In This Moment Live: A Low-Budget Vegas Peepshow Comes To Dallas

As many of you know A&GS has been involved in a cross country move for the last week. But before we left Dallas and its wonderful metal scene we decided to squeeze in one last show. And that was IN THIS MOMENT headlining at House of Blues on their Black Widow Tour. I was not a big fan of the album of the same name, but having seen them live three times prior I had high hopes for their performance. Hopes that were quickly dashed, crushed, and stomped on repeatedly.

But first, let’s talk about some of the nonsense I sat through prior to their shit-show. 3 PILL MORNING opened the evening with some generic radio rock, and STARSET came out with some sort of space age computer-driven drek. At least TWELVE FOOT NINJA (despite that awful name) came out swinging. I dug their sound but unfortunately vocalist Kin was buried in the mix, so I would really like to get a do-over with them.

Now, on to IN THIS MOMENT. I’m not gonna spend too much time on this one because here it is a week later and I am STILL pissed off. My buddy Ryan from Ardent Owl Media really wanted my last show in Dallas to be a memorable one and it totally was for all the wrong reasons. My good friends/photographers Paul Wilkins, James Villa from On Tour Monthly, his lovely wife Jennifer and also the beautiful and talented Jennifer from Pull Out and Run were there to have a good time and see me off. And as the guys went up front to shoot photos it was me and the Two Jennifers, both of whom had some choice things to say that kept me in stitches because this show sucked so bad.First of all, we all agreed that Maria Brink was pretty much doing none of her own singing, and we also wondered how much of the music was backing tracks as well.

Secondly,Jennifer One opined that this was a “glorified low budget Vegas metal peep show” and I couldn’t have agreed more. Visuals in a show are one thing. But when you’ve got fucking back-up dancers and you’re doing a routine that involves a lot of head spinning and moving around there is no way you’re really singing. Sorry, that dog don’t hunt. But the best line of the night came from Jennifer Two. Angered by the travesty taking place onstage she threw up her hands and yelled, “This bitch is KILLING the spirit of Christmas before our eyes!!” All I could do was laugh, because if I didn’t I would have cried. As far as the song selection went, the band did four from Black Widow, four from 2012’s Blood, a butchered version of “Into the Light” from 2008 and…ready for this? TWO covers!!


NIN’s “Closer” and some medley of METALLICA/SLAYER/PANTERA done as instrumentals while Maria went to go change. Maybe she needed a break vocally; lip-synching IS hard work, after all. You guys may think I’m being harsh, or too hard on this band. Well, I’m not. IN THIS MOMENT used to be one of my favorites. They impressed me with their songs, their drive, and Maria was always top-notch when it came to singing live.

I don’t know what the hell happened here, but something is truly rotten in Denmark. It seems like drummer Tom Hane was the only one really playing with any heart, soul, or passion. And Maria even asked at one point, “How many of you guys are fans all the way back since Beautiful Tragedy?”,yet they played NOTHING from that disc, not even the title track which was a big hit for them!

I actually left with two songs to spare. I had enough and wasn’t gonna let this band shit all over my great memories of them any more. One thing’s for sure: IN THIS MOMENT will not get a dime of my money again unless they go back to a harder sound and show some goddamn balls. And I just don’t see that happening anytime soon. They are an empty shell of a once-great band trying their hardest to be heavy metal’s Lady Gaga and quite frankly it’s sickening. Avoid this tour at all costs. And R.I.P. IN THIS MOMENT…

LIVE PHOTOS: ARDENT OWL MEDIA