Wednesday 13, Stitched Up Heart, Dead Rabbitts, I Ya Toyah @ The Gramercy Theater

With the setting sun casting malevolent shadows over the streets of New York, it was quite fitting that a black clad crowd had formed a line outside the Gramercy Theater. The doors opened to welcome legions of fans in for the "There's No Such Thing As Monsters" tour, featuring the Ghost Host With the Most, Wednesday 13.

A festival of frights and fang-tastic fun, the tour served as a celebration of the headliner's two decade long solo career. Supported by Stitched Up Heart, Dead Rabbitts and I Ya Toyah, each of the acts was poised to be full of tremendous performances and perhaps a few ghastly surprises. "I've been a fan of Wednesday since I was 14 years old," said one fan, now just over 30, "you never know what he'll do next on stage, but you're always going to have a killer time!"

Eclectic, electrifying, enchanting - these are just a few words that describe Ania Tarnowska, better known as I Ya Toyah. Bending the lines that separate metal, industrial, synthwave and goth rock into her own creation, the might of opening song "I Am the Fire" left the jaws of many in the crowd on the floor.

Unleashing a roar that few in the room were prepared for, "Vast Spaces" treaded territory akin to Aesthetic Perfection, Otep and KMFDM, while "Denial" caught the ears of fans of How To Destroy Angels. Rounded out with a cover of "It's No Good" by Depeche Mode and the emotionally supercharged "Panic Room", the bar was set incredibly high for the sets still to come.

Between the unique layout of her equipment around her, which created a stage-within-a-stage environment, the passion in each of the words, and her impressive vocal range, I Ya Toyah is truly an immense performer in addition to being a singer-songwriter. With shows scheduled in November in Czechia and the Netherlands this fall, the future is blindingly bright for a rising superstar.

Odds are, when your resume includes fronting some of the biggest names in the metalcore genre, you're going to deliver something as passionate as it is punishing to the masses. Such in the case for Dead Rabbitts vocalist Craig Mabbitt (ex-Blessthefall, ex-The Word Alive), who has delivered four crushing albums with the band since 2011 while also being the voice of Escape the Fate.

With their last New York show happening back in 2017, long time fans couldn't wait to throw down for "Dead by Daylight" and "Dead Again". Having had the time to sharpen up their already fierce sound, this tour comes just after the release of the band's new album Redefined, and with it, the premier of new songs such as "Oxygen", "Mistake" and "Artificial Gods".

Taking the opportunity to welcome one of the two guest vocalists that appeared the track (the other being Wednesday 13), Mabbitt was joined by Stitched Up Heart vocalist Mixi Demner for "Hellscape", also off of Redefined.

Closing out with the dramatic yet pummeling "Deer In The Headlights", it was clear that all of New York agreed Dead Rabbitts had been gone for too long and hope to see them bring the heaviness to a stage in town again soon.

With the stage still red hot, Stitched Up Heart kept the adrenaline going with their blend of brutality. Returning the favor, Craig Mabbitt joined Mixi Demner for opening song "To The Wolves", the title track from Stitched Up Heart's 2023 album.

Doubling down on grooving riffs and bouncing drum lines, "Possess Me", "Conquer and Divide" and "Immortal", all off To The Wolves, set the pit off like a match thrown on kerosene. Meanwhile, the room was completely captivated by Demner's passionate clean vocals and thunderous roar in closer, "Monster" Dropping a new song, "Sick Sick Sick" gave fans a taste of the next chapter in the band's already dynamic career.

While no additional tour dates have been announced yet, it's still early enough in the year for Stitched Up Heart to gear up for another leg on the road to bring their very best to the masses.

At last the hour had come for the Monster of Ceremonies to close out the night in ghoulish style as cheers and applause greeted Wednesday 13. Curating a setlist over twenty years, closer to thirty if one considers the original version of "197666" dates back to 1996, each song was a macabre masterpiece of horror and rock 'n' roll.

In celebrating the anniversary of his debut solo album, Transylvania 90210, which turned twenty just days before the New York show, "House By The Cemetery", "The Ghost of Vincent Price" and "God Is A Lie" were brought back to stage after no less than a seven year absence. The commemoration continued with performances of "Look What The Bats Dragged In", "I Walked With A Zombie" and "Bad Things".

As the first album reaches a milestone in April, 2025, a new offering also enters the musical morgue as Wednesday 13's tenth album, Mid Death Crisis, releases on the 25th. Giving fans old and new a taste of the new flesh, "In Misery", "When the Devil Commands" and "No Apologies" made their Big Apple premiers.

Taking a moment to thank all the bands and fans for their support, a more somber moment came to honor the memory Joey Jordison, 'without (whom) none of this would have been possible'. As the crowd chanted his name, the opening sample to Murderdolls staple song "Slit My Wrist" began, segueing into "Dead In Hollywood".

Easily one of the hardest working bands in the business, the Monsters Aren't Real tour will conclude in early May, with Wednesday and company getting a few weeks off before heading to the U.K. and Europe for a summer run. No doubt an album tour for Mid Death Crisis is already in the works, and New York will eagerly await the return of the Ghost Host With the Most to hear more of it live.

Ticket & photo pass courtesy of Atom Splitter PR & Napalm Records