Pennsylvanian metalcore horror enthusiasts, Motionless in White came back to Glasgow for their sold out headline show ‘Touring the End of the World’ at the O2 Academy on Wednesday the 19th of February, and what a show it was.
The five piece last played in Glasgow at the Barrowlands supporting Beartooth with Stray from the Path back in March 2023, and having seen them go from the barras as a support to selling out the O2 it was quite the experience. Having full reign of bringing their horror-esq show to a bigger stage meant the fans truly got to partake in an unforgettable night.
Before Motionless took to the stage, the first support of the night, Brand of Sacrifice from Toronto set the night off – with the crowd opening a massive circlepit in the center of the Academy that never seemed to stop spinning. Combined with lead vocalist Kyle Anderson calling for crowdsurfers during their last song ‘Eclipse’ which they dedicated to the headliners. The song before this, ‘Blinded” drummer Charon Westmore delivered intense bursts of blast beats that had the whole venue shaking – sufficient to say this deathcore band really did get the crowd going.
The 30 minute set consisted of 7 songs, all of which Anderson demanded the attention of the crowd through his heavy guttural vocals, being in the photo pit for those first three songs and up close and personal to such power was a tad terrifying, but in the best way possible.
Next support, metalcore Fit for a King joined the tour from Texas, a band who’ve been on the go since 2007 – almost as long as Motionless and have built up a strong following of fans from the reaction the crowd gave.
They felt as though they could even be a headliner with the way they took to the stage, forever jumping and moving about the place – along with the crowd, which was densely packed at this point as I tried to make my way to a spot after being in the photopit (near impossible in a sold out O2).
Lead vocalist Ryan Kirby let out an impressive 24 second long scream during song “Backbreaker” – which so glad I caught that moment on video, not only can he scream but pairs it with clean melodic singing, particularly in their song ”When Everything Means Nothing” with backing vocals provided from Daniel Gailey on guitar.
The circle pit from BoS had fully turned into a moshpit by this point as fans channeled the energy from the King’s, and during ‘Breaking the Mirror’ the crowds were up and surfing through the heavy breakdowns and melodic riffs. Those not surfing were head banging and singing along to every word – definitely a solid support to have on this tour, right before the main act came on.
Something that always amuses me about the metal scene is the songs that play before the show begins, especially when they’re dance anthems like Cher’s ‘Believe’ and Darude’s ‘Sandstorm’ with the crowd behind me in the pit singing along fully. When the dance tunes cut out and are followed by the sound of distress signals, the crowd began to roar and cheer as one by one the members of Motionless in White take to the stage emerging from the haze, opening with ‘Meltdown’ – the first track of their latest album ‘Scoring The End Of The World’, and when the first word we hear from frontman Chris Motionless, is a classic ‘BLEGH’, you know you’re in for a heavy Metalcore night.
By the second song it was clear what kind of show Motionless wanted to put on and full theatrics were in play with performance group Cherry Bombs joining the stage armed with axle grinders causing sparks to fly along with twirling flame batons – really showcasing the level of production MIW put into this tour. Paired with live video screens to allow fans further back to see the show – something I haven’t seen done at an O2 show before.
A break between songs had Glasgow chanting their go to phrase “here we, here we, here we fucking go” to which Chris took his in ear monitor out and responded “every fucking band looks forward to hearing that shit when they get here, you guys are awesome” – which fans cheered back in response, and from the photo pit you could see just how full a sold out 2500 capacity O2 is.
The 17 song setlist was a strong selection across their almost 20 years discography featuring classics such as “Thoughts & Prayers”, “Soft”, “Reincarnate” and “Another Life” to list a few. For potentially MiW’s biggest song from their latest album, frontman Chris wanted to make sure the crowd still knew the words – instructing everyone in the audience screams back two different words, as he say’s “one mutilation” the crowd chants back “under god” and then goes on to say “this songs called slaughterhouse, bang your fucking heads” – which of course the crowd knows well. The original track features Bryan Garris of Knocked Loose but for tonight’s show, Ryan Kirby of FFAK stepped into this role.
During this tour the band have played a ‘surprise song’ each night to give the fans something unique to them – and for the Glasgow show we got “Undead Ahead 2: The Tale of the Midnight Ride” which Ricky ‘Horror’ Olson, guitarist contributes clean vocals for after the final chorus. Having attended previous MIW shows it was refreshing to actually hear Ricky singing solo and not just as backing vocals – so getting this song was clearly a real treat for the fans as they cheered in response.
The whole night was filled with theatrics, from the make-up the members wore to the visuals displayed on the screens behind which fits their theme as a band who loves horror. Cherry Bombs had various costume changes and a variety of props as well to really make it a show nobody will ever forget.
As the show comes to close Chris speaks to the audience, thanking them for their continued support especially for selling out the O2: “you’ve helped us go from the garage to the next venue to the next fucking venue… we get to be here tonight to give you guys a true 100% MIW headlining tour, the biggest sold out show we’ve ever done in Glasgow” to which the crowd all across the Academy cheers back, as the last song begins to play Chris continues “we’ll see you guys next year, with a brand new fucking record – until then we are Motionless in White and we are eternally yours” a fitting way to end the night, as they finish their set with their song ‘Eternally Yours’ and delight the fans with news they’re working on new music.
Being a Motionless in White fan myself and having seen them play live three times before this, all of which being support or festival slots – I cannot recommend seeing them headline their own show enough – from production value to the actual musical performance itself – this is a metalcore band who know how to put on a spectacular show.
Photos and review by Katy Shewan / Katy’s Studio
