Chris Motionless’ goth brigade paint it black with a mixture of sin, style and shock as Motionless In White make a punt for headliner status.
“This shit right here is a dream come true,” gushes Chris Motionless. King Goth even smiles a big, sweet, grateful grin as he says it. Motionless In White are no strangers to Rockville, but tonight is a spoopy celebration for King Goth and co. “This is the first time we’ve played in the dark… where we feel at home.”
Today’s storm-related show stop has been a drag for many. For the Pennsylvania poltergeists, though, it’s not been all bad luck, as they’ve ended up with a later, and thus even more nocturnal, stage time than originally planned. Second only to Bring Me The Horizon on Welcome To Rockville’s enormous Main Stage, Chris tells his flock that it makes them “feel like headliners.” The fact that there’s a band on afterwards becomes a mere technicality. Tonight, Motionless In White paint the Sunshine State in many, many shades of black, all of them exhilarating.
Even having to put the brakes on at several points to deal with crowd assistance can’t hurt their momentum. Gothed up to the nines and looking like Satan’s own alt. bad-lad, Chris is a man absolutely starving for this moment.
On their own, this up-for-it-ness and sinful charisma are powerful weapons on a stage like this. Attached to a show that sees them deploying visuals that run the spectrum from subtle noir to outright eye-melting horror craziness, evil cheerleaders, angle-grinder wielding ghouls and enough goth chic to celebrate Hallowe’en for the rest of the century, they become unstoppable.
There’s also an element of sin and naughtiness that manages to land seductively across the field. During a sleazy Rats, the greasy beat is backed by flashes of kinky visuals. New song Playing God is a fist made of velvet. Before it’s cut short, Necessary Evil comes with arse-shaking dancing. It’s all rather welcome under the night sky as the hour grows late.
Before a brilliant Afraid Of The Dark (a title that makes MIW complete liars, given how skilfully they wield it), Chris demands to “Let’s make this shit the biggest sing-along of the whole weekend.” A tall order, given that Foo Fighters set a high mark on the wall for such things last night, but in spirit it’s a sturdy enough sentiment.
It might seem like an odd idea to celebrate Hallowe’en almost six months early. But then you remember that for Motionless In White, that’s just a detail on a calendar. Every day is spooky season. Here, with Florida’s palm trees blowing eerily across the way, they cast their dark spell and invoke a rapture in return. It’s enough to make King Goth Chris smile from ear to ear.
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