With Stitched Up Heart, Dead Rabbits and I Ya Toyah at Starland Ballroom in Sayreville, New Jersey on April 10, 2025
Wednesday 13, eccentric horror gothic themed rock singer is touring across North America on his “There’s No Such Thing As Monsters” tour celebrating 20 years of Transylvania 90210, with the support from such great acts like Stitched Up Heart, Dead Rabbits and I Ya Toyah. Tour has almost reached the midpoint and on April 10th came to New Jersey.
Written by Andris Jansons
The first on stage was female performer I Ya Toyah. Her genre-bending music incorporates elements of multiple genres including industrial, electro-industrial, goth electro, punk electro, electronic rock, metal, and synthwave. Per my friend and fellow photographer Jeff Crespi she was awesome. Unfortunately I missed her, but I did check her music and it is very intriguing.
I Ya Toyah links
Dead Rabbits who followed I Ya Toyah’s performance are Escape The Fate vocalists Craig Mabbitt’s band. Officially labeled as a metalcore outfit, I am more inclined to place them in post-hardcore group of bands. Band had undergone pretty constant lineup changes and currently consists with the following artists: Craig Mabbitt – lead vocals, Erik “Shredz” Jensen – guitar, co-lead vocals, Blake Bailey – drums, percussion and Colton Westerman – bass. Band has released four studio albums to date with the latest released on March 14th of this year called Redefined. Setlist featured four songs from the new release including Hellscape where Craig was joined on stage with Mixi from Stitched Up Heart. Songs performed were Raisehell.exe, Dead by Daylight, Artificial Gods, Mistake, Dead Again, Hellscape, Oxygen and Deer in the Headlights. Band performed the set wearing some creepy rabbit masks. Performance itself was full of energy and passion. Craig fully demonstrated his vocal range going from screamo to melodic singing.
Dead Rabbits links
Photo Gallery of Dead Rabbits performance below. Photos by Andris Jansons.
Stitched Up Heart is already a well established force in the hard rock scene. Band hails from Los Angeles and was formed back in 2010 by Alecia “Mixi” Demner. Mixi is the heart and soul of this band, she is joined by longtime lead guitarist Merritt Goodwin and on bass Randy Mathias, and on drums a talented young lady Delaney Jaster who replaced longtime drummer James Decker. While the band has released “only” three studio albums and three EP’s they have made quite a noise in the hard rock and alt-metal circles and have toured with such acts as Godsnmck, Halestorm and In This Moment. In 2019 they released the single Lost from their second studio album Darkness that features Sully Erna from Godsmack. Their stage performance revolves around Mixi, she is literally everywhere and has picked up the guitar trade as well. Constantly has conversations with the fans, is fully immersed in the moment and performance by giving it all. This was my second time seeing the band and it is awesome. The first song featured Craig Mabbitt, fresh from his performance with his band, this time not wearing a mask, he sang with Mixi their duet To The Wolves. Rest of the set consisted of the songs – Possess Me, My Demon, Lost, Catch Me When I Fall, Sick Sick Sick, Conquer and Divide, Immortal and Monster. Unfortunately there was no Sully Erna on hand to help Mixi sing the Lost and the band did not play their first single Finally Free. Per my quick few words with Mixi after the show, it was either that or Monster, and this time the choice went for Monster. Stitched Up Heart performance was really great, featuring all around greatness from all band members including the new and young drummer, and she delivered the goods. As for Mixi’s performance, this is her world and we just happen to live in it.
Stitched Up Heart links
Photo Gallery of Stitched Up Heart performance below. Photos by Andris Jansons.
Wednesday 13 is an interesting band. From my first time seeing the music videos and listening to their music I really get this very strong Alice Cooper vibe. Maybe not as much theatrics on the stage, but the band’s leader Joseph Michael Poole a.k.a Wednesday 13 has his own vibe – gothic and creepy. He was part of some projects early namely Murderdolls, a Joey Jordison of Slipknot project. Since 2011 his own project has been the main force. Currently we are eagerly awaiting the release of the 10th studio album called Mid Death Crisis which will be released soon – on April 25th.
MID DEATH CRISIS TRACK LISTING:
“There’s No Such Thing As Monsters”
“Decease and Desist”
“When the Devil Commands”
“Rotting Away”
“No Apologies (feat. Taime Downe)”
“Decapitation”
“In Misery”
“Blood Storm”
“Xanaxtasy”
“I Hurt You”
“My Funeral”
“Sick and Violent”
Two singles have been already released – In Misery and When the Devil Commands. However the current tour is in honour of their first album released back in 2005 called Transylvania 90210. While the large part of the set was dedicated to this album including the songs like : Bad Things, House by the Cemetery, I Walked With a Zombie
I Want You… Dead and The Ghost of Vincent Price, it also featured the many songs from Poole’s other projects Murderdolls and Frankenstein Drag Queens From Planet 13. This whole set gave us a full spectrum of Wednesday 13 career and music and surely delighted all of his fans.
Wednesday 13 links
Photo Gallery of Wednesday 13 performance below. Photos by Andris Jansons.
There are still plenty of time for you to catch these awesome artists across the US and Canada. Check the listings below and get your tickets here: https://officialwednesday13.com/tour/
4/12—Hampton Beach, NH—Wallys
4/13—Montreal, QC—Foufounes Electrique
4/15—Toronto, ON—Lee’s Palace
4/16—Buffalo, NY—Rec Room
4/18—New York, NY—The Gramercy
4/19—Stroudsburg, PA—Sherman Theater
4/20—Lititz, PA—Mickey’s Black Box
4/22—Pittsburgh, PA—Crafthouse
4/23—Cleveland, OH—Mercury
4/25—Columbus, OH—The Kings Of Clubs
4/26—Flint, MI—Machine Shop
4/27—Cadillac, MI—Venue Event Center
4/29—Joliet, IL—The Forge
4/30—Madison, WI—The Annex
5/2—Denver, CO—Oriental Theater
5/3—Colorado Springs, CO—Black Sheep
Later this year Wednesday 13 will headline the European Tour. See the dates below and get your tickets here: https://officialwednesday13.com/tour/
UK/EU HEADLINE TOUR:
WITH FEARLESS VAMPIRE KILLER (UK DATES ONLY):
7/24 — Buckley, Wales — Tivoli
7/25 — Ebbw Vale, Wales — Steelhouse Festival
7/26 — Birmingham, England — Asylum
7/27 — Preston, England — The Blitz Tue
7/29 — Sheffield, England — Corporation
7/30 — Brighton, England — Chalk
8/03 — Prague, Czech Republic — Rock Cafe
8/05 — Vienna, Austria — Simm City w/ Static X
8/06 — Salzburg, Austria — Rockhouse
8/07 — Saarbrucken, Germany — The Garage w/ Static X
8/08 — Kortrijk, Belgium — Alcatraz Festival
8/09 — Utrecht, Netherlands — De Helling
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