headlined a show following three female-led acts. Being the second-time seeing Stone Sour live, I learned that people would come to watch this band only for three seconds it takes for Corey Taylor to walk from backstage to front-and-center stage. His presence and confidence as a vocalist makes him my favorite male-metal vocalist – and for good reason. The band’s as-always, simple, old school stage setup gives the music space to really be heard. Spraying confetti on the audience and playing hits like “Song #3” and “Tired” would have kept even those seeing Stone Sour for the tenth time engaged. They delivered a solid, true-to-their-style performance for metalheads on a special Valentine’s Day – and I couldn’t have had a better Valentine’s seeing both my favorite female and male metal vocalists live at a single show.
STONE SOUR Corey Taylor - Vocals Josh Rand - Guitar Christian Martucci - Guitar Johny Chow - Bass Roy Mayorga - Drums Label: Roadrunner Records Website: www.stonesour.com | IN THIS MOMENT Maria Brink - Vocals Chris Howorth - Lead Guitar Travis Johnson - Bass Randy Weitzel - Guitar Kent Diimmel - Drums Label: Atlantic Records Website: www.inthismomentofficial.com | NEW YEARS DAY Ash Costello – Vocals Nikki Misery – Rhythm Guitar Frankie Sil – Bass Max Georgiev - Lead Guitar Zac Morris - Drums Label: Another Century Records Website: www.facebook.com/nydrock | THE DEAD DEADS Meta Dead - Lead Vocals/Guitar. Johnnie Dead - Drums. Dolly Dead - Vocals/Lead Guitar. Daisy Dead - Vocals/Bass. Label: Tishimon Records Website: www.thedeaddeads.com |