KISS OF DEATH TOUR SELLS OUT GARY'S HARD ROCK CASINO
WORDS AND PHOTOS BY JIM HELMECY
Every photographer has their one “holy grail” band they’ve wanted to shoot, Ice Nine Kills was right at the top of the list of bands I wanted to capture when I started this adventure almost 2 years ago. The goal was and still is to photograph bands whose music has meant so much to me, so yes I bought a camera and here we are today. I’ve photographed over 300+ bands in 2 years, from huge national touring acts down to local bands. I do what I do for you, the fans. Those who couldn’t make the show or those looking for just pics to have from the show. Well, enough rambling… on with the review!
Excitement had reached its pinnacle as I arrived at Hard Rock Casino in Gary, IN. The venue which is 15 minutes from our backyard made this a home town show for me. This opening tour show was a sell-out for the nearly 2300+ capacity venue. Quickly become one of Northwest Indiana’s major touring stops since it opened in May of 2021. With a lineup including New Year’s Day, Avatar, and co-headliners In This Moment and Ice Nine Kills, there was no surprise it sold out. Fans were lined up outside the venue, with the line snaking its way throughout the casino floor. I had the opportunity to talk to a few people in line, and most have come from out of state. Ohio, Michigan, and Illinois, one person came as far as Kentucky to see this show. The fans were pumped for this one.
NEW YEAR’S DAY
NYD has been around for a few, starting in 2005, using self-promotion, My Space, and social networking to introduce their new music, they have picked up a massive following over the years. With a handful of studio albums, EPs, and multiple single releases, NYD has done quite well for themselves. The band hit the stage running with their recently released single “Vampyre”, and was greeted by a warm welcoming of 2200 people cheering. Frontwoman Ash Costello immediately took control of the crowd with her stage presence. When Ash is on stage, she’s intoxicating - she has a way of pulling you on stage with her and feeling the music the way it’s supposed to be felt. Nikki Misery’s brutal guitar riffs have a way of stomping on you just to have Ash come along and pick you back up again with her epic vocals during the band’s 3rd song “Hurts Like Hell”. Having New Year’s Day as an opening band was definitely the right choice, fans rocked out on this set and built the momentum needed to carry on through the night. Songs included on this setlist were “Come for Me”, “Shut Up”, “Kill or Be Killed”, “Nocturnal”, and finishing off the set with “Angel Eyes”.
AVATAR
Avatar hit the stage next as the opening number “Hail to the Apocalypse” began. Simultaneously, the stage crew wheeled out a large box, and within seconds lead singer Johannes Eckerström popped out. Dressed in the trademark red ringmaster outfit, this set was off and running. The boys from Sweden know how to reign in a crowd and totally destroy them. The second song “Dance Devil Dance”, from their recent February album release, we finally got to see our first mosh pit and numerous crowd surfers. This set was one for the books, with one epic Avatar hit after another, and seeing this “Freak Show” for the first time live definitely has me looking forward to catching them again. The songs included in this set were “The Eagle Has Landed”, “Bloody Angel”, “Valley of Disease”, “The Dirt I’m Buried In”, and “Smells Like A Freakshow”.
ICE NINE KILLS
Ice Nine Kills which has been around since the early 2000’s. The band started out with some high school friends under the name Ice Nine, which was taken from Kurt Vonnegut’s book “Cat’s Cradle”, and they did a lot of pop/punk and ska. The band changed its name to what we all know now as Ice Nine Kills in 2006 right before their first debut album release “Last Chance to Make Amends”. In 2009 the band switched from a pop/punk to a more metalcore sound. INK has 3 EPS, 6 full-length studio albums, and multiple tours. I, myself have seen the band 13 times dating back to 2015. Watching them grow from little venues with 100 or so people to packing sold-out venues, and now touring with Metallica, is definitely a sight to see.
I mentioned earlier about “holy grail” bands and getting to shoot them, this is that one. I had the opportunity to shoot them this summer at Upheaval Fest, but this is the first time with full-stage props and lighting. As INK took the stage, dressed in suits and ties ( if you’re going to have an album called “Welcome to Horrorwood”, you have to dress the part). As soon as the first chords for “Hip to Be Scared” dropped, fans started screaming. This became the first crowd sing-along for the night, right into the “Hey Paul!!!” quote in the song, which is followed by a brutal axing and beheading of “Paul”. Oh, I should of mentioned, that this is definitely not a PG-rated show. If you think you’re coming just to jam out to some music, you’re not, you’re getting a full theatrical horror performance. You will see everything from severed heads, zombies, murders, a giant shark (yes, I said giant shark), and demons. What would you expect with a setlist inspired by some of the greatest horror movies of all time with so much going on, the band and crew make very quick work with costume and prop changes, which keeps the show flowing with no delays, and this is how you can play a 14 song setlist and give the fans what they want. So if you want to catch some theater mixed with some metal music, Ice Nine Kills is definitely a band to watch.
This set list had songs from both Silver Scream albums and one song from The Predator Becomes the Prey. “Rainy Day”, “Meat and Greet” (new, live debut) “Ex-Mortis”, “Rocking the Boat”, “Stabbing in the Dark”, “Fastest Way to a Girl’s Heart is Through Her Ribcage”, “IT is The End”, “Wurst Vacation”, “Funeral Derangements”, “Your Numbers Up”, “The American Nightmare”, “The Shower Scene”, and “Welcome to Horrorwood”. The fans here gave 110% to the band for this one. Crowd surfers were very abundant throughout the set, lighting and stage show were epic from a photographer’s and fan’s view.
IN THIS MOMENT
ITM is another one of those bands I’ve followed and watched progress from a little band into another band with a great stage theatrical performance. This band has everything from pyro, dancers, and giant stage props. This is also another band that keeps you in the show from start to finish. As the ITM black widow curtain was raised, the anticipation was rising for the opening song of this set. As the strobes started going off, fans were cheering, then all went black and the curtain dropped, the crowd erupted, as frontwoman Maria Brink was center stage surrounded by her “Blood Girls”. As the music played for “The Purge”, fans pushed in closer to get a better view of the queen doing her work.
Impressive pyro and smoke seemed to go nonstop throughout the set, fans were singing along to every song that was played. Finishing the set off with “Whore”, Maria puts herself on a giant staircase overlooking the crowd, with her “dunce” hat on. As fans, we all know where this goes, word for word we recite the opening speech to a tee. This is one of those songs about “rising above”, everyone in the building sings this song beautifully along with her. Having ITM as a co-headliner is definitely a beautiful choice to keep the theatrics going, and keeping the crowd interested is what this was set out to do. Songs included in this set were “The In-Between”, “Army of Me”(Bjork cover, live debut), “Blood”, “Sacrifice”, “Sanctify Me”(new, live debut), “Adrenalize”, “Something I Can Never Have”(NIN cover, live debut), and “Big Bad Wolf”.
In closing, if you haven’t got tickets for this tour yet, it’s definitely a must-see, and the entertainment value is through the roof for all of the bands. This is definitely one of the most impressive tours this year. All photos were shot on a Canon Mark IV with a Sigma 2.8 24-70 lens. Catch you all on the next one peeps.
