Despite it being a pretty wet Friday night in Cardiff, it was a very special night as – 20 years into their career – Motionless In White took to the stage in the city for the first time.
And they don’t do it by halves either. Most bands’ first time performing in a city is usually in a smaller venue with some basic production, but this is not the case here as they take to the stage at the Utilita Arena, one of the city’s biggest venues, with around 5,000 people taking in an insane production.
Make Them Suffer in Cardiff. Picture: Lizi Birt
But before we experience MIW, we have openers Make Them Suffer. The Australian metalcorers put on a good show to kick the night off, with some great vocals from Sean Harmanis and Alex Reade. They ran through tracks such as Ghost of Me, Epitaph and Erase Me.
Dayseeker in Cardiff. Picture: Lizi Birt
Then it was the turn of Dayseeker, who it was safe to say absolutely delighted the crowd that had arrived early, with many screaming back the lyrics. It was understandable that this was the reaction with tracks like Pale Moonlight, Sleeptalk and Neon Grave. Frontman Rory Rodriguez is one hell of a performer, keeping the crowd in the palm of his hand the entire time.
As the lights go down, the screens light up as the spinning cat meme provides the introduction for Motionless In White to take to the stage. Kicking off the set with Meltdown and Sign of Life, we’re also treated to performances from dancers Cherry Bombs who add an extra element with fire, elaborate costumes and fab routines throughout the set.
Motionless In White live in Cardiff. Picture: Lizi Birt
Frontman Chris Motionless was very open about his delight in performing in Cardiff for the first time and during Scoring the End of the World, even waved a Welsh flag.
The setlist focused on more recent tracks, with only A-M-E-R-I-C-A and City Lights coming from the Creatures and Infamous eras (the teenage fangirl in me was delighted to finally hear City Lights live for the first time). And it was very much a party with the likes of Werewolf, Rats, Not My Type: Dead as Fuck 2, and Cyberhex. Of course we also had new single Afraid of the Dark, which the tour was named after, and the crowd screamed every word back.
Motionless In White live in Cardiff. Picture: Lizi Birt
Bassist Justin Morrow was having a great time dancing around the stage and having banter with Chris.
The production quality was on another level too, showing off video clips on the screens, confetti cannons and of course the Cherry Bombs.
Motionless In White live in Cardiff. Picture: Lizi Birt
It was a great night that ended with the classic line from Chris of “We are Motionless In White and we are Eternally Yours” before breaking out a performance of the track, a nice way to end a great night.
