Project Description

ICE NINE KILLS

@The Brightside, Brisbane

09/12/19

(Live Review)

Reviewer: Connor Gutteridge

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The stage was set, and the fans were ready having been warmed up by the local Brisbane boys, Deadlights who absolutely tore up the stage in the early evening. I missed a great portion of their set, however what I did see was in typical Deadlights fashion. Huge stage presence and amazing crowd reaction, we love our local heroes when they play in town and will support them every time.

By this point every single soul in the building was drenched in sweat due to the shear number of people in the place and the fact that it was a hot day. Hundreds of people packed into the tiny little Brightside, hot as hell, stinks like it to but everybody eager to see Ice Nine Kills on the last show of their first venture to the land down under.

Bridging the gap between bands with creepy ambient horror themed music which obviously suits the band greatly. The tech crew were obviously having some issues with something on stage as the band were 15 minutes late for their set and the whole crew was running around like headless chooks to fix whatever was happening. Every time the song changed the crowd got a little bit keener but slightly agitated largely due to the heat.

But then it started, opening the set on their Friday the 13th themed track ‘Thank God its Friday’, the band was off to a flying start. I felt this to be an odd but successful pick for their opener but have since been informed that it is their normal opener at all shows expect shorter festival shows. Being an Ice Nine Kills show the fans should expect some awesome theatrics such as costumes, props and actors on stage.

Singer Spencer Charnas initially came out wearing the half Jason mask and holding a big machete to symbolize the theme. Just like when they played their killer new track ‘Your Numbers Up’ Spencer was wearing the scream movie costume with a prop knife. When they played ‘It is the End’ for their encore he dressed as Pennywise the clown, and who could forget the huge shark that came out on stage during ‘Rocking the Boat’. This is just to name a few of the costumes and props that they used during their show, and even though it takes time to change all this for pretty much every song, it gave their set an extra element to enjoy.

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If I could criticise anything from the show, I would say there was a lot of dead air between tracks due to changes which left the crowd silent. The transitions could have maybe been a little bit smoother between songs, but this was only noticeable to the critical ear. Only other thing I could possibly say was the crowd interaction could have been a little bit more, at the festival his interaction with the crowd was on point I just felt it lacked a little at the side show. Both of these flaws could very easily be put down to the heat being an issue for the band as you could visibly see that they were struggling with the heat. Having been to gigs at the Brightside before and it never been that hot before I feel these things can easily be forgiven.

Back to the good stuff which there was plenty of inside the walls of the Brightside. The crowd reaction was absolutely amazing with everyone in the place singing along to every single track being played. Playing smaller shows makes it a lot easier to hear this and it must have been a good feeling during their tracks to hear everyone screaming the lyrics back at them. This in part was due the track choices in the set with an obvious wave formation from heavy to lighter then back to heavy. The depth of the set was great as they kept within the last 3 albums worth of material and spread it out nicely over the three, with obvious attention placed on the new record The Silver Scream. They even through in a cover of Michael Jackson’s ‘Thriller’ which they recorded for the deluxe edition of their latest record.

My Personal highlight for the gig was when they played Stabbing in the Dark and they had the incredible performance of my favorite track on The Silver Scream. Obviously, I’m biased but from the second that clown walked out at the start and the opening sound began, I got chills up my spine, and this was before Spencer started even singing.

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Another highlight of mine was when the band played Communion of the Cursed and Spencer stood on top of the crowd to sing the final section of the track. Its hard to pick highlights in a show that is literally built on highlights as there is always memories that get left behind, but they really stood out to me.

These guys 100% deserve and require to be on the big stage, I feel that it would benefit and already incredible stage show. Therefore, the Good Things performance slightly edged the side show, because of the bigger stage and less heat. Next time they are here in Australia I would love to see them play a set that has the depth that they did at the Brightside on a stage even bigger than the stage of Good Things Festival. The close and intimate setting of the Brightside served well for the bands first headline show in Brisbane, but on to bigger and better things next time.

What else can I even say about the show, all in all a phenomenal performance from the guys in Ice Nine Kills. I think I speak for everyone when I say thank you for coming to Australia and blowing our minds with your craft and see ya soon??

 

Check out Wezzy Cruze‘s gallery of the Good Things Festival here 

 

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