It was a rather peculiar night of music as New Years Day with special guests Ded and local band Switchblade Saturdays took the Wooly’s stage in Des Moines on a Wednesday night. New Years Day have a couple of songs that busted them on through, and provided a ton of support for Halestorm and In This Moment on several legs of tours this past year, yet it wasn’t packed by any stretch of the imagination. Note to Des Moines, please come out and support live music!
Shoutout to Switchblade Saturdays for the set that they put on. They also had Joey Vice of Motograter fame to help support their live show. It was cool seeing the lead vocalist on stage for New Years Day set Instagramming the experience. Local bands take note: please support your local scene and the bands that you are sharing the stage with. Switchblade Saturdays write the book on this on how to support. They are hanging out with fans and helping out the touring acts with whatever they need.
Ded took the stage next. Ded had some solid energy to the show. They introduced the Des Moines audience to a couple of new tracks that they have been working on. The vocalist came out in what looked like a bearskin fur coat and facepaint, and the stage set up was pretty cool with all of the graffiti in the background, making it look like an old school Korn album. The crowd really got into their staple songs “Anti-Everything” and “Remember Your Enemy”. It’s cool seeing a band come on this tour to road test some new material as well.
The band that the audience was waiting for adorned the stage. Ash Costello is pretty much a celebrity in the rock music industry because she is just flat out sexy and has an amazing voice and stage presence to boot. New Years Day just does an amazing job of playing off of one another in their stage presence and especially engaging the audience into making it feel like a combination of a house party/dominatrix love fest. The band set the pace with their songs “Come For Me” and really got the audience engaged with the song “Kill Or Be Killed”. Ash Costello does an amazing job of having that sexy vibe, while telling the audience that “we are hers for the evening” and the crowd ate that up like a starving child at a buffet. The band as a whole is one massive stage presence with their antics, banter, and musicianship.
What I especially appreciated was during a break in between songs, Ash took a stand for feminism and stated that “we need women in heavy music and to be at the forefront of the metal genre”. The crowd sang their hearts out to the staple song “Shut Up” and broke into an awesome cover of “Gangsta” by Kehlani. They also paid an amazing tribute to Dimebag Darrell and Vinnie Paul of Pantera fame with their surprisingly well-done cover of “Fucking Hostile”. They got on the Wooly’s dance floor for the songs “Scream” and “Malevolence” before finishing it off with “Defame Me” and “Angel Eyes”.
New Years Day are continuing to take steps to get to the summit of the hard rock genre.
New Years Day have some gigs with Ded on this tour. Check them out below:
Thu. 10/3- Vinyl Music Hall in Pensacola, Florida
Sun. 10/6- Outland Ballroom in Springfield, Missouri
Mon. 10/7- The Forge in Joliet, Illinois
Tue. 10/8- Peoria Civic Center in Peoria, Illinois(w/In This Moment)
Thu. 10/10- The Machine Shop in Flint, Michigan
Fri. 10/11- The Eclectic Room in Angola, Indiana
Sat. 10/12- Exit 111 Festival in Manchester, Tennessee
Tour dates providing support for In This Moment:
Tue. 10/15- Rebel in Toronto, Canada
Wed. 10/16- The Rapids Theatre in Niagara Falls, New York
Fri. 10/18- College Street Music Hall in New Haven, Connecticut
Sat. 10/19- Franklin Music Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Sun. 10/20- Rams Head Live in Baltimore, Maryland
Tue. 10/22- The Paramount in Huntington, New York
Wed. 10/23- State Theatre in Portland, Maine
Fri. 10/25- Asbury Park Convention Hall in Asbury Park, New Jersey
Sat. 10/26- Palladium in Worcester, Massachusetts
Sun. 10/27- Palace Theatre in Albany, New York
Tue. 10/29- Bogart’s in Cincinnati, Ohio
European and Australian run with In This Moment and Halestorm:
Wed. 11/13- Salle Playel in Paris, France
Thu. 11/14- Palladium in Cologne, Germany
Sat. 11/16- TONHALLE in Munich, Germany
Mon. 11/18- Capitol Theater in Offenbach Am Main, Germany
Tue. 11/19- Grosse Freiheit 36 in Hamburg, Germany
Wed. 11/20- AFAS Live in Amsterdam, Netherlands
Sun. 11/24- SSE Hydro in Glasgow, United Kingdom
Mon. 11/25- Motorpoint Arena in Nottingham, United Kingdom
Wed. 11/27- Motorpoint Arena in Cardiff, Wales
Thu. 11/28- Alexandra Palace in London, United Kingdom
New Years Day Australia 2020 tour dates:
Thu. 3/19- Lion Arts Factory in Adelaide
Fri. 3/20- 170 Russell in Melbourne
Sat. 3/21- Factory Theatre in Sydney
Sun. 3/22- The Brightside in Brisbane
For tickets and further information on any of the gigs listed above, click here.
Fans can find NEW YEARS DAY at the following locations:
