BY MIKE SHALER | Go Venue Magazine
On July 17th, 2019, horror fans united as Ice Nine Kills made a stop on their The Silver Scream tour in Flint, Michigan at The Machine Shop to rock the faces off of a sold-out crowd.
Kicking off the show was, Hawk, out of Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Busting out the energy, with Ricky Armellino on vocals, Jack Esbenshade on guitar, Bernard Stabley on bass and Adam Reed on drums. Hawk flew in and grabbed the crowd by their throats and took them on a wild ride of heavy riffage. Hawk had the crowd rocking and ready for more as they set the tone for the night.
Classic horror theme songs played over the speakers while we waited for Ice Nine Kills to make their arrival. One by one the band members stepped out, and the crowd roared as drummer Patrick Galante donning a Pig mask over his head, wins warrior of the night, as the temperatures were in the 90s with a high humidity. Ricky Armellino stepped back on stage for his role as the yellow rain coated killer from I Know What You Did Last Summer as he played guitar and sang. Joe Occhiuti on bass covered the role of The Crow as he half painted his face in the iconic makeup. Dan Sugarman on guitar provided the gorgeous looks of Leatherface, the chainsaw wielding maniac of Texas Chainsaw Massacre. And last but not least was lead singer Spencer Charnas dressed in a dual split costume of Freddy Krueger on his right side complete with razor gloved hand and Camp Crystal Lake icon, Jason Voorhees on his left side.
Just the sight of this band is a horror fan’s delight. Then comes the intense, driving music and vocals that these guys conjure up. This is a perfect blend of ass kickery that just makes sense. With songs like, “The American Nightmare”, “Thank God It’s Friday”, “Me, Myself & Hyde” and “IT is The End”. Ice Nine Kills slays it all out there as they perform. Charnas switches up looks for certain songs, like grabbing an axe and Santa hat as he sings “Merry Axe-Mas”. And little touches like the black flowers on Occhiuti’s side, the chainsaw and human limbs dangling on Sugarman’s mic stand and the iconic IT red balloon floating over Armellino’s microphone make for a lot of fun visuals to take in.
The crowd was intense as the moshing got started as soon as the first note rang out and Charnas’ trust in the fans never wavered as he ventured out into the crowd by way of stepping on their hands holding him up as he was head level up into the rafters to belt out a song amongst the people.
Ice Nine Kills is set out to destroy, with the blend of horror imagery and intense music, there’s no stopping them, just show up and enjoy the show, and you will live. A must-see for horror fans.
Ice Nine Kills
Hawk
All images © Mike Shaler
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