There’s no such thing as monsters, but there is Wednesday 13, and he has been touring the US, bringing his brand of Horror Metal to a city near you. On, of all days, Good Friday, he brought his show to The Gramercy Theater in NYC, and it was worth skipping mass for. Go ask for forgiveness tomorrow. 

The Gramercy Theater is an old movie house owned by Live Nation with a capacity of 650 and is the sister venue to the larger Irving Plaza. It lies just under two blocks east of Madison Square Park and the original Shake Shack.  Plenty of other food options lie in any direction, but food in the venue is limited to a couple of bags of chips or candy. Walking through the entrance brings you two options: downstairs to the right are bathrooms, merch sales, a coat check, a bar and lounge, and straight ahead are a set of double doors leading to the performance space. Inside is a bar on either side, stadium-style seats to the rear, and a set of box seats to house left. The stage is well elevated, and tall ceilings provide for excellent lighting and sound. Live Nation has clearly spent some money making this one of the best small performance venues around. 

Setting the mood before the show was DJ Xris Smack, who has become a NYC mainstay and can be found doing his own shows as well as spinning carefully curated music to get the crowd moving at a whole host of venues throughout the city. 

Industrial artist I Ya Toyah was first to the stage and commanded attention from the first notes to the last. Born in Poland and now living in Chicago, Ania Tarnowska uses the stage name I Ya Toyah, which translates from Polish to “it’s just me“. Singing, playing guitar and keyboards on stage is what you see, however, every programmed drum beat, recorded sound, flicker of light or image on screen was created by her. With a more Industrial/Electronic sound, she was a one-woman army assaulting the stage. From the opening number of “I Am The Fire” through the epic “Pray” and closing out with a piece about mental illness awareness, “Panic Room”, the audience was behind her the whole way. A contemporary measure of a good performance is how many people have their phones up to record and live stream, and by that metric, I Ya Toyah was a huge success. A Ghost Cult mantra is never miss the opening act; every band was an opener once, and this is a great example of great things to come. 

 

In keeping with an ironic Easter theme, the next performance was from Dead Rabbits. Described on their Wikipedia page as a Metal Core supergroup from Phoenix, Arizona, they were smartly dressed in black collared shirts, black Jackets, and black bunny-eared bondage masks. Super group or not, their performance lit the room up, and cell phones again came out to record. Lead singer Craig Mabbitt deftly swings from growling, screaming, and very melodic singing. He works the crowd well and was definitely enjoying the chance to be on stage. Standout songs were “Artificial Gods” (more Easter) and a new piece entitled “Hellscape”, where Alecia “Mixi” Demner, the lead singer of the next group Stitched Up Heart, joined Mabbitt for a duet. 

If you haven’t heard Stitched Up Heart, you are missing out. They were founded in Los Angeles in 2010 by lead singer “Mixi’ and have been going strong since. Demner is a powerful singer, ranging from a gravelly growl to a piercing scream, and look out when she sings the high notes. With a clear voice cutting through the air, demanding the attention of the room, she tosses her currently blue hair about as the perfect front woman. Somehow, they were able to arrange their entire set into a crescendo, building intensity with each song. Starting with “To The Wolves” through “Sick Sick Sick” and ending with an epic version of “Monster”. A headline tour should be in their immediate future. 

It may be Good Friday, but inside it is Wednesday 13, and if you know his music, you know it is time for a horror-themed party. There are a couple of changes to the band lineup this time around. Roman has moved to England and was replaced on lead guitar by Ashes, formerly of Devil Driver and Static-X. Drummer Mike Dupke has taken a temporary leave, and filling in is former Wednesday 13 drummer Shakes. Troy Doebbler on bass and Jack Tankersley on rhythm guitar remain in place, as well as of course Wednesday 13 himself on vocals.

The set opened up with “Look What The Bats Dragged In” and it is immediately apparent why Ashes is on lead guitar. Strikingly tall and lean, he creates a presence on stage while remaining subtle in support until it comes time for a solo. Then, look out. His fingers fly effortlessly, and he makes it look easy while dazzling the audience.

A few songs from the very soon-to-be-released new album Mid Death Crisis (Napalm Records) were included in the set and “No Apologies” was a standout. This is some of the best music from Wednesday in a long time. 

Ever the consummate showman, Wednesday would lead the crowd in chants and apologized for the math requirement when he asked for a chant of 666. He talked about Joey Jordison and provides some fun introductions for some of the songs, like asking for help from Rambo. It is requested that no one take it personally when he says that he wants bad things to happen to you and closes out the encore by expressing his fondness for a certain curse word. 

If you go to see this show, you will leave feeling a bit amused, confused, energized and overall wishing it could go on longer. A few shows remain in the Midwest, and then a couple of UK dates in July. Catch them if you can and if you dare.  

 

Wednesday 13 setlist:
Look What The Bats Dragged In
197666 (Frankenstein Drag Queens From Planet 13 cover)
I Want You Dead
When The Devil Commands
God Is A Lie
From Here To The Hearse
The Ghost Of Vincent Price
No Apologies
Rambo (Frankenstein Drag Queens From Planet 13 cover)
House By The Cemetery
In Misery
I Walked With A Zombie
Bad Things

Encore:
Slit My Wrist (Murderdolls cover)
Dead In Hollywood (Murderdolls cover)
I Love To Say Fuck (Frankenstein Drag Queens From Planet 13 cover)

 

Buy Wednesday 13 music and merch here:
https://amzn.to/3GnP65e

WRITTEN BY MATTHEW KOCHEK|
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PHOTOS BY KIM HANSEN @PHARMADIVER
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