That’s how it was with MOTIONLESS IN WHITE

February 25, 2026, Vienna, Stadthalle
Support: Make Them Suffer, Dayseeker

Our world is filled with phenomena, unexpected dynamics and cohesion in a time of division. And where else would you find this if not at concerts? Where the hearts of all spectators beat in unison with the beat? We find these phenomena of mass dynamics in unexpected moments. Like the moment when, in the blink of an eye, the audience envelops the entire hall, from the stands to the center, in a sea of tiny lights. As if they were part of the performance. Or when a Russian animal welfare kitten makes metalcore fans all over the world go crazy.

Wednesday evening and a generation of metal (core) fans were queuing up. Motionless In White also made a stop in Vienna on their “The Afraid of the Dark” tour. After selling out the Gasometer last year, their next stop was the Wiener Stadthalle. Not sold out, but very well attended.

MAKE THEM SUFFER

Australians Make them Suffer opened the evening with energetic heaviness. Melodic guitar riffs alternated with hard breakdowns, bassist Jaya Jeffery elicited crisp bass runs from his 5-string spector, the drums drove the crowd and singer Sean Harmanis’ brute growls were complemented by sonorous clean vocals from keyboardist and co-vocalist Alex Reade. During their 30-minute set, the artists swept across the stage and left a euphoric audience wanting more.

DAYSEEKER

With Dayseeker, hard metalcore sounds gave way to emotional tones. The motif of their new album “Creature in the Black Night” appeared on the three video walls in shades of pink and soulful sounds permeated the hall. The Californians intoxicated their audience with songs such as “Without Me”, the title track of the new album, and “Sleeptalk”. The result was a symbiosis: as singer Rory Rodriguez walked across the stage and moved from one octave to the next, he became one with the audience. He provided the vocals, his fans a sea of lights. They finished their set with “Neon Grave” and made way for the headliner.

MOTIONLESS IN WHITE

At 9:15 pm, the lights went out and the video walls lit up brightly. The star of the intro took center stage: Ethel, a Russian cat who achieved international fame through an Internet meme. The origin of “OIIA – The Spinning Cat” was a video by an animal welfare organization to promote pet adoptions. Today, the blind kitten from Omsk is going on tour with Motionless In White. At least to open their show on the big screen.

The ringing of bells. Howling sirens. The artists took to the stage under red spotlights and thunderous applause. “I can’t fucking hear you!” shouted singer Chris Cerulli, the audience responded and the driving number “Meltdown” swept through the hall. With the first breakdown, fountains of fire shot up. This was joined by an incendiary stage show by the performance group “Cherry Bombs”. “Sign of Life” – the second track from the “Scoring the End of the World” album released in 2022 – was followed by the socially critical song “A-M-E-R-I-C-A” and the confetti cannons were deployed. The next critical track followed immediately with “Thoughts & Prayers”. This was followed by the crowd favorite “Voices” and the hall roared along. Even the new release “Afraid of the Dark”, which was only released at the end of January, was sung along to from many throats. Apart from that, the audience was surprisingly quite motionless, but on closer inspection this was not surprising, as every second a different element enlivened the stage. From the lighting technology to the performance artists, the entire concert was choreographed. Headbang once and you would have missed something. The catchy songs were accompanied by a varied stage show, harmonious visuals and pyrotechnics. A camera team took over the live broadcast on the video walls, interspersed with recurring music videos. For example, the melodic track “Werewolf”.

At the latest during “Hollow Points” there was more movement and the mosh pit was opened up. At the same time, some crowdsurfers rose above the heads of the crowd – and above the mosh pit – which resulted in plenty of beer showers. Singer Chris introduced “Necessary Evil” with “One, two, three, jump!” and the audience joined in. Fountains of fire shot up in unison with the catchy melody. During the chorus, the sound engineer could have turned off the microphone as the audience roared along with every word. For “Slaughterhouse”, the band brought “Make Them Suffer” singer Sean Harmanis on stage to support them. This was followed by songs such as “Rats”, “Disguise” and “Nothing Ever After”. In his announcements, the singer expressed his gratitude. “You’ve doubled in size since last year,” he said overjoyed. When asked who in the hall returned after one of their concert visits that day, the majority of hands were raised.

Motionless In White have experienced significant growth in recent years. A generational phenomenon? It was interesting to note that the musicians and concertgoers were on average the same age. This was also clearly noticeable in the visuals. Both in terms of content and socially, the band reflected the problems, concerns and interests of the millennial generation. The 15-year-old song “City Lights” rang out with the question: “Where are the old-school fans?”. The crowd went wild and proved their long-standing loyalty. After “Not My Type: Dead As Fuck 2” and “Cyberhex”, the show continued soulfully without the procedure of disappearing and returning for encores. “Another Life” and “Eternally Yours” formed the crowning finale under artificial snow and the distribution of roses.

Conclusion: Motionless In White delivered a brilliant concert with terrific sound, a thoroughly choreographed live performance with everything that goes with it and more. – More than worth seeing!

Text & Photos: Gina Riot

Setlist Motionless In White:
“Meltdown” – “Sign of Life” – “A-M-E-R-I-C-A” – “Thoughts & Prayers” – “Voices” – “Afraid of the Dark” – “Werewolf” – “Hollow Points” – “Necessary Evil” – “Slaughterhouse” – “Rats” – “Disguise” – “Nothing Ever After” – “Scoring the End of the World” – “City Lights” – “Not My Type: Dead as Fuck 2” – “Cyberhex” – “Another Life” – “Eternally Yours”