In This Moment Concert Review HOB San Diego April 14, 2018

In This Moment Concert Review HOB San Diego April 14, 2018

In This Moment Maria Brink Live Photos San Diego

Maria Brink-In This Moment

In This Moment returned to Southern California for a sold out show at The House of Blues in San Diego on April 14, 2018 with support from DED and The Word Alive.

The audience anticipation was extremely high for this show with many crazed fans out in front of the venue in search of a ticket…. at any price.

The show opened with DED from Tempe AZ who are Joe Coelea-lead vocals, David Ludlow– guitar, Matt Reinhard-drums and Kyle Koelsch-bass guitar and backing vocals.

DED unleashed a head pounding yet infectious 8 song set from their debut 2017 release  Mis-an-Thrope on Suretone Records which they characterize as nu metal music/nu metalcore. The band lead by Coelea hit the stage with a force of an F-5 Tornado as the band members ran continuously across the stage.  Coelea moves across the stage at a frenzied pace with vocals that are as aggressive as the band’s music. The only time there is a slight pause on stage is when Coelea reaches out to connect with the audience or introduce the band’s next song.

The DED are a band on the rise and you definitely don’t want to miss these guys live!

The DED set list from the stage was:DED Setlist Concert Reviews

Next Up – The Word Alive consisting of: Tyler “Telle” Smith-lead vocals, Zack Hansen-guitars, keyboards,  programming and unclean backing vocals, Tony Pizzuti-guitars, clean backing vocals, keyboards and programming.

 

The Word Alive are another metalcore band from Arizona that was founded in 2008 and have put out five records on the Fearless label. The band ripped through a scorching eight song set with highlights including Red Clouds, Why am I like This, and I Fucked Up from their latest LP,  Violent Noise.

The set list from the stage was:The Word Alive Concert Reviews metalcore

Then it was time for the main event, In This Moment!

Just before In This Moment arrived on stage, one could feel a collective intensity and  excitement in the audience. ITM’s unwritten credo is reflected by Journey’sDon’t stop Believing” which was played over the house PA just before the band’s arrival and was supported by the emphatic ITM fans with a sing along so loud, it prompted one to reach for their earplugs!

As the banner in front of the stage dropped, In This Moment was greeted to an explosive audience roar with the band plunging into Blood from from their fourth and highly successful LP of the same name. Brink and Co. are known to continually change up their stage set-up throughout the their show and tonight they managed to fit all their props on stage including their “quick change” room which was center stage between drummer Kent Diimmel and bassist Travis Johnson.

Maria Brink ITM Concert Photography Concret Reviews

Maria Brink

The set leaned heavily on songs from the LP’s Blood and Ritual with songs from the Blood LP including; Blood, Adrenalize Me, Burn and Whore and from the Ritual LP; River of Fire, Roots, Lay Your Gun Down, Black Wedding, In The Air Tonight and Oh Lord.

The night was filled with many highlights including the Monster Jam which gave each of the band members an opportunity to strut their musical prowess. The song Black Wedding was an especially dramatic moment in the night which included for the first time ever on stage,  Joe Coelea from the opening band DED to take on the Halford vocal part in the song’s duet. This was a big moment for Coelea, (which he later told LA METAL MEDIA backstage) and his performance was awesome as he stepped in for the part in the song that was originally recorded by the Metal God himself, Rob Halford. Brink and Coelea faced off center stage, delivering the song’s intense vocal interaction as they weaved back and forth from each other elevating the ferocity of the song’s interplay.  Another brilliant addition to their 2018 set was Big Bad Wolf from their Black Widow LP; a song with a heavy bad ass groove and singing rap style that had the entire audience jumping, screaming and fist pumping to the lyrics; Pig Pig! would you let me in, Pig Pig! would let me in!

InThisMoment-House of Blues Concert Photography Concert Reviews

Travis Johnson, Maria Brink, Randy Weitzel

The night would not be complete without Whore from their Blood LP which was the last song of the night and begins with a narration by Brink. This time around, Brink climbed a ladder in her long white gown “in heals no less” instead of standing behind a podium to impart her narration for Whore!  She tells a story of when she was a little girl and she was told by her elders that she would amount to nothing more than shit! A song that employs the audience not listen to the na-sayers and negative people in their lives but instead, to be yourself, be the best you can be and accept that you are perfect; just as you are!

The song ended with bursts of smoke across the front of the stage and a cascade of large white balloons that many fans punched, sending the balloon(s) across the aisles while other fans grabbed one of the coveted balloons to hold onto the night’s experience and possibly take a memento from their beloved artist.

At the end of the show, Brink came to the front of the stage and handed a special single rose from her bouquet, to a few selected lucky fans, as a show of her love for their support.

Check out the photo gallery for the HOB San Diego show here!

 

 The set list was:

Blood

River of Fire

Adrenalize Me

Roots

Burn

Lay Your Gun Down

Monster Jam

Big Bad Wolf

In The “Air Tonight

Sick Like Me

Oh Lord

Whore

Check out the In This Moment Photo Gallery here!

Check out the Ritual LP Here!