When the Olympus of Parisian venues receives the metalcore thunderbolt of Motionless in White
- Jenny Bisiot
- 1 day ago
- 6 min read
On February 8, we were treated to an exceptional concert at the Olympia. Motionless in White took center stage on the Olympia's legendary red neon façade, with Brand Of Sacrifice and Fit For A King as support acts.
The Earama team arrived at the venue a little excited and impatient. In the room, we immediately know where we are! The colorful, atypical crowd slowly but surely takes shape, filling the room for a sold-out concert. The atmosphere is already palpable, with people smiling and enjoying themselves to the random tracks playing in the hall as we wait for the concert to start.
Just before 8pm, the Pokémon theme plays and the crowd sings along, ready and determined to make the most of the evening!
Photos : Eden Bisiot
Brand of Sacrifice or how to set the world alight !
At 8pm, the opening act kicks off, setting the tone for the evening! Brand Of Sacrifice lead the way with Down! The crowd jumps to the deathcore music of the Canadian band who have come to make their mark, with unleashed musicians and a singer who jumps around, giving vocal power beyond expectations!
From the very first track, the charismatic Kyle Anderson calls for a circle pit, shouting “show me Paris!” and “Don't let me down”, and the crowd goes wild! The magic happens, the circle pit is instantaneous, the headbanging is permanent, the room is full and the bet is won! It's all about keeping up the pace, and the Canadians do so with ease, transmitting their desire to the crowd during a 45-minute set of madness! We hear Blinded from their latest EP Between Death & Dreams, released in 2023, for example.
The band is overwhelmed, and doesn't fail to say so, constantly revving up the atmosphere with “jump for me”, often thanking the audience for their energy, and the intoxicated crowd won't let up until the very last second!
Photos : Eden Bisiot
Fit For a king the rampage continues !
At 8.50pm, after a short intermission (well done to the hyper-responsive roadies), the music of Fit For a King kicks in. Switching from deathcore to metalcore is almost a risky gamble, as the mood of the first few tracks is a little chillier, but the powerful energy is there and doesn't wait to make itself felt. The crowd responds, the music intensifies and the first crowdsurfers get going!
On tracks such as Shattered Glass and Keeping Secrets, the crowd goes wild!
Singer Ryan Curby knows how to hold his voice and the audience, and the chemistry is there! To add a little more to the madness, bassist Ryan O'Leary jumps up and down, twirling his bass around his neck, in short, regaling us with his boundless, communicative energy, while the guitarist enjoys the pleasure of being carried along by the crowd!
Slam becomes the watchword, and the complicity between band and audience is at its zenith (no, at the Olympia, we said Jenny... oops sorry).
The singer even calls out ''Who's gonna come back to see us if we come play in France again later this year?'', which is met by an incessant salvo of shouts of approval and raised hands forming the familiar metal sign!
Photos : Raphaël Gellé
Motionless In White conquers our hearts and minds!
''Just keep doing what you motherfuckers are doing and we're gonna have a
good fucking evening''
-Chris Motionless-
9.55pm The long-awaited band arrives on Meltdown, greeted immediately by a wild crowd! Chris's voice seems to be back and well in place (several concerts had been cancelled in advance due to the general flu). Justin is having fun, making faces at the audience as usual, moving from right to left on stage, screaming regularly and perfectly as always, in total harmony with Ricky's spot-on vocals! Ryan also seems totally at ease, strolling around the stage, offering us countless smiles and climbing up next to Vinny on the raised backstage.
Everything goes perfectly, with a succession of tracks, including Sign Of Life, Abigail, and the atmosphere rises again on Thoughts And Prayers, when Ryan shouts his best “Don't pray for me”! Chris gives us his famous “blegh” and the crowd goes into a trance!
Dancers join them on stage and put on an excellent show, firing water pistols at us. Motionless quality at its best!
Masterpiece begins, and the shivers run through the room, we're all under the spell, but Chris's voice seems to have suffered from the prowess of the previous song, for all that he doesn't let go and gives us from the depths of his soul without counting the cost or worrying about hurting himself. He interacts a lot, seems fulfilled and happy, goes from one side of the stage to the other talking to us: “How it's going out there my friends?” or “This fucking rules, seriously!” in front of an audience that sings, lets loose, slams, headbangs and moshpits.
Rats and the legendary Voices follow, the atmosphere is grandiose and then Slaughterhouse arrives, where Chris is joined by Ryan Curby from Fit For A King, who will sing the part originally recorded by Bryan Garris. Vinny lets loose and screams “cut you up” from the top of his drum kit, while Chris belts out “one mutilation” to which we respond with “under God”, and a wall of death rounds off this unique moment!
Werewolf is epic, sung by both Chris and the audience, with dancers in werewolf outfits and red jackets performing the choreography from the video.
Reincarnate begins, and despite the pain we're feeling, Chris is still going strong vocally. For this one, he'll be joined by Kyle Anderson from Brand Of Sacrifice. What a duo! (no, I'm not over it).
Little phrases from Chris happily punctuate this magical concert, even in moments that are a little... I'll leave you to appreciate: “You said you're gonna get naked in the pit? That's what you said ? Alright. One mutilation for something, I'll tell you what! Yikes!”
The dancers come out to play with us and throw sweets while the band plays Not My Type - Dead As Fuck 2.
Chris suffers, yet gives of himself with impressive generosity and willingness! He ends up talking to us openly and putting things down:
“You want some more ? Alright, here's the deal :
For the last week and a half or so, a few of us have been really really sick. And unfortunately we had to postpone three shows on this tour already. And the shows that we have played, the crowds that we play to have been so fucking helpful, helping us and helping me get through this shit every single day.
Everybody have been so amazing by just taking some of the lines and singing them for me. But, with that, we had to cancel, cut out our secret song everyday. It's just been fucking hell ! But we're finally fucking back on track ! We're getting there day by day by day. And you guys, like the other crowds that have been helping me so much in the times where I needed it, every single time that I put the microphone out, you guys have fucking delivered so please make some noise for yourselves right now !”
He then asks us to shout “shut up” for the song to follow, the famous surprise song that changes for every concert, and which for us will be Headache.
As the songs continue, we sing along in unison, supporting Chris as he gives his all with such passion on Scoring The End Of The World, Soft, Everybody Sells Cocaine and Another Life.
Then Chris addresses us again:
“My friends of Paris it's time for us to play our last track of the evening for you. I believe that we're coming back somewhere close this summer! I'm gonna say the same thing I said earlier : from the bottom of my heart, thank you so much for being at this show, for selling this motherfucking venue out tonight ! We've been coming to Europe for a very long time, headlining Europe for a very long time, and I can't explain to you guys how giving special and how fucking amazing it is for us to finally get to come here and because of you guys and all of your years and years of support, finally be able to give us a chance to put on a real Motionless In White fucking headliner with all the production and all for you guys !
It's been an absolute honor, thank you so much for helping us get here. Thank you so much for singing all night long, for your energy... Everything has been completely fucking magical.
We are Motionless In White and friends from Paris, we are Eternally Yours…”
The dancers in their long black dresses enhance this perfect moment, Chris and they throw roses at us... We're spellbound, emotionally fulfilled, musically orgasmic, and the faces of everyone in the crowd can't hide the desire for more and the gratitude of having experienced such a concert with them!
Simply thank you to them for having given their all without restraint, to the Parisian public for having responded so well, to KindaAgency and VeryShow without whom we wouldn't have experienced this moment and written this review, and of course to you, readers and fans, without whom Earama wouldn't be!
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