The atmosphere outside the venue was already hotting up as we arrived fairly early on in the evening to conduct an interview with In This Moment, with people dressed up and excitedly talking amongst one another as they waited for the doors to open, and at that early stage it already felt like the night was going to be a special one.
There was a bit of congestion as the crowd filtered into the venue so unfortunately we missed Starset (6/10) actually coming onstage but they put on an all-round good set regardless. The instrumentalists all looked quite visually engaging with their lit up riot helmets but the singer looked quite tame in comparison wearing plain clothes. The music itself was quite interesting, a nice mix of electronic and rock, but it was sometimes a little difficult to get into as they all sounded fairly similar to each other. They have the makings of something good, that much is clear, but it needs a bit of building on first.
Fearless Vampire Killers (5/10) certainly had the crowd behind them right from the start, coming onstage to earsplitting screams from the crowd, and they certainly knew how to work the room to their advantage but it was a very safe-sounding and unadventurous performance from the five-piece. They do what they do well, but the problem is that there are countless other bands out there doing exactly the same thing and they weren’t the most original of bands, to say the least. However, their cover of Elton John’s I’m Still Standing did mix things up rather well and was an interesting and engaging inclusion to the set.
Of course, the night was always going to belong to In This Moment (9/10) and one of the first things that strikes you about this band is how choreographed and tight their live performance really is, with frontwoman Maria really giving it her all, whether that was by dancing, having a different outfit for every song, or simply in the way she interacted with the crowd, encouraging people to cheer, sing along and clap, with highlights of the set being the massive-sounding title track from the band’s new album Black Widow and the mighty encore track Blood, which of course had the whole room chanting the words of “blood blood blood!” every time they occurred in the song.
The instrumentation felt heavier live than on CD, which was certainly welcomed by this metalhead, and indeed, a highlight of the show was when the men of the band got a chance to do a metal medley, powering through instrumental versions of tracks such as Metallica’s For Whom The Bell Tolls and the mighty Pantera’s Cowboys From Hell. It was an absolute joy to witness and divided up the show rather well.
In all honesty, even if you weren’t a massive fan of the band, it was difficult not to leave the show feeling incredibly satisfied by how much In This Moment put into their stage show. This is a band that clearly lives for live performances and when a band puts so much into their shows, it’s such a rewarding experience to witness. If In This Moment are in a town near you, then make sure you head down to the show because you won’t be disappointed.
