ICE NINE KILLS // OVO ARENA WEMBLEY, LONDON
Sold-out arena-scale crowd buzzing like a sawblade in a morgue
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐(5/5)
ICE NINE KILLS AT OVO WEMBLEY ARENA, LONDON
PHOTOCREDIT: SALMA BUSTOS
Ice Nine Kills have come far and tonight at the Wembley Area they are more blood-thirsty than ever. Making every venue feel more like a forensic theatre than a concert hall, the band is notorious for delivering surgical strikes of sound, story and stylised carnage. This wasn’t just a gig, it was an autopsy of metalcore where expectations were dissected and rebuilt in outright spectacle. Earlier this week, Ice Nine Kills had just performed the Co-op Live in Manchester, the largest indoor venue in the UK and the second largest venue in Europe.The Co-op live only got completed in 2024, and it took the music scene in the UK to another level, providing a solid atmosphere and phenomenal acoustic. For Ice Nine Kills to take over a venue of that scale was an achievement of its own, before we even get to their London show. Ice Nine Kills had a phenomenal lineup of supporting bands this tour, with TX2 taking the front, The Devil Wears Prada filling that middle point and finally Creeper, a heavily 70s inspired band, with their roots very clearly with David Bowie, especially on their earlier records.
TX2 AT CO-OP LIVE, MANCHESTER
PHOTOCREDIT: KIAN SIMON-LAW (CROWD SHOT)
Opening the night were a band I've personally never seen or heard of, and yet blew me away from the first chord. TX2, heavily emo styled, feeling like something from the early 2010s, chewed up the stage and spit it back out like they owned it. TX2 started as a solo endeavour by the brainchild and singer Evan ‘TX2’ Thomas in 2015, and had a relatively small and committed fanbase until in 2023, a TikTok video featuring the song “I would hate me too” skyrocketed the band into popularity.TX2 opened the night with a strong showing, introducing themselves and warming up the crowd better than any opener I've ever seen. With songs like “Vampire by Rumour” and the all important super-group song “MAD” which saw Ice Nine Kills, and The Devil Wears Prada come to the stage to deliver a truly memorable performance that I won't soon forget. A highlight of the night undeniably was the Vocalist and Guitarist hopping into the pit, and declaring the arena as their own for that small moment. Admittedly, I jumped in the pit with them, at least 50 of the crowd circling them like devotees, it was a one of a kind moment.
REVIEW BY: KIAN SIMON-LAW
THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA AT OVO WEMBLEY ARENA, LONDON
PHOTOCREDIT: CHARIS LYDIA BAGIOKI (CROWD SHOT)
Formed in Ohio, The Devil Wears Prada rose to fame due to their metalcore roots and technical riffs to become one of the genre’s staple acts. Over nearly two decades, the band has evolved into a melodic brutality that brings breakdowns, dual vocals and thematic grit into the mix. Stepping up right after TX2, TDWP’s set was a tighter dissection of audience attention. Despite their lack of theatrics, the band brings controlled violence into the mix and creates an architecture of chaos. Performing mostly songs from their latest album Flowers, which I personally liked a lot, their set was tight, loud and unsentimental. The crowd began to move again, with pits and crowdsurfers slowly but steadily making their way to the front. The band admitted how much they wanted to play the OVO Arena throughout their career, and dedicated songs like ‘Everybody Knows’ and ‘For You’ to their audience and long standing fans. Ending off with ‘Chemical’ and ‘Sacrifice’, it was clear that the band does not need spectacle because the sound itself can do the same damage.
CREEPER AT OVO WEMBLEY ARENA, LONDON
PHOTOCREDIT: CHARIS LYDIA BAGIOKI (CROWD SHOT)
And then came Creeper - and the room completely changed temperature. OVO Wembley is not a career-first for the band that dominates every room their are in no matter the size. From the first note, their set felt less like support and more like ceremony.Will Gould commanded the stage like a vampire-preacher, delivering each lyric as though it carried narrative consequence. The dual solos, the pounding drums, spooky dracula-style keys and the theatricality of the band are something that the music scene didn’t know it needed and songs like “Mistress Of Death” and “Blood Magick (It’s A Ritual)” didn’t just land; they loomed. If there is an opener act that understood the assignment, it is Creeper - with their gothic lineage and punk, glam and horror rock building the drama and the emotion they need to hypnotise their audience. They dedicated each song of their set to their fellow bands on the tour and as the final two ritualistic songs came up (“Black Heaven” and “Cry To Heaven”), they showed their audience that they don’t just flirt with darkness and drama, they marry it. For those not already converted, it was a reminder that horror doesn’t always scream - sometimes it just whispers in your eat and lets you lean in it.
ICE NINE KILLS AT OVO WEMBLEY ARENA, LONDON
PHOTOCREDIT: SALMA BUSTOS
Now for the main event! Ice Nine Kills emerged not like a band, but like a cast stepping into predetermined roles for a horror film. There was no chaos in their entrance as the curtain dropped, but intent to commit crimes in their curated murder anthology that they call ‘A Work of Art’ Tour. Their setlist leans into cinematic terror with horror homage and immaculate pacing to keep the audience hooked - literally. If you have seen Ice Nine Kills before, they are not just a band but horror cinema re-enacted live in the funnest way possible. Spencer Charnas doesn’t just sing; he performs murder ballads and becomes the character he sings about. Whether it is through props, costumes, actors on stage and other references - from crime-scene tapes visuals to macabre interludes and old-school horror movie ads - the band makes each track feel like a breakdown into a series of jump scares.
Their production is relentless and arguably one of the best in the live music right now. They have massive screens that amplify their theatrical flair, strobes and sound cues, as well as an array of live-action actors to bring the spectacle right before your eyes. Before we dive into detail, it is worth noting that the audience was not just engaged, but primed like a weapon. From singalongs to screams for punchlines, the collective of ‘psychos’ was participating into the gore action. Pits, walls of death and cheers escalated as each thematic piece closed, making it clear that everyone was entertained and intellectually complicit in the narrative.
Explaining how intricate the lore and live reenaction of each song on the setlist would take three business days, so let’s stick to the highlights. “Hip To Be Scared” brought Patrick Bateman to have a fanclub of serial killer-enthusiasts to scream back every single lyric as people were slaughtered on stage. The cinematic visuals and costumed extras as well as the choreographed theatrics peaked during “Wurst Vacation”, “The Laugh Track”, “The Shower Scene”, “IT is the End”, “The American Nightmare” and “A Work Of Art”, with Art the Clown murdering Rose McGowan on stage. Whether you are a fan of pyro, chainsaws, the Joker, Hitchcock, clowns, Krueger’s blades or Terrifier, every mini horror narrative created a spectacle that every horror fan would die over. The band blends horror, precision, ecstasy and gore-fascination into an almost comedic musical panorama, creating a spectacle that is hard to forget. My personal favourite had to be the iconic shower scene, though every moment felt unique in its own right.
ICE NINE KILLS AT OVO WEMBLEY ARENA, LONDON
PHOTOCREDIT: CHARIS LYDIA BAGIOKI (CROWD SHOT)
The band’s precision in dissecting horror and metalcore into something that feels alive and engaging is what sets them apart. Their stagecraft with narrative, horror imagery and singalong moments is the perfect way to make horror-infused metalcore into a ritual - or an autopsy, if you like. There was no improv, it was clear-cut execution delivered with enough violence and precision to make the chaos feel earned. This wasn’t a concert you felt and forgot. It was one you analysed on the way home, replaying moments like evidence. Ice Nine Kills didn’t just entertain Wembley; they proved that metalcore, when treated with discipline and imagination, can be as calculated — and as devastating — as the best horror cinema.
Clean work, no loose ends and no survivors.
REVIEW BY: CHARIS LYDIA BAGIOKI
