[ATTENDED: April 16, 2022] Motionless in White
As soon as I heard that Motionless in White was from Scranton (and they called Philly home), I understood why they were the headliners. Apparently they always sell out in Philly as well.
After Ice Nine Kills, there was a major shift in the audience. Whether they were leaving or just getting drinks, it allowed me to get very close to the stage. So when Motionless in White came out I really got to experience them pretty well.
I was a little puzzled by lead singer Chris Motionless who may have had white face paint on. He was also wearing what looked like an army flak jacket (with no shirt underneath–ouch.
I also think there was no bassist for the band (I see that it was announced in Buffalo that he was expecting a new baby, so that’s sweet). I’m not sue how they compensated or maybe they didn’t bother.
Motionless in White were heavy with a lot of electronic sounds in their songs (I’m not sure how they made those live). The band was solid but all eyes were on frontman Chris Motionless who knows about theatricality. I sensed a bit of a Marilyn Manson vibe from him and the band (Mechanical Animals, era Manson, not on trial for abuse era). His mic stand was also a metal skeleton, which looked pretty cool from far off.
I enjoyed the chorus to “Necessary Evil” which went
It’s my party and I’ll die when I want to*
Die when I want to, die when I want to
The monster you’ve made is wearing the crown
I’ll be the king and you’ll be the clown
I’ll take the blame, parade it around
You’ve made me the villain you can’t live without
*sung in roughly the style of the original song
Shortly after a guy in a costume of some sort (it was dark) came out and started handing out… candy?… from a plastic pumpkin.
One thing that has made me really happy of late is the number of bands embraces the rainbow (and more) flag. When they started “Voices” Chris held up a rainbow flag and then draped it on th drum set when the song was over. The visuals for the song which were sort of bulls-eye striped even went rainbow colored by the end of the song. Even better than the band embracing it is the reaction of the crowd which tends to be overwhelmingly positive. No matter what the jackasses in other states try to repress the youth will have none of it.
For “Brand New Numb” the image was of a cartoony pumpkin. I actually enjoyed their pumpkin-themed T-shirt quite a lot too. I don’t know if they have a Halloween thing going on or not.
My favorite song was “Thoughts and Prayers.” It was the first song that was really not about an internal struggle but addressed things outside of the band.
Don’t pray for me when you’re the one to blame
Don’t think of me when you go up in flames
Don’t pray for me when you’re the one enslaved
No miracles, just fantasy
They even had a guy dressed like a preacher with a “bible” walking around on stage being dismissed by the band.
For “Rats” they had a giant oversized skeleton figure chasing Chris around, it was pretty fun.
And then they played a new song (from a soon to come out album) that sounded quite different rom the other sing (called “Cyberhex”)–a but more synthy. Obviously the fans knew f it because the all sang along and when we were leaving I saw a girl had fixed up her denim jacket to be all about this new song.
The biggest surprise for me came when they played “Somebody Told Me” by The Killers. I mean, sure, we all went crazy because we all know this song, but it surprised me that a band of this size would do a cover. Having said that, it suited them perfectly and they nailed it.
During the final song, I felt a body part bump me in the head and I turned to see my son’s friend Max crowdsurfing. I was pretty excited because I don’t believe that any of his friends have done this before. Max had typed “help me crowd surf” and the neighbors obliged. I watched as Max surfed above the crowd and was a little bummed when the crowd didn’t help them back up when they touched down before the stage. But Max said it was awesome anyway and that’s all that matters.
I was thinking about the band after the show. That t hey are from Scranton and I went to college there. I was thinking how cool it is that so many great bands are coming out of Scranton in the last decade or so, because when I was there it was kind of a wasteland.
And then I thought, I wonder if anyone I know how lives there still might know any of these band members–the age would probably work out. I saw that their original drummer had the last name of a person I was very friendly with from there and realized he could have been her much much younger brother. Then after I posted a picture of the show, another friend told me that her son and Chris Motionless were good friends when they were younger. This friend’s son is a musician too, so it all made sense and was pretty wild to think that he could have been in that band too.
We all had a good time and since the three bands played for less than an hour each, we were home reasonably early too (although my poor son had to work at 6AM the next day… oof).
- Disguise ∞
- Reincarnate ®
- Necessary Evil §
- Voices §
- Brand New Numb ∞
- Thoughts & Prayers ∞
- Rats §
- Cyberhex ©
- Another Life ∞
- Somebody Told Me (The Killers cover)
- Eternally Yours §
© Scoring the End of the World (2022)
∞ Disguise (2019)
§ Graveyard Shift (2017)
® Reincarnate (2014)
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