ICE NINE KILLS/IN THIS MOMENT/NEW YEARS DAY – OAKDALE

By Joe Perusse

Ice Nine Kills, In This Moment, Avatar, and New Years Day- Kiss of Death Tour at the Oakdale Theatre

My most frequent concert buddy, my son Jagger, was back from Boston for the Thanksgiving holiday so it was a perfect time to catch a show at the Oakdale Theatre in Wallingford. Four solid bands, all who put on a great stage show.

Leading off the evening was New Years Day. Right out of the gate lead singer Ash Costello was parading across the stage from edge to edge, her outstanding voice treating the crowd to “Vampyre”, “Come For Me” and “Hurts Like Hell”. “Shut Up” led into “Kill or Be Killed” as the crowd pumped their fists high in the air. Before “Nocturnal” Costello stated that if you were in attendance you’re a weirdo, and everyone agreed. “Angel Eyes” closed the set and a great start to the night. Rounding out the band is Nikki Misery (Lead Guitar), Brandon Wolfe (Bass), Jeremy Valentyne (Rhythm Guitar) and Trixx Daniel (Drums).

Photos Anthony Frisketti

Next up was Avatar who gets better and better every time I see them and it feels like they are having a great time performing. “Dance Devil Dance” and “The Eagle Has Landed” started off the set and had lead singer Johannes Eckerstrom quenching his thirst from a gas can on stage. “Valley of Disease” and “Bloody Angel” followed and led into crowd favorite “The Dirt I’m Buried In”. The first crowd surfer of the evening appeared during “Smells Like a Freakshow” and “Hail the Apocalypse” was the bands finale. The group from Sweden includes Jonas “Kungen” Jarlsby (Guitar), John Alfredsson (Drums), Henrik Sandelin (Bass) and Tim Ohrstrom (Guitar).

“Purge” led off the set for In This Moment followed by “The In-Between” and “Sanctify Me”. There were 4 dancers sharing the stage with the band and following lead singer Maria Brink wherever she went on. It was at this point Jagger and I discussed if she was singing the songs or maybe having some prerecorded assistance. Regardless the crowd was having a blast. “Blood” was next and then Brink asked for some audience participation during “Sacrifice” and her request was answered.

“Army Of Me”, a Bjork cover, “Adrenalize” and “Big Bad Wolf” closed out the main set. An amusing part of the evening was seeing some younger fans donning the dunce caps with Whore written on them. They got the song they wanted as “Whore” closed the set as the smoke guns fired and balloons and confetti filled the air. The band who was nor prerecorded sounded great and is made up of Chris Howorth (Lead Guitar), Randy Weitzel (Rhythm Guitar) Travis Johnson (Bass) and Kent Diimmel (Drums).

Closing out the evening was Ice Nine Kills. I had seen them a few times before but was usually in the pit so never really got a great look at the stage show in its entirety. Tonight we were a couple rows behind the mixing board and seeing the band from this vantage point made the show a whole different experience. First up was “Hip to Be Scared” as we saw Spencer Charnas (Vocals) use an axe to chop off a head and then kick it around stage a bit.

Zombies were running around for “Rainy Day”. During “Meat and Great” Hannibal Lector was wheeled on stage in a straightjacket but by the end of the song he had broken free and ate a police officers face. Charnas took the time to thank all the supporting acts and wielded a chainsaw for “Ex-Mortis” as the crowd surfing ramped up. “Rocking the Boat” was introduced by news clips about shark attacks and an inflatable shark costume appeared on stage.

A small circle pit tried to get going but the pit was very crowded. A clown entered for “Stabbing in the Dark” which also featured smoke, pyro, a sliced throat and toilet paper guns shooting into the crowd. “The Fastest Way to a Girl’s Heart Is Through Her Ribcage” was next. Charnas put on a raincoat and a clown wig for “IT is the End” and red balloons where released into the sky. ”Wurst Vacation” had butchers, one holding an axe and the other a cleaver on either side of the stage.

Finally a goat head appeared with a chainsaw and Charnas then used a cleaver to dismember an arm of a woman with a pillowcase over her head. Orderlies walked out with a body and dumped it on stage and Charnas beat it with a shovel during “Funeral Derangements”. “Your Number’s Up” saw Death with a Scream mask chase a girl around the stage.

Charnas put on a Freddy Kruger hand for “The American Nightmare”. “Shower Scene” had silhouettes behind a screen as Charnas used a knife for the stabbing. For the final song of the night ,“Welcome to Horrorwood”, Drew Barrymore lent some star power to the video intro, Charnas jumped out into the crowd to sing and streamers showered the crowd. Patrick Galante(Drums), Ricky Armellino (Rhythm Guitar), and Joe Occhiutti (Bass) joined Charnas from the studio and Doc Coyle and Miles Baker are touring with the band on guitar.

Editor’s footnote: Just a little clarification. Our photographer Anthony Frisketti was only approved to photograph New Year Day. Hopefully in the future we can publish some original captures of the other three bands.

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